The slick is a wide chisel with a handle. It is used as a paring tool, not a struck tool. Slicks were made in sizes from 3 inches to 5 inches in width and length from edge to socket in the 12 to 16 inch range depending upon the width. The slick being a paring tool has a 'sweep' to the blade from edge to socket. This 'sweep' allows it to be used flat to the surface to be worked yet not cause barked knuckles. In use it compliments a large jointer plane, say a #7 or #8. For example, a caulking edge is needed on a hull plank of over 2 inches edgewise. The bevel is marked out and the slick is used to pare away the excess wood in nice long strokes.

  It takes a bit to get the hang of handling such a big tool but once mastered it is surprisingly easy to use. The mass and long handle contirbute to the relative ease of use.

  Famed makers of slicks were, L&IJ White, D R Barton, James Swan. Blades of many were laminated, a tool steel blank would be forge welded to a softer back. The backs were generally oval in shape and showed some of the hammer marks from the forging operation. Later slicks made by mfgs. like Greenlee, were of one piece construction. The preferred wood for the long handle, as long as the blade in many cases, was Maple, with other smooth hardwoods such as Apple being used by folks that preferred to make their own. It was not uncommon to be able to purchase a tool such as a slick with out handle. With all the variances in body size this was the way many preferred to purchase their tools so that a handle could be made that fit the user to a 'T'.