What Wood for Chisel Handles?

[David Weaver]

Good morning ladies and gents. I just picked up a delta mini lathe over the weekend seeing as it looks like delta is trying to blow them out (they were $199 at rockler down the street, and I see they're as cheap as $159 on the web).

I also picked up some kingwood and lignum vitae to turn handles. Both probably not the first things I should try turning, but I have already. It's hard to get a #2 morse taper into the lignum - that's for sure.

Anyway, the only reason I got a lathe is to turn tool handles as my attempts at getting the taper correct to fit the sockets just takes too long and isn't accurate enough using a rasp.

I am trying to find hornbeam blanks to make handles, but haven't found any local. Where is a good place to order online? - there are tons of places with blanks, but hornbeam doesn't seem to be a popular one. And knowing that you can strike Maine hornbeam with a steel hammer without having a hoop at the end of the chisel, is there any other wood that performs as well?

I guess I'll use the kingwood to make paring handles - I can't imagine that too many of the dalbergias wouldn't chip if they were hit with a hammer.

Anyone with experience with lignum vitae for handles? Will it tolerate hammer strikes? I can get it for about $3 for each handle.

[harry strasil]

don't understand the #2 morse taper into the LV???? can you elaborate, please?

[David Weaver]

Being a newbie, I might have the names of the lathe parts backwards. Whatever sticks in the wood and has the teeth on it - it's a pain in the weenie to get it in the lignum far enough to get the teeth to bite into the wood - even with a hammer. Maybe the lathe is supposed to be able to get the blank to dig in by turning the adjuster - but the delta midi lathe doesn't seem to have enough "spank" to get the points far enough into the blank.

Is the morse taper on the other end without the teeth? Or is it the some other part of the lathe?

I swore that I would never get into turning, and don't want to learn more than I have to, but I have too many socket chisels without decent handles.

[harry strasil]

morse taper is what is in the headstock and tailstock to hold the part you are talking about and the center for the back end.

If your driver has 4 teeth, just make two saw cuts at 90 degrees to let the teeth fit into.

[harry strasil]

FWIW, I take and roll up a piece of paper into a funnel, put in the chisel socket and fill with either sawdust and glue mix or JB weld and let dry then remove to get right taper for chisel handle, or use a candle and soot the socket inside then try handle in the socket, work the black spots down till it fits. You can also spray the socket with WD40 or something and then work the wet spots down too.

[harry strasil]

for a loose handle I oil the tapered part then wrap paper around it to hold it and then put handle back in, kinda like glueing a plane shaving to a chair rung end to make it fit tight.

[David Weaver]

Harry -

Thanks for the tips. I'm not above shimming with paper, for sure. The saw tip is a "duh" tip, but one I'll be using plenty.

Do you buy hoops, or do you smith them?

[harry strasil]

make sure handle tapered part is at least 1/4 or more short of bottoming out.
When turning shoulder at upper end of taper, leave about 3/16 long as it will wedge deeper with use.
.

[Mark Stutz]

David,
Dont' know about Hornbeam unless you just get handles from LN. As long as the wood for the handle is harder than the mallet, then you're good to go. Osage or Persimmon will work very well. Trditionally, most chisels were ash or hickory, though they usually had leather washers on the striking end. Bob Smalser has some good threads on re-handling chisels.

Mark

[Mike Henderson]

FWIW, I take and roll up a piece of paper into a funnel, put in the chisel socket and fill with either sawdust and glue mix or JB weld and let dry then remove to get right taper for chisel handle, or use a candle and soot the socket inside then try handle in the socket, work the black spots down till it fits. You can also spray the socket with WD40 or something and then work the wet spots down too.
I like your idea for getting the taper of the socket. In the past, I would just estimate the taper and "try and fit" until I got a good fit. Your idea would definitely make it go faster. Thanks!

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Just a suggestion for David. Take some scrap of any kind of wood and make a handle or two. That will give you some practice and you can see what the handle feels like in your hand. Once you get the fit and feel you like, then turn your "good" wood. You won't waste so much that way.

The feel in your hand is very important. Don't be in a rush to turn the "final" handles until you're really sure you like the way the handles feel (overall shape, how big around, and how long). The only way you'll know your real preferences is to make several of different sizes and pick the one that feels best.

[added note] Oh, one more thing. When you turn the handles, leave the centers on both ends of the handles. That way, if you later decide that you don't like the shape of the handle, you can put it back into the lathe easily and change the shape.

Mike

[David Weaver]

In short, the LN handles are too short for hand work, but good struck. The hirsch handles are OK, I wouldn't call them great, but I wouldn't call them intolerable, either. They're OK for hand work, and OK struck.

Longer and thinner handles for paring would be nice on one set, and stubby handles on chisels for striking.

