Toledo Chisels

Contributed by Toby Hildabrand

Toledo chisels were made in Sweden, primarily for export to Australia. They follow the typical Swedish tanged chisel pattern of beech handles with black steel hoops on top and brass ferrules at the bottom. I have never seen any Toledo socket style chisels, but can’t say for sure that they never made any.

LABELS

Toledo labels are typically shaped like a shield and read “TOLEDO” at the top and “FINEST STEEL” at the bottom. 
So far I have found 4 different types of labels:

1. Blue background, red accent in shield and black outline printed on light gold paper. Label approximately 2″ tall.
2. Four-colour printing on thinner decal material with slightly thicker black outline. Red and gold are both darker than previously.
3. Smaller label (approx. 1 1/2″ tall) with slightly darker shade of blue background. Gold is darker again. Red is brighter than previously.
4. Same small size as previous, but without gold accent. Blue and red seem lighter than previous.

I’m not sure if these are all in correct chronological order, but I’m fairly certain the larger style labels were earlier than the smaller ones.

BLADE MARKINGS

Several variations of blade markings have been observed. Some are marked only on the front of the blade, some only on the back, and some on both sides.

1. Small “TOLEDO STEEL | MADE IN SWEDEN” on front. Back is blank.

2. On smaller size blades, small “TOLEDO SWEDEN” stamp is only on front.

3. Larger “TOLEDO STEEL | MADE IN SWEDEN” on front. Back is blank.

4. Larger “TOLEDO STEEL | MADE IN SWEDEN” on front. Blade size stamped on back (inches only).

5. Blade size stamped on front (inches and mm). “TOLEDO STEEL | MADE IN SWEDEN” on back.

6. Blade size lightly etched on front (inches and mm).

STEEL HOOPS

Steel hoops at the top of handle are usually dimpled, although some have been found with a pinned hoop. Here is one of each.

BRASS FERRULES

Brass ferrules typically have 2 rows of medium vertical knurling, although some variations exist.

BLADE GEOMETRY

Early blades and blade shafts are noticeably thinner than on later chisels. Also, the shoulder profile is more square on later chisels.

Here are three different blade profiles from earlier to later.

TOLEDO CHISEL SETS
Here are a couple of the steel hangers for the 4-piece chisel sets. One is painted solid red with no markings, and the other is painted light blue with a gold foil “TOLEDO | Finest Steel” decal at the top.

Contributed by Toby Hildabrand