Handle Material?

[Caleb Gallentine]

Hello! My name is Caleb and I am new to this forum. This is my first post. I just have a question about chisel handle material.

I plan to get some new chisels soon (LN bevel edge and Ray Iles mortise) and as I work in a community shop, I want to set mine apart from other people's. I figure the best way to do that is to put a more distinctive wood handle onto my chisels.

I think my current favorite wood for it would be Goncalo Alves and I just wanted to know if any of you have used that for handles before and if it seems like a good choice? Also, if there are any other woods that would hold up and stand out similarly, I'd like to hear about those. I don't work with exotics too much as I am a college student and can't afford large quantities of them so I don't know many of them.

Thanks in advance!
Caleb

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Caleb and welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't show your location, where do you call home?

My senses are always a bit cautious about "community" anything. There are too many unpleasant memories of "community" living/working from decades in the past.

If you do not have secure tool storage it might be unwise to bring a good set of chisels or other tools into such an environment.

Many of my tools have been purchased from estates or individuals and can be traced back to being used in a large shop. The usual method in such places was for each worker to have a different color to paint the handles or other parts of their tools. In other cases names or symbols were engraved onto the tool.

The information on the internet about Goncalo Alves seems to indicate it to be a good choice for handles. Handles on socket chisels can be taken off and changed pretty quickly if someone decides they want your chisels.

jtk

[Caleb Gallentine]

Haha yeah I understand what you mean about the "community" places. This shop is NC State's craft center. I know everybody that works there pretty well and I know they wouldn't take anything that isn't theirs. I also would not be leaving them there when I'm not. I just want to be able to tell them apart so that I don't get them mixed up.

I thought about burning my name/initials into them but I figured I might as well just make some new handles that look snazzy haha

If anybody else has any opinions, I'd love to hear as many as possible before I buy any wood.

Thanks,
Caleb

[Dave Anderson NH]

If you really want to be distinctive try to find some exotic cutoffs in the shorts bin at your favorite lumberyard. Jataoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) has a high Janka hardness, is very split and crush resistant, and has a nice reddish color. $5-$10 worth should be all you'd ever need. Bubinga would also be a good choice.

[Caleb Gallentine]

I am actually about to do a hall table with maple and bubinga so maybe I could laminate a few cuttoffs of that together for it too. Thanks for that idea Dave.

Is there any problem with using laminated pieces instead of one solid piece? It seems to me that it would be the same as long as you have the grain oriented well.

[Prashun Patel]

Seems like a shame (and a waste of wood) to put new handles on new LN's or Ray Iles'. I have some LN bench chisels and the hornbeam handles are great.

How about engraving a name on the handles instead?

[Dave Anderson NH]

My experiences with laminating have been good. Most modern glues are stronger than the wood itself. Done carefully the joint should be almost invisible.

[lowell holmes]

I would keep the LN handles if you replace them. IIRC, they are hornbeam. I favor my LN chisels and I'm partial to the handles.
I also have some old Stanley handles. They are OK, but I prefer the Lie Nielsen handles.

[Caleb Gallentine]

I understand what you guys are saying with the handles being very nice as is, it's just that I'd like to make my own tools and as I don't have the forge nor the expertise to ACTUALLY make my own tools, I'd like to at least make them more personal by making the handles. I will definitely not just toss out the hornbeam cause it is fantastic. Maybe I'll just make a long paring handle for them instead of completely replacing what they come with. I just really want that personal touch...

[bridger berdel]

I understand what you guys are saying with the handles being very nice as is, it's just that I'd like to make my own tools and as I don't have the forge nor the expertise to ACTUALLY make my own tools, I'd like to at least make them more personal by making the handles. I will definitely not just toss out the hornbeam cause it is fantastic. Maybe I'll just make a long paring handle for them instead of completely replacing what they come with. I just really want that personal touch...

any reasonably hard wood will make a good chisel handle. select something colorful and decide on an extra design element- a bead near the top of the socket, for example- that you can spot from across the room.

[John K Jordan]

...I want to set mine apart from other people's. I figure the best way to do that is to put a more distinctive wood handle onto my chisels.

Caleb,

You can add distinction to a handle in several ways - One, chose a wood with amazing figure/color. Two, add detail to perhaps a less amazing piece of wood. For example of the latter, I have used chip carving, texture tools, carving (hand or power), distressing, burned lines, and intricate detail for handles of various things. Note that all woods, even those with amazing color, will darken and lose contrast over time. Things made with distinctive detail instead of relying on color could remain distinctive for past your lifetime. Read this: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...-exotic-woods/
Some photos below of a few handles I've made are below (no chisel handles.)

As for chisel handles, the wood and method of construction will depend somewhat on whether they are used only with hand force or smacked with a mallet. Hand-held handles are fine from almost every wood; tougher handles may need tougher wood and/or reinforcement.

Hey, do you know Frank Penta? He lives in Carboro near Raleigh. Frank is kind and generous and drops everything when someone asks for help! He also has an amazing 3-story shop focused on woodturning and welcomes visitors, particularly on certain days each week. If you go at the right time one of woodturning experts there will stop, put you in front of a lathe, and help with whatever you need, even basic instruction if you have never used a lathe.

