Well after a stint at the Melbourne Working with Wood show this past weekend, I have come back with a couple of new goodies...
Indeed, I spent some time chatting with colleagues and friends Terry, Trent and Colin at the Australian Tool Maker stand, where I was also collecting the first installment of some new chisels from Trent - "Harold and Saxon" chisels.
Trent and I have been discussing some chisels for Luthiers over the past year or so. As many of you would be aware, there are few (if any) genuine "luthier" chisels as we mostly use simply a range of cabinet chisels. However, we discussed the creation of a quality purfling pick and bent shaft bracing/glue chisel. We also discussed sizes of traditional chisels suited to luthiers and the potential popularity of the long bladed paring chisels for access to those awkward spots and jobs that luthiery can throw up.
So Trent has a small run of Purfling picks being made, as well as a small run of bent shaft bracing chisels - I for one can't wait!
In the meantime, I took collection of these and the chisels are nothing short of stunning!! 
Suffice to say they are Cryogenically treated up to two times and tempered four times to produce an edge that is razor sharp, long lasting and yet impact resistant - a difficult objective. The ferrules are turned from solid brass and the blades are polished and honed ready to use. I supplied the Ziricote used in these. They are art pieces but I intend to put them to full use - no shelf sitting or locked cabinets here. I feel very fortunate to be able to obtain such heirlooms and to put them to use in my builds. These will last me the rest of my working life and potentially my sons too... An investment in my own work I reckon. I have only put them through some timber for the first time today so am yet to fully grasp what I have, but suffice to say, they worked as beautifully as they look.
The other half of my personal order includes a couple of other sizes of the above, purfling picks, bracing chisel and long blade parers. I will post again when I have these on hand so you can see what he has come up with.
As a side, anyone interested in the small batch of purfling picks or bracing chisels can pm me and I will let him know there is interest, or simply contact him yourself at http://www.haroldandsaxon.com/.
Solid Brass turned ferrules -
