Svea Chisels
Svea chisels are nice-looking, well-made, and scarce. I’ve not seen many and I don’t know yet who made them.
“Svea” is a Swedish female name. It also means “Swede”.
The Svea chisel below has a seldom-struck beech handle and is in very nice condition overall.
The brass ferrule on the base of the chisel has vertical knurling with medium spaces between the lines.
The steel hoop at the top appears to be painted steel, rather than blued steel. The nail through the hoop is slightly countersunk … easy on the thumbs and fingers.
The label on the handle is a transfer-style decal with a sparkly crown sitting above the Swedish word “SVEA” (also sparkly). The sparkles don’t really show up except under magnification. I like the label’s simple and attractive design.
The chisel above has a very narrow blade with no markings on it. Below are examples of Svea blade stamps, a simple “SVEA MADE IN SWEDEN”.
Here is a complete graduated set of Svea chisels.
A little bit of possibly unrelated trivia …
There was a Svea Power Station right beside the Rosenfors Park built by Bernard and Oscar Liberg, makers of fine Swedish chisels and other edge tools. The English-style park was built by the Libergs in the mid-1860s for their and their friends’ enjoyment. It was located outside of the city of Eskilstuna in Rosenfors, close to the Libergs original factory. I believe that the park still exists today.
I just picked up 11 Svea chisels and gouges. Most all are in fine shape. What the heck is the value of them? I can hardly find any info online. And the age?? Any help would be much appreciated!
Isaiah: The actual value of a tool is what you are willing to pay for it, which means how badly do you need it or want it? Those Svea chisels are probably very well made tools, so if you got them for a good price, feel happy. When looking at old tools, especially Swedish chisels, I think anything under $20.00 a piece is a pretty good deal. I have never seen a Svea gouge- I wish you would take some pictures of them and send them to Birch, who runs this blog. Maybe he will add them to the illustrations for the Svea article.
I too have a complete set. Several gouges in addition as well they were my Dad’s and I remember him getting them from a retired cabinetmaker locally.
I am not sure of the age but was guessing pre war.