Images(2)

Hot Chisel

Date1750-1850

OriginAmerica

MediumIron and steel

DimensionsLength of head: 5 3/16" Across cutting surface: 1 5/8"

Credit LineGift of Diane E. Schwarz

Object number2020-20,14

DescriptionChisel shaped like a typical hammer head of the period, but with a cutting edge on the bottom end. The corners of its heavily mushroomed top are slightly chamfered, and a modern replcement haft is now fitted through its eye. Chiseled burrs are cut into the inside of the eye to grip the haft.
Label TextHammered into red-hot iron by a striker, this hafted chisel was used to cut decorative channels deep into the iron, as well as chop pieces from it.
ProvenanceFrom the Diane and Kenneth Schwarz collection of early American blacksmithing tools.