Re-handling Japanese Chisels

[Mike Henderson]

I have a set of Japanese chisels that I hardly ever use because I find the handles to be uncomfortable, so I finally decided to re-handle them. I took pictures of what I did to help anyone else who would like to re-handle their Japanese chisels.

This first picture shows where we're coming from and where we're going.
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The first problem is to get the old handle off. This is not as simple as pulling it off, or tapping the side of the handle on a bench, as you would do for a socket chisel. What I did was drill a hole in a piece of hardwood which is a bit smaller than the handle.
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This next picture shows the chisel in the hole. When you go to take the handle off of a larger chisel, cut a slot into the hole so that you can slide the wood onto the chisel handle.
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Clamp the body of the chisel in a vise and wack away on the piece of wood. Eventually, the handle will come off.
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If you're lucky, the ferrule will come off after you get the handle off. Sometimes, however, the ferrule is on tight and you have to cut the ferrule off and drill the wood out of it.
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[Mike Henderson]

Get a blank - I'm using pecan here - and mount it in a chuck. Then use a drill chuck in the tail stock and drill into the blank. I have a piece of tape on the drill to show me how deep to drill.
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Once I had the hole drilled, I used a standard spur bit to drive the turning, and a cone on the tailstock.
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The old handle had a taper about 3/4" long for the ferrule.
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So I used a parting tool to make a cut 3/4" from the end and to the size of the top of the taper on the old handle.
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Then I made a cut with the parting tool to mark the length of the handle.
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[Mike Henderson]

I start by roughing out the handle. I leave the taper area full size for strength. I'll do that last.
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Then I shape the decorative bottom of the handle.
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Finally, I cut the taper for the ferrule. You have to "sneak" up on the fit, so trim close, try the ferrule, then trim some more until the ferrule fits.
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This is what it looks like fitted and driven on.
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Put the decorative grooves on the bottom, sand and apply finish.
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[Mike Henderson]

Part the handle off.
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Sand the top and apply finish.
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When I drilled the hole originally, I drilled it a bit small because I can enlarge it but it's hard to tighten up. After fitting, I can enlarge the hole by hand, by putting a slightly larger bit in the tailstock chuck and turning it by hand. This also allows you to only enlarge the lower part of the hole to better fit the tang.
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Drive the handle on when the fit is good. The fit of the ferrule to the body of the chisel is not perfect. To make it perfect, you'll have to use a grinder and grind the metal smooth and even.
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And here's the two chisels, to show that the handles are about the same size.
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I hope this will be of value for those who dislike the feel of traditional Japanese chisel handles, and encourage you to re-handle your own chisels.

Mike

[Jim Dunn]

Mike, thanks for the time and effort to photo and explain the re-handling process. Great job!

[George Moore]

Mike,

Thank you for a nice presentation on the rehandling of Japanese chisels.

I have found that you can also use an open end wrench that the opening fits the wood above the ferrule works great also for removing the handle.

Have a Blessed day.

George

[gary Zimmel]

Great tutorial Mike.
Thanks for taking the time to post it.

The chisels look alot better and I bet nicer to use..

[Danny Burns]

Thanks for the Great post!!!:)

[Jim Koepke]

Nice work.

I am still striving to get two handles exactly alike.

Some are kind of close, but the ability or technique of making exact copies eludes me. Though, I am getting better at it.

jim

[Dave Anderson NH]

Great tutorial Mike. Thank you for posting it, I'm sure folks will find the process useful whether they use Japanese or western style chisels. There's something here for everyone.

[Mike Henderson]

Nice work.

I am still striving to get two handles exactly alike.

Some are kind of close, but the ability or technique of making exact copies eludes me. Though, I am getting better at it.

jim
I'm still trying too, Jim. Most of the time, I can get close but the handles are different. But that's okay. As long as they feel good in my hand, I'm satisfied. I feel the handle before I take it off the lathe and stop cutting when it feels good to me.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Just FYI - here's the full set done. Now, I need to make sure they're all sharp and give them a try on a project.

The handles are pecan.

Mike

[Jim Paulson]

Heh Mike,

Those handles look wonderful. It is always a challenge making turnings look the same, but you did it.

I've learned that pretty close is sufficient for turning my Windsor chair legs. That is what early chairmakers/turners knew as well. Some slight differences give a piece character.

Keep up the good work.

Peace,
Jim

[Larry Edgerton]

Mike, I hate the feel of them as well, until they are worn in. Then after a time I like the feel. I can tell individual chisels by how they feel in my hand without looking. Some I have used for over 25 years. It just takes time to make them my own I guess.

That being said I bought some a while ago that had the schlagring missing. Did you happen to keep the old rings? And if so would you like to sell them?

Let me know.

Thanks, Larry

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, I hate the feel of them as well, until they are worn in. Then after a time I like the feel. I can tell individual chisels by how they feel in my hand without looking. Some I have used for over 25 years. It just takes time to make them my own I guess.

That being said I bought some a while ago that had the schlagring missing. Did you happen to keep the old rings? And if so would you like to sell them?

Let me know.

Thanks, Larry
Larry - I'm afraid I don't know what "schlagring" is. Are you referring to the rings around the top of the Japanese chisel handles? If so, I still have the ones I took off. PM me and we can discuss it.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Heh Mike,

Those handles look wonderful. It is always a challenge making turnings look the same, but you did it.

I've learned that pretty close is sufficient for turning my Windsor chair legs. That is what early chairmakers/turners knew as well. Some slight differences give a piece character.

Keep up the good work.

Peace,
Jim
Interesting you should mention Windsor chair legs, Jim. I just finished turning a set of Windsor chair pieces (including legs). It was a challenge. Please post a picture of your Windsor chair or your turnings if you haven't built the chair yet. I'd be interested to see what you did.

Mike

[Jim Paulson]

Mike,

I have a blog at http://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com with some chair pictures. Best wishes on your endeavors.

Peace,
Jim