Wiktor posted the Winsted Edge Tool Works history to his site:

http://www.wkfinetools.com

He did a great job.  It's a web based version with a table of 
contents.  A PDF version is also posted on the site.

He also wanted a bio so I put one together and he suggested I post it 
to the list, so here it is.

In real life, I am an assistant professor at the University of Rhode 
Island.  My specialty is plant pathology, the study of plant 
diseases.  In particular, my research focuses on those diseases that 
attack grasses.  I have an interest in fungal, bacterial and nematode 
pathogens and spent my graduate years working on vegetables.  At URI 
I teach a number of courses during the academic year and run the URI 
Turf Disease Diagnostic Laboratory during the summer.  In that 
capacity, I diagnose and develop management strategies for grass 
diseases on golf courses.

My two main hobbies are genealogical research and using/collecting 
old hand tools.  When I was a graduate student at Cornell University, 
I discovered that the school has a vast collection of books relating 
to the history of New England.  Being a New Englander, I could not 
have found a better place to undertake a genealogical research 
project.

It was only a few years ago, however, that I started collecting hand 
tools, as  a result of a "plane epiphany".  Although the son of a 
contractor and maybe because of it, my woodworking projects had 
always been utilitarian and crude.  They were more suited to holding 
up a house than living in one.  Having taken a single shop class in 
my youth, most hand tools were virtual foreigners to me.  But one 
day, out of the blue, it occurred to me that a hand plane would be 
useful. So I bought a brand new Stanley 12-220 to help do some finish 
work in my son's bedroom.  I had never used a hand plane before but 
after 2 passes of the plane, I could see the creative value and the 
possibilities of such an implement.  By having a tool, I feel the 
compulsive urge to use it.  Thus my discovery of old tools has 
allowed me, even forced me, to develop the skills for which these 
tools were intended.  And as a result, I can achieve a level of 
creative elegance in wood that has eluded me for most of my lifetime.

Discovering the history of old tools is much like undertaking a 
genealogical research project.  But instead of your genes tying you 
to those that came before you, you have a tool.  An object.  An 
artifact.  And it is fascinating to contemplate those that used that 
tool before you and where it may have travelled and what it may have 
created.  The Winsted Edge Tool Works has interested me because very 
little has been published about the company and their mysterious use 
of T.H. Witherby's name.   And in the end, it all comes down to 
personal history.  I have lived most of my life in Connecticut and my 
summers as a boy scout were spent at Camp Sequassen, Winsted, CT.

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N.A. Mitkowski introduces himself well after delivering his seminal
paper on the Winstead Edge Tool Works:
> In real life, I am an assistant professor at the University of Rhode
> Island.  My specialty is plant pathology, the study of plant
> diseases.  In particular, my research focuses on those diseases that
> attack grasses.

Good to have you here, N.A.  Pull up a clean beaker and a stool.  I
worked on mycorrhizas in sedges, m'self.  Maybe we can get some work
done on the spalting of maple, fruit- or tropical woods, as long as they
aren't part of an old moulding plane.

cur - fungi, the original world wide web..

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N.A. Mitkowski wrote:
> Wiktor posted the Winsted Edge Tool Works history to his site:
> 
> http://www.wkfinetools.com
> 
>

Great job on the history of this company and a valuable addition to tool 
lore.

However, you wrote:

"...Witherby/Winsted Edge Tool Works tools are highly sought after and 
often sell for higher prices than those of other comparable 
manufacturers.  Certainly “Witherby” tools are high quality implements. 
  But this quality is commonly matched and even excelled by 
manufacturers such as James Swan, Buck Brother, Jennings, Ohio Tool and 
many others.  If scarcity is any indication of value, Witherby/Winsted 
Edge Tool Works chisels should be relatively inexpensive, they are 
certainly abundant in the marketplace.  Despite this, they still 
generate a premium..."

