Socket chisel handle questions.

[Dan Forman]

I just turned handles for a set of old socket chisels, have two questions about completing them. They have leather washers at the top of the handles, and I left the wood tenon just a tad proud of the leather (about 1/32"), then began to wonder whether they should have been flush. I asked this down in the Neander forum, got two contradictory responses --- one for and one against. Could the wood (ash) split or do anything else bad if bashed with a mallet, or would it just sort of mushroom over the leather a bit?

Second question re: finish: I'm thinking a couple of coats of Waterlox sealer/finish. I'm assuming I shouldn't get finish on the leather portion?

Thanks,

Dan

[Jeff Nicol]

Dan, Every old socket chisel I have or have seen that has had some use with a mallet are mushroomed out to the leather like you said. I would say that 1/32 is hardly enough to worry about. By the time mid summer rolls around and the humidity goes up it may stick out even it it were flush. If they are tools that you are going to work with and not sit in a display case and you are happy with them there function will not be compromised. Just my 2 cents, some of my ugliest tools work the best!

Keep on turning!

Jeff

[Gary Herrmann]

Dan I put poly on my handle - including the washers. I wanted to see what would happen. They absorbed a lot of the poly so they got a lot harder. Maybe it will actually shorten their life, but I can alway make another one.

[Paul Engle]

Dan,
Even If you use a wood mallet to strike with , the wood will over time mush over the rings but this may help keep the rings on , the older stanley's I re handled i used a copper ring on one ( Stanley 2" wide blade) and a brass ring on the other ( 4" wide blade) remembering the rings are to keep the handle from spliting out so either way , proud or flush would proably work well . both finished with tung oil and buffed, traditionly they used varnish, helps to grip the handle providing grip-sticky for hands losing moisture and grip, keeping the handles from gaining too much moisture, swelling-shrinking and the rings becoming loose .... maybe ? dunno.

[Dan Forman]

I don't mind if they mushroom, figured they probably would, just didn't want them to split. I don't think I want the leather to get any harder, as it feels comfortable now, so I guess I'll try to avoid it. These are for my dad, and will probably end up with my brother, so I want them to last. They used to belong to my grandfather, but the handles were getting to be in pretty sad condition, and these look a lot nicer, if not entirely consistent from one handle to the next. By the last three, I pretty much had it figured out, but the first three show some variation. They are a mixed set, so they were not at all consistent to begin with. Funny how different they feel while still on the lathe, compared to how they feel unmounted and in a position more like they would be used. I'll post a pic once they have the finish on.

Dan

[Jim Koepke]

Another thought on this is some of my chisels had the leather pretty well beaten up. When it was taken off, it appeared there was a dowel in the center of the washers and not a part of the wood making the handle.

Most of my handles do not get leather tops. Then again, most of my chisels do not get those life or death blows that some people like to use when whacking a chisel.

My mallets are all of wood and a metal mallet or hammer is a no no on my chisels.

If a chisel is kept sharp, it does not need a heavy blow to do the job.

just my 2¢,

jim

[Dan Forman]

I can't control what happens to these once they leave my shop, so I'm trying to make sure they can handle what ever comes their way. I suppose that in a production situation, using a dowel that is set into a hole in the handle would save a lot of time trying to get the tenon and washers to fit snugly.

Dan