Why Some Vintage French Edgers' Blade Lean To One Side?

[Cyis]

as pic attached, thx

[Art]

Could be a bad sharpening job. The toes are a bit long so it probably has been sharpened. However, if in as manufactured condition, it might be set that way for right handed use.

Art

[TinkerTailor]

Could be to get some slicing action to the cut, like holding a wood plane at an angle to control chatter. It possibly was done to add a downward force onto the leather preventing it from lifting off the table at the cutting edge.

[Art]

Good point. When skiving anything, try to attack at an angle. Even the Tandy Skife should be used at an angle (although they, whoever they are, never tell you that). Of course that is for long skiving along an edge. It seems that skiving toward an edge (should we call it peeling) works ok with a blade parallel to the edge.

Art

[Cyis]

Could be a bad sharpening job. The toes are a bit long so it probably has been sharpened. However, if in as manufactured condition, it might be set that way for right handed use.

Art

Thx Art, I thought it was a bad sharpening job too until I found more and more Vintage tools doing this. I'm right hander, not founding any advantages compared to the normal ones. TinkerTailor may got the point.

[Art]

I have sharpened a fair amount of vintage tools over the years, I haven't encountered one of these yet. Who is the maker? This is probably a question for Bruce Johnson who has seen more french edgers then me for sure. I'm sticking by my guns on this one, it is a sharpening mistake.

Art

[bruce johnson]

I get them like that too, and some a lot more extreme angle. I see enough that I think it is intentional by the user. Some estate sets have had rights and lefts in a few sizes. Specialty purpose?? Somebody's mentor probably did it and on it goes. I don't see enough difference in use of angled vs straight to convince me one is superior to the other. Some of the Japanese style skiving blades have a square front edge and the English paring blades are angled. What's up with that?

What do I do? The guy who taught me a lot about tools was in the business about 60 years and he never showed me any angled ones. I just square up the edge and start over. Also I grind the toes back to stick out maybe 3/32-1/8".

[Cyis]

I get them like that too, and some a lot more extreme angle. I see enough that I think it is intentional by the user. Some estate sets have had rights and lefts in a few sizes. Specialty purpose?? Somebody's mentor probably did it and on it goes. I don't see enough difference in use of angled vs straight to convince me one is superior to the other. Some of the Japanese style skiving blades have a square front edge and the English paring blades are angled. What's up with that?

What do I do? The guy who taught me a lot about tools was in the business about 60 years and he never showed me any angled ones. I just square up the edge and start over. Also I grind the toes back to stick out maybe 3/32-1/8".

I ordered one Gomph with angles to figure out the differences, as you said, not superior to the other.

But I wont square up the edge, cus it's not inferior for me.

[Art]

Cyis,

On your particular tool, I think we are reading some kind of purpose instead of sharpening and use. The toes are way to long to have come from a factory. The factory is not going to waste that much tool steel on every one they make; that would add up. If you are going to do an angle, and apparently folks were doing this, why not a more pronounced angle like a 45° or so; if going for an effect, a more pronounced angle would have more of that effect. To accomplish this on a large edger, you would be wasting a lot of tool cutting it back. I wonder if some folks tried sharpening on the edge of a wheel and got this result. I don't mind sharpening French Edgers as I have the tools for it, however, I can sympathise with the dilemma of those who don't. Any port in a storm, and if it still worked when you were finished, well then it was good enough for then.

Tool companies were competitive back in the heyday of tools and harness ruled. If one of these manufacturers thought he could provide a tool with a purpose that would garner more sales or suck a little of his competitors volume, these things would be all over the place, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. As it is, I don't think these angled French Edgers were never a production item, if they were, they would have appeared in some of the old catalogs.

Art

[TinkerTailor]

I have heard another use for these is chamfering holes to countersink the back of rivets and things. Apparently you just put one toe in the hole and ring around the rosie. While on my bicycle today i was trying to picture what the angle of the blade and the length of the toe would do to the angle of the bevel in the hole...Cant quite grasp it yet but i know it would have an effect.

Maybe the shop modified angled ones relate to this usage?

Shop adaptations of tools are really fascinating when you are aware of the purpose, and can see the brilliance, However they are really frustrating when you can't see the purpose. "Why would that stupid hide smasher do that to a tool? He ruined it....."

I just looked at my go-to tools and probably half are modified from their original purpose or home made. Some I bought cheap because they have been modified and were "ruined", however i saw what the deal was.

My favourite stitching awl is hand ground out of a needle file, jammed into a dowel. I have modellers made out of old automotive valve stems. I got a simple looking bench knife for a couple bucks somebody has reground into a shape i had never seen before, and the more i use it, the more subtleties i find. It is amazingly useful. Perhaps some day when i have time i will post a writeup on it somewhere here.The list goes on.

Some guys buy everything.

Back in the day when overnight shipping and ebay were not an option, you made stuff out of what you had. I still do. That is why I go by Tinker.