Which is frankly, somewhat dismissive of the quality of Witherby edge 
tools. In my somewhat limited experience, Witherby branded chisels and 
drawknives are pretty fine tools. I'm really in awe of the edge holding 
ability of one of my Witherby drawknives. I'm not surprised people pay 
something of a premium, but I don't think they bring really any more 
than Swan tools do, another fine manufacturer. I'm not sure Witherby is 
actually 'excelled' by other manufacturers in quality. If they are, I'd 
like to know which makers you are talking about.

I am puzzled why Pexto edge tools seem to be underated - they are pretty 
good, in my opinion.
****************************
Tom Price (tomprice03@g...)
Brakes For Rust
The Galoot's Progress Old Tools site is at:
http://homepage.mac.com/galoot_9/galtprog.html
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Tim,

Firstly, I assume we are talking strictly about Winsted Edge Tool 
Works products.  I don't have anything actually made by T.H. Witherby 
so I simply cannot speak about those tools.

Secondly, I do not feel comfortable specifically stating that any one 
maker is better than any other.  The primary reason for this is that 
such a statement is very hard to prove.  Put two tools side by side 
and run them through their paces: quantitatively measure wear, 
hardness, edge holding ability, etc.  Then I can tell you which is 
better.  Without a quantitative comparison, all I have is a "feeling" 
and that could mean anything.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Winsted Edge Tool Works chisels.  I 
don't intend to be dismissive or pejorative.  But since you mention 
Swan, I do not think that WETW tools are reliably or substantially 
better than  Swan chisels.  Of the dozen WETW tools I own, a couple 
might be and a couple are definitely not.    I have at least two WETW 
chisels that have let me down.  One is a lot softer than I would 
expect, perhaps someone did something untoward to it, and the other 
one would not know "flat" if it came up and bit it on the 
hindquarters.

WETW was in business for about 72 years.  They had at least 5 
different foreman, likely more. In that time they made some really 
great chisels and I am sure there are some dogs out there.  I KNOW 
there are some dogs out there.  There were probably bad days at the 
forge and in the hardening room.  In general, they are very fine 
tools.  But I cannot say that they are substantially better than a 
Swan or half-a-dozen other makers.

I think every tool has to be judged on it's own merits, taking some 
generalizations into account. And as far as price, I once bought a 
Swan chisel for $3.99 on an unnamed auction site.  I don't think you 
could do that with anything that says Witherby on it.  The real 
problem is that there are so few Swan chisels on that auction site 
that it is difficult to be conclusive.

When I say, "But this quality is commonly matched and even excelled 
by manufacturers..." I do think there is at least one manufacturer 
that makes a reliably better chisel than WETW.  But I won't name 
names.  The first reason  is that it is just my "feeling".  The 
second reason is that those kinds of things sometimes stick, become 
popular knowledge and unfortunately/artificially inflate prices.

Keep in mind, this is just one man's opinion.  There is plenty of 
room for others.

I also agree with J. Thompson, PEXTO are good tools but it is a cheap 
name.  It sounds like 1950's gimmick and it looks just plain ugly. It 
can't compete with Witherby and Swan, nice old British names.

Nathaniel
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GG's

I have to agree with Nathaniel at least in principal. I have chisels by
every maker that has been mentioned and perhaps a few more. In that lot
of chisels, there have been good and bad from almost all makers. I am
not a fan of TH Witherby, even though some of the shapes I have are very
useful. I have a Swan, a Berg, Stanley 750's & 720's, Everlasts, Millers
Falls with and without the steel striking head, Greenlee, DR Barton,
Worth, and probably more that I haven't thought of.

I guess it comes down to what works for you. There will be no Chinese
chisels in my arsenal if I can help it, but I'll try anything else and
keep what works the best for me. My belief is that all of the makers
made good chisels, just some better than others and as the saying goes
in football, "Any team can beat any other team on any given day."

FWIW. Bruce Z. Kearney, MO

Nathaniel wrote in part:
> Secondly, I do not feel comfortable specifically stating that any one
> maker is better than any other. The primary reason for this is that
> such a statement is very hard to prove.

> I think every tool has to be judged on it's own merits, taking some
> generalizations into account.

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