Sorby · Paring
A paring chisel is the long, thin one you push by hand and never hit. Joseph Moxon described the job in the 1670s, with the handle braced against your shoulder to smooth what the heavier former chisel left behind, and Sheffield makers kept making them for cabinetmakers and patternmakers. Robert Sorby still lists a boxwood-handled paring chisel with a blade of about 9 to 9½ inches, ground to a 20-degree bevel. Older ones turn up under all three Sorby marks, I & H SORBY, I. SORBY and Robert Sorby's kangaroo, and from the later 1800s makers offered them with square or bevelled edges. Registered doesn't belong on a paring chisel. Registered chisels were the heavy, hooped firmers made for the mallet, the opposite job, so treat that word in a listing as a mix-up and judge the chisel on its own.
Identify and date it
A paring chisel's blade is much longer than a bench chisel's, about 9 inches on Robert Sorby's current one against 4⅝ to 7 inches on its registered firmer. Measure the blade or ask, because a long-handled bench chisel can pass at a glance. Then read the stamp for the maker, and remember Marples, Buck Brothers and Witherby made long paring chisels too.
If you’ll use it
Buy one for hand-pushed work like cleaning out grooves and trimming joints. Robert Sorby grinds its own paring chisels to a 20-degree bevel.
Long, thin blades get bent, and plenty have been hit with a mallet anyway. Look for a mushroomed or split handle top and a blade that isn't straight.
Buying guide
Only two Sorby paring chisels are listed, both 1/4 inch, so the $45–60 delivered band isn't a market read. The I. Sorby with a boxwood handle at about $38 delivered is the one to ask about, and the Robert Sorby 6 mm comes to $66 delivered with $27 of UK shipping, close to the $59–90 that new Robert Sorby paring chisels ask from retailers. Neither title gives the blade length, so ask for it from the bolster to the edge, because about 8 inches or more makes a true paring chisel and a long-handled bench chisel can pass at a glance. Check the handle top in the photos for mushrooming or splits from a mallet, which a paring chisel should never have taken, and ask for a photo sighting down the blade to show it's straight.
$38.16est. delivered
The cheaper of the only two here, an I. Sorby 1/4-inch with a boxwood handle at about $38 delivered from a US seller. Ask for the blade length before you offer, since the title doesn't show it's a long paring blade.
I. Sorby Woodworking Paring Chisel With Boxwood Handle Sheffield 1/4 inch wide
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 11, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Snapshot
Checked . Some may have sold.
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 11, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Used$38.16est. delivered
$30.00 + $8.16 shipping
Buy It Now$30.00
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
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Good buy
1/4 inch, boxwood handle, I. Sorby per the title. Blade length not given.
Seller: drs75002
100% positive
Used$66.30est. delivered
$39.70 + $26.60 shipping
Buy It Now$39.70
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
Our take
6 mm Robert Sorby, listed as new. $27 of the total is UK shipping.
Seller: caseygismo
100% positive
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