Twisted chisel

[Harold Burrell]

I have an old Stanley 1 1/2" socket chisel that came in a set. Unfortunately, the blade is twisted. Quite a bit. (Sorry about the cheesy pictures.)

Is there anything I can do for it??? :(262472262473

[David Weaver]

What's your preference on:
* doing whatever it takes to make it flat
* preserving it with no damage

On the extreme side, you could anneal it, hammer it flat, lap it, and then reharden it.

And on the easy side, you could attempt to hammer it flatter than it is knowing that you stand a good chance of cracking it. I wouldn't, however, put it in a vise and bend it.

And on the preservation side, you could just flatten the first half inch or inch of the back and use it as is. you might find the twist to have little effect in use if you're not paring pins off 4 inches deep on a flat surface.

[jamie shard]

I don't have a suggestion, but "twisted chisel" is going to be the name of my new band. (j/k :) )

[David Weaver]

I thought it might be a good name for a misguided individual wanting to start a small forging company.

[Harold Burrell]

And on the preservation side, you could just flatten the first half inch or inch of the back and use it as is...

I'm thinking that that is the place to start.

[Zach Dillinger]

I don't have a suggestion, but "twisted chisel" is going to be the name of my new band. (j/k :) )

With epic hits like "We're Not Gonna Plane It" and "I Wanna Saw", I'm sure you'd sell tens of albums... :)

[Bill Houghton]

I don't have a suggestion, but "twisted chisel" is going to be the name of my new band. (j/k :) )

Dave Barry, who was always finding really good names for rock bands in his travels, would approve.

It will be, I assume, a metal band.

[george wilson]

It will VERY likely crack if you try to hammer it flat. There is a way of straightening bent or twisted hardened tools,which I use,but unless you know what you're doing,I cannot vouch that you won't break your chisel. It must be done VERY FAST,before the metal cools.

What I do is polish the surface so I can see tempering colors. Then,heat the steel to a brown color,and IMMEDIATELY straighten it. This may involve clamping one end of the chisel in a vise,and having a pre adjusted Crescent wrench ready to twist the blade. The trouble is,the vise will very quickly bleed the heat out of the chisel,causing it to snap when twisting. Wooden jaws would be best,though you will probably char them and need new ones. Still,the job needs to be done quickly before the heat bleeds out.

Also,the job needs to be done accurately,lest you over bend and end up with as bad a problem as you had before. Plus,you need to be careful to not bend the chisel lengthwise.

The temper won't be hurt a bit,as the chisels were tempered brown to begin with. Don't go past brown,into purple or blue,or the chisel will then be too soft. Then,you are in worse trouble,and complete re hardening will be needed. And,with those bevels on 12 side,I guarantee your chisel will take a bad curve.

[Harold Burrell]

It will VERY likely crack if you try to hammer it flat. There is a way of straightening bent or twisted hardened tools,which I use,but unless you know what you're doing,I cannot vouch that you won't break your chisel. It must be done VERY FAST,before the metal cools.

What I do is polish the surface so I can see tempering colors. Then,heat the steel to a brown color,and IMMEDIATELY straighten it. This may involve clamping one end of the chisel in a vise,and having a pre adjusted Crescent wrench ready to twist the blade. The trouble is,the vise will very quickly bleed the heat out of the chisel,causing it to snap when twisting. Wooden jaws would be best,though you will probably char them and need new ones. Still,the job needs to be done quickly before the heat bleeds out.

Also,the job needs to be done accurately,lest you over bend and end up with as bad a problem as you had before. Plus,you need to be careful to not bend the chisel lengthwise.

The temper won't be hurt a bit,as the chisels were tempered brown to begin with. Don't go past brown,into purple or blue,or the chisel will then be too soft. Then,you are in worse trouble,and complete re hardening will be needed. And,with those bevels on 12 side,I guarantee your chisel will take a bad curve.

George...I really appreciate this. And you are, no doubt, the coolest dude in the world, but...the thought of doing this scares me to DEATH!!! :eek:

[george wilson]

I dunno,some think I'm an old fuddy duddy. But I can do cool stuff.:) Why can't the "cool dudes" do it?

It sounds scary,but files are straightened like this. Have been for ages. I have twisted hardened steel all over the place as long as it's hot. Well,not ALL over the place,but the needed amount plus some to allow for spring back.

[Harold Burrell]

I dunno,some think I'm an old fuddy duddy. But I can do cool stuff.:)

No kidding, George...

I marvel at guys like you and the stuff you can do. I wish I had gotten into all of this earlier in life. But, the truth is, you have probably forgotten more than I will ever know. I am just really, really glad that there are guys like you here to glean from.

It just blows me away that you would even bother hanging out here with dolts like me.

In case I have failed to tell you before, thanks. :o

[Jim Matthews]

It's a perversity in my nature, I suppose - but how does it cut now?

[george wilson]

If you get the first inch or 2 flattened on your chisel,it will be used just like a regular chisel. How often does it matter what the rear end of the blade,5 inches away from the cutting end,is doing?

[Charlie Stanford]

The first thing to do is ask yourself if the tail is wagging the dog, are tools dictating how you spend your time. If nothing tickles you to death more than fixing them up then do as David suggested - put the chisel in a state where it can basically be worked cold, fix the chisel, then re-harden it.

[Charlie Stanford]

I have an old Stanley 1 1/2" socket chisel that came in a set. Unfortunately, the blade is twisted. Quite a bit. (Sorry about the cheesy pictures.)

Is there anything I can do for it??? :(262472262473

Twisting bent chisels is cool, but you might just want to put together a kit of good, serviceable tools and move on down the road and aspire to something like this:

http://www.pwlimited.co.uk/commissions.html#

If for some reason you bend a chisel along the way to this kind of art/craftsmanship then, by all means, straighten it. Or not. I doubt anybody would fault you for simply getting a new chisel. Good ones are quite easy to come by, you know.

[Leigh Betsch]

Just use it for opening twisted paint cans.