Wood Chisel Quality AND INFORMATION

Have found excellent info. on this forum about chisels. Have worked w/various brands of chisels (Mostly Cheap) and have been frustrated w/quality and frequency of sharpening needed. Was going to look for a set of quality chisels and mentioned it to a deceased friend's widow and she gave me a set of his. They have hardly been used and I have been unable to find info. on them.

On the handle they have a paper label which contains the following. BRACHT, in a triangle, w/ the words CARANITE, VANADIUM, AND WOLFRAM on the sides of the triangle. On the Blade it has: Wo-Va,

BRACHT(IN TRIANGLE), and #

Would appreciate any info as to: value, quality, origin, and care of them.

Thanks for any answers to my questions

IIRC, "Wolfram" is in common usage in Germany and is the same as tungsten (which is why "W" is the symbol for tungsten on the periodic table). I'm guessing that Bracht is/was a German company that manufactured chisels. No idea what caranite is, but apparently the steel is alloyed with tungsten and vanadium. Vanadium improves toughness and ductility in steel, while tungsten adds hardness and wear resistance.

todd

Thanks for the reply Todd, Sounds like they should at least be a pretty decent set. Time and use will tell.

Looking forward to using them. Guess another project should be in the works.

thumbs

Origin is Germany, as you can tell. One seller was Leichtung, now absorbed into Woodworkers' supply. They cost about eighty dollars for a set of six twenty years ago, and have been doing all but the roughest work (that's what Millers Falls is for) at my house. Keep them sharp and clear of rust.