I don't have enough hours under my belt to know that my tastes won't change, but it's nice to be able to just make other handles if that's the case.

[David Tiell]

In short, the LN handles are too short for hand work, but good struck. The hirsch handles are OK, I wouldn't call them great, but I wouldn't call them intolerable, either. They're OK for hand work, and OK struck.

Longer and thinner handles for paring would be nice on one set, and stubby handles on chisels for striking.

I don't have enough hours under my belt to know that my tastes won't change, but it's nice to be able to just make other handles if that's the case.
David,
Since you are talking about socket chisels, maybe you could make two sets, one for hand work, and the other for striking. Just swap them out as needed.

Dave

[Glenn Madsen]

Maybe it's a little simple, but why would you go out and buy something special in the way of wood to learn with? There's got to be something hard, dense and nasty in the wood pile somewhere to turn.

I used Sweetgum(?) Liquid amber, because that's what the city cut down, when it tore up some sidewalks. Or almond, because the load of firewood we got for my dad came from a friend's orchard. Or scraps of soft maple, because I had pieces left that fit the need from a bathroom project.

In other words, free wood. Someday, if those fail, or I need something more special, I'll make some more. And I'll be better at it. I hope, at least.

Have fun with your new lathe.

[David Weaver]

Because the blanks aren't that expensive, at least to me. If the first one turns out OK, I want to use it. I have gobs of chisels without handles, so even if it doesn't turn out great, I'll put it on a mortise or framing chisel or something less delicate than a paring chisel.

I can get foot long 2x2 osage blanks for about $3, and the Lignum are $6. I can easily make two chisel handles out of each.

Just a matter of perspective, I guess. Other than rough work and ripping, I do most of my work by hand because I like how woodworking feels. I don't know anything about turning, but I do know I like the way lignum and kingwood feel (even if the tips of the gouges don't), so I'm just indulging myself.

In order to knock the corners off the blanks before putting them on the small lathe - I use a drawknife and a hollow-face bailey shave from the 1870s to rough most of the stuff off - not because it's practical or faster, but because it's what I want to do and it feels good.

[Anchor Sarslow]

I have a lot of hornbeam in my back yard. I plan to harvest one this winter as I am dong some thining anyway. I might be willing to hare some.

[David Weaver]

I would gladly pay a reasonable price, even if needs to be air dried for a couple of years. It'll come in handy at some point.

[Phill LeBlanc]

-- yep -- I'm not above using a good (old) broken shovel handle or baseball bat -- old hard ash -

[bridger berdel]

In short, the LN handles are too short for hand work, but good struck. The hirsch handles are OK, I wouldn't call them great, but I wouldn't call them intolerable, either. They're OK for hand work, and OK struck.

Longer and thinner handles for paring would be nice on one set, and stubby handles on chisels for striking.

I don't have enough hours under my belt to know that my tastes won't change, but it's nice to be able to just make other handles if that's the case.

And thst is a reason to not spend money on exotic woods for handles just yet. Of the north american domestic hardwoods, hickory is very good and readily available as broken shovel handles and baseball bats.

[bridger berdel]

Heh. That's what happens when you post without reading the whole thread...

[John C Cox]

It's kinda funny that Oak is the classic Japanese handle wood - yet not often seen on Western chisels... I tried it out on a few of mine and like it just fine.... Oak dowels are easy to find in the store - as are good looking ash/hickory/whatever shovel and broom handles. Just chop off a section, chuck it up, and have at it....

On the tip of an old British pattern maker I met - I do not varnish the handles... He recommended I sand them no finer than maybe 120 grit... They look a bit ugly, but feel pretty good because they don't slip around in my hand.. Very "grippy" without being splintery...

[ken hatch]

It's kinda funny that Oak is the classic Japanese handle wood - yet not often seen on Western chisels... I tried it out on a few of mine and like it just fine.... Oak dowels are easy to find in the store - as are good looking ash/hickory/whatever shovel and broom handles. Just chop off a section, chuck it up, and have at it....

On the tip of an old British pattern maker I met - I do not varnish the handles... He recommended I sand them no finer than maybe 120 grit... They look a bit ugly, but feel pretty good because they don't slip around in my hand.. Very "grippy" without being splintery...

John,

Japanese Oak is a different animal than North American Oak. I'm not saying NA Oak is bad for chisel handles but it is different and is not usually the wood used.

ken

[Bruce Haugen]

John,

Japanese Oak is a different animal than North American Oak. I'm not saying NA Oak is bad for chisel handles but it is different and is not usually the wood used.

ken

Besides that, most Japanese bench chisels are hooped, preventing the handle from splitting.

[Brandon Speaks]

You should be right within its local range to cut some hhb. It is my prefered wood for making bows and I harvest it right behind my cabin. Ive got a whole stack of staves in my basement.

