No lathe replacement chisel handle

[Phil Mueller]

While waiting for glue to dry, thought I'd try a first attempt at making a replacment chisel handle sans lathe. Grabbed a piece of 8/4 hard maple and cut a blank, planed it square and then planed down to 16 sides.

[Phil Mueller]

Starting at the taper end, I sawed a line at length to approximate depth. Using spokeshave, riflers, carving chisel got it to a pretty good fit.

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[Phil Mueller]

Progressing up the handle, more apokeshave, rifflers, files, chisels, sandpaper and anything else I could find to shape the thing...
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Not a perfect replica, but should be a decent user.

[Rob Luter]

Nice job. I too lack a lathe. I've made a couple of cylindrical pieces using a similar technique as you. My results were less precise, but functional nonetheless. I was going for the "frontier look". (Sure, that's it :D)

[Jerry Olexa]

Nice Job, Phil....I admire your patience, You made it happen without the lathe..I'm just learning how to turn as I have +20 socket chisel handles to make..But I'm learning and discovering its fun..BTW, the fit of the socket is the key step..Nice work, Phil.

[Brent Cutshall]

That's how I did it. Nice job!

[Alan Schwabacher]

If you are not using a lathe, why make it round? Oval, octagonal, rounded edged triangular... all are good for various tools. I consider round to be a compromise shape that is not best in use, but is common because it's easily made on a lathe.

[Jerry Olexa]

Must say again:Phil, you did a remarkable job considering no lathe,,,

[lowell holmes]

Like you, I have no lathe. I made handles for two timber framing chisels. I made one round with shaves and sand paper. The other, I made hex shaped and rounded the edges a bit..

One is a socket and the other a tang chisel.

It's not difficult to do.

[Phil Mueller]

Thanks all. Yes, hexagonal or long cylindar would have been easier, but I was out to match the original handle as close as possible to match two others in this set. Just one of those lets see if I can do it project.

Jerry, your post on wood choice did inspire me to take a shot at this. And I must say if I was looking at 20 handles, I'd be searching for someone local with a lathe, or perhaps a mini lathe for the shop. I'm embarrased to say how many hours I ended up spending on this one handle. Good luck! Keep us posted.

[James Pallas]

Nice work Phil. It pays to work on those skills. There are many places in woodworking where hand shaping is required. I wish I was better at it. I keep trying.
Jim

[Jerry Olexa]

Phil, as I was preparing for making my chisel handles , I stumbled on a You Tube video of a man doing it by hand (no lathe)..Cannot remember his name nor link..He also used spokeshave and drawknife....A tip for the future.