Question: L-N Chisel Handle Wood

[Jim Neeley]

In my surfing of the 'net I've seen what appeared to be L-N chisels with other than hornbeam handles. Does L-N periodically offer such things, do other companies sell them to fit L-N or are they self made?

[Casey Gooding]

Lie-Nielsen used to offer an optional Rosewood/Cocobolo handle for planes, saws and chisels. From my understanding, it proved too difficult to acquire sustainably grown stock.

[Niels Cosman]

cocobolo used to be an option for handles and totes, I think they stopped offering it two or three years ago now, due to supply and quality issues.

[Niels Cosman]

haha, what he said :)

[Dave Beauchesne]

cocobolo used to be an option for handles and totes, I think they stopped offering it two or three years ago now, due to supply and quality issues.

My set of LN chisels was acquired about 7 years ago in Rosewood, and I ordered a couple spares about 4 years ago in Cocobolo ( Rosewood was unavailable at that time ) Lucky to get them while I did - they command a hefty premium. BTW, they have taken lots of mallet blows, and look like new.

Dave Beauchesne

[Niels Cosman]

Hey Dave,
I meant quality of the supply not the handles themselves
I have a set and have no complaints, well except that I didn't get a 1" chisel while I still could :)
N

[Casey Gooding]

Dave is right about the current market value of the cocobolo handles. My first set of Lie-Nielsen chisels came with cocobolo. I bought hornbeam handles (back when I think they were $5 each) and sold the cocobolo handles. That about half paid for my entire chisel set.

[Eddie Darby]

I have a set and have no complaints, well except that I didn't get a 1" chisel while I still could :)
N
You can get the 1" chisel when the 1 1/4" chisel comes out.
Or so I hear from the grapevine that a 1 1/4" is in the works.

"And finally, one of the best things about the new Stanley
line is that the company is making a 1-1/4″-wide chisel, which is an
excellent size to have for joinery. At this point Lie-Nielsen goes up to
1″, though I’m told the company is working on bigger sizes." - http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/stanleys-new-750-chisels-have-landed

Here is a link about fixing loose handles that you might like.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/new-stanley-chisels-a-fix-for-loose-sockets

[Mitchell Garnett]

I recently inquired about alternate handle woods as I'd like to have two specific chisels with a sharper bevel for soft woods and I want to be able to quickly identify them from those with a 'standard' bevel and hornbeam handles. LN can do cocobola still at a quoted price of $50 per handle. I decided to clear a path to the mini-lathe that I haven't used in several years, practice my rusty turning skills and make my own.

[Jim Koepke]

My favorite chisel handle is one I made of rosewood.

jtk

[Pam Niedermayer]

I recently inquired about alternate handle woods as I'd like to have two specific chisels with a sharper bevel for soft woods and I want to be able to quickly identify them from those with a 'standard' bevel and hornbeam handles....

There are many ways to mark the existing handles, some even removeable if/when you wanted to sell them.

Pam

[Niels Cosman]

You can get the 1" chisel when the 1 1/4" chisel comes out.
Or so I hear from the grapevine that a 1 1/4" is in the works.

I've been got some cocobolo i'm drying to make handles, when it's ready i'll add the 1"

Now, It would be Really awesome if they also introduced a 720 style with LONG blades for pairing in O1. It would take a high-speed camera at full tilt to capture the time it took me to whip out my wallet and snatch up a couple of those. ha

[Alfred Kraemer]

Here is my experience with replacing chisel handles:
1. I have used some dense, highly polishable woods (cocobolo/rosewood,Kingwood) on some chisels. Worked fine on chisels that are not struck very hard with a mallet.
2. For chisels that are meant to be struck hard with a mallet - mortise chisels for example - some of the beautiful exotic woods didn't hold up as well as the more typical ash, hickory, and hornbeam. Cocobolo actually broke off right inside the socket. I replaced it with a red elm handle that now has lasted three times longer than the cocobolo handle.

Alfred

[Bill Rittner]

I have made many chisel handles from cocobolo and I love this wood. Attached is a picture of a Stanley #60 that I recently rehandled in cocobolo. It is a lot nicer than the original yellow plastic.186793

[Angie Kopacek]

Alfred is correct - cocobolo looks nice but does not hold up well to mallet blows on end grain. That's why you never see LN's mortise chisels with the cocobolo handles. And yes, cocobolo is still available as an option for their tools - $50 is usually the plane handle upgrade price, I think chisels were in the $20 to $30 range each for the coco handles. If you call you can get it added to your order. For a user set of chisels, though, you're better off with the hornbeam.

Angie