[steven c newman]

IF one did have a lathe...just walk into the local BORG and buy a bunch of hammer handles , maybe $4 each? Cut and turn to the style that fits the hand best. Handles are usually out of Hickory....

[Bruce Haugen]

IF one did have a lathe...just walk into the local BORG and buy a bunch of hammer handles , maybe $4 each? Cut and turn to the style that fits the hand best. Handles are usually out of Hickory....

You don’t need a lathe to “turn” a hammer handle into a chisel handle, just a spokeshave and a rasp.

[John C Cox]

John,

Japanese Oak is a different animal than North American Oak. I'm not saying NA Oak is bad for chisel handles but it is different and is not usually the wood used.

ken

Here's what I found:
Quercus acutissima - "japanese red oak" - is known here in the USA as "Sawtooth oak". It's commonly commercially planted, logged, and sold as "Red oak" here in the USA because the wood is red....

Smell is supposedly similar to white oak - not red oak, and it's not "through porous" like proper red oak here... It's suitable for cooperage and boats - where American red oak is not....

----------

Now... Given that description - I believe I have gotten plenty of this mixed in with proper "red oak" I have bought.... As I have run across plenty of "Red oak" that has the delicious vanilla scent of white oak rather than the fungus/vinegar scent of red oak.... And the red, vanilla scented stuff was also not through-porous... I actually like this stuff a lot better than the "regular" red oak because of the smell.... I could tell it was different - but didn't know what it was...

But honestly, other than that - it works the same....

[ken hatch]

Here's what I found:
Quercus acutissima - "japanese red oak" - is known here in the USA as "Sawtooth oak". It's commonly commercially planted, logged, and sold as "Red oak" here in the USA because the wood is red....

Smell is supposedly similar to white oak - not red oak, and it's not "through porous" like proper red oak here... It's suitable for cooperage and boats - where American red oak is not....

----------

Now... Given that description - I believe I have gotten plenty of this mixed in with proper "red oak" I have bought.... As I have run across plenty of "Red oak" that has the delicious vanilla scent of white oak rather than the fungus/vinegar scent of red oak.... And the red, vanilla scented stuff was also not through-porous... I actually like this stuff a lot better than the "regular" red oak because of the smell.... I could tell it was different - but didn't know what it was...

But honestly, other than that - it works the same....

A couple of links on the woods and how Japanese chisel handles are made: http://www.japan-tool.com/nomi/Handle_Making/Handle_Making.html and http://www.japan-tool.com/nomi/Handle_Making/Handle_Making.html (http://www.japan-tool.com/nomi/Handle_Making/Handle_Making.html .)

ken

[Alan Schwabacher]

One of the reasons to make handles of readily available ash, hickory, elm, or whatever is in the firewood pile is that you may find you prefer it to exotics.

The money may be meaningless, but in an hour you can have 5 or 6 different handle shapes to try, relegating them to 2nd rank chisels or tossing them back into the firewood pile if you don't like them.

I think this is one of the situations where trying to make fewer items will take much longer, particularly if you are new to turning and want to develop skills to cut rather than scrape.

[John C Cox]

That's how I ended up with oak handles - and I like them very much so far.

I know there is a concern with oak rusting tools if it gets wet or it isn't seasoned properly... But I haven't had this problem with chisels - but I did have issues with oak staining steel body planes and the wood ending up with black ebonized sections... So maybe that's the concern...

[john zulu]

I found Balau an excellent wood for handles. After the nasty interlocking grain.

[Jim Koepke]

It is always amusing to see a thread from so long in the past resurrected.

Now here is an idea to my liking:


I have a lot of hornbeam in my back yard.

What is the local wood that is easy to find? In my yard it is bog cherry or bitter cherry and vine maple. Both of these are great for making handles. The vine maple is very clean looking with little grain showing. It is too sterile looking for my taste.

There is also the more recently learned about cascara tree, it is in the buckthorn family. It is hard and turns nicely. There may be some allergy issues for some. With any wood to be used for a handle one should look it up. You are most likely sitting at an electronic device with the ability to find information on such things, use it. (Cascara has been used for centuries as a laxative, but must be handled properly.)

Sadly, some folks do not have a rural setting where they can find such things in their yard. Sometimes you just have to hunt Craigslist for stuff to haul away for free.
Sometimes you need to hunt through building supply or salvage dealers to find a suitable piece of wood.

Work with what you have and make a handle. If it doesn't feel right, make another out of something else.


-- yep -- I'm not above using a good (old) broken shovel handle or baseball bat -- old hard ash -

My problem with (old) broken shovel handles is having learned a long time ago how not to break a shovel handle there aren't many of those around. Old baseball bats are becoming more of a collector's item since the advent of the aluminum bat.

jtk