>I put my foot in my mouth and said that firmer chisels were typically socketed and of heavier build than regular chisels.
What I *can* say, regardless of the usage in the L.&I.J. White catalog, is that the US Ordnance Department, at least as early as 1841, agreed that firmer chisels are "typically socketed and of heavier build." For use in the field, both firmer and framing chisels were issued, the framing chisels being heavier yet than firmers. Both were socket chisels. Both had relatively long blades. Somewhere I can't find at the moment, there's a list of definitions and descriptions of tools issued by the Ordnance Department. I'll keep looking for it.
The old Audel's carpenter books (originally published in 1923, reprinted at least as late as 1947) show firmers and framing chisels. The framing chisels are thicker and heavier, clearly. Audel's differences show framers ground to 25 degrees while the firmers are sharpened to 20 degrees. Both are socket chisels, and both are not bevel edged.
Catalogs are very useful, but tool names used? Sometimes at the mercy of copy writers and marketing schemes. That 1905 catalog clearly goes against the general understanding of what in the world a firmer chisel might be.