Frank is like me except on a larger scale - he keeps a hundred species of wood in his stock and has probably made thousands of handle for tools and implements for sale. His latest "specialty" is making handles and things from thin pieces of contrasting wood glued together. The nice thing about this you can often find throw-away scraps for free. Frank will be demonstrating this at the Tennessee Assoc. of Woodturners symposium in Nashville in January. But give Frank a call (you can look him up with Google, by his name or by wood sprite turnings) - I guarantee it will be well worth the effort to go visit him. If you'd like, you can tell him I sent you.

Or if you find yourself near Knoxville TN give me a shout and we'll make some handles.

Some of my favorite woods for handles (and other fairly small woodturnings):

Domestic, usually fairly bland in figure/color, often cheaper, can take detail well:
-dogwood (one of my favorites!)
-persimmon
-osage orange
-black locust
-cherry
-holly
-highly figured hard maple
-english walnut burl
-nearly any light-colored wood when spalted

Exotics, can be expensive, can be stunning in color or figure:
-black and white ebony
-black ebony or african blackwood
-tulipwood (rosewood)
-cocobolo (rosewood)
-kingwood (rosewood)
-other rosewoods
-lignum vitae - very hard and tough
-goncolo alves
-bubinga
-purple heart
-bloodwood
-olive
-ziracote
-bocote

BTW, I have been known to write "Stolen from John K Jordan" on some of my tools used in public places.

Some miscellaneous turned handles, some carved, some textured, some actually for tools (but none for chisels):

crops_2015_comp.jpg wand_holly_carved_P7203954.jpg removable_handle_IMG_5549.jpg textured_handles_hunterIMG_.jpg

JKJ

[lowell holmes]

I have handles made out of sapele, curly maple, and oak. I really favor the sapele (African mahogany).

[Caleb Gallentine]

...Note that all woods, even those with amazing color, will darken and lose contrast over time. Things made with distinctive detail instead of relying on color could remain distinctive for past your lifetime. Read this: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...-exotic-woods/
JKJ

That article was pretty good. I did kinda figure it would age and darken. I am in the process of finishing a cherry kitchen table and I love the way cherry darkens (I set the coffee table I made in the direct sunlight so it'll darken quicker). I liked Goncalo Alves because of the contrast rather than the initial color though, so I don't know how much i would need to worry about that darkening. its not quite as bold as something like zebrawood but it has a little something that sets it apart and keeps it from looking so plain. Though I actually have a bit of bloodwood left over from a jewelry box so I could potentially laminate that between two pieces of another wood to get a good contrast.

...Hey, do you know Frank Penta? He lives in Carboro near Raleigh. Frank is kind and generous and drops everything when someone asks for help! He also has an amazing 3-story shop focused on woodturning and welcomes visitors, particularly on certain days each week. If you go at the right time one of woodturning experts there will stop, put you in front of a lathe, and help with whatever you need, even basic instruction if you have never used a lathe.
JKJ

I do not know Frank. The shop I work at is riddled with woodturners so I have all the advice I need when I start a lathe project (haha sometimes maybe too much advice). I have made replacement handles for some tools around the shop (I am an employee there, I don't just use it) so I am fairly confident with my ability to actually make the handles. Just so long as I make sure the tools are freshly sharpened before I use them haha.

...Some of my favorite woods for handles (and other fairly small woodturnings): ... -english walnut burl...
JKJ

How are burls for chisel handles? I love the figure in them but I didn't know if having the grain all over the place would be alright for the impact, especially for the mortise chisel (if I decide to replace it). I was generally looking at straighter grained woods but if burls are good to use then I need to start my search all over again haha.

That curly maple lathe tool handle looks absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I'll use curly maple on my lathe tools when I finally get them. I also really like the burned pattern you put into the tools on the last picture. Perhaps I will do a little burning on my chisel handles when I make them. I really like simple designs so I don't want to go overboard but i put two burned rings on the end of the handle on my gnocchi rolling board and that looks pretty good.

[Caleb Gallentine]

I have handles made out of sapele, curly maple, and oak. I really favor the sapele (African mahogany).

Why do you like the sapele the best for your handles? I just used the last bit of my sepele to turn a Christmas ornament for my fiance. It really is nice to work with but I haven't made anything other than small decorative turnings with it so I don't know how it holds up.

[John K Jordan]

How are burls for chisel handles? I love the figure in them but I didn't know if having the grain all over the place would be alright for the impact, especially for the mortise chisel (if I decide to replace it). I was generally looking at straighter grained woods but if burls are good to use then I need to start my search all over again haha.

... I also really like the burned pattern you put into the tools on the last picture. Perhaps I will do a little burning on my chisel handles when I make them. I really like simple designs so I don't want to go overboard but i put two burned rings on the end of the handle on my gnocchi rolling board and that looks pretty good.

I've had some burls stronger than others, but even though the weakness is generally in shear rather than compression I would use something tougher for tools subject to impact. Dogwood would be my first choice, persimmon, osage, and locust are pretty strong.

By "burned pattern" do you mean the simple burned lines or the complicated dark pattern? I use a star type texture tool for the patterns, rub a bit of dark walnut grain filler into the pattern for contrast. A non-cylindrical shape makes some fantastic patterns! I like to cut grooves and burn with wires to delineate the patterned areas.

Have you used the star texturing tools? I have a couple from Sorby (the two at the top) and some I got from Frank (the two at the bottom):

texturing_tools_IMG_4955.jpg

I like simple designs best too for handles, but for me some type of mild texturing helps with the grip and curves simply feel more comfortable and are easier to hold securely.

BTW, if you want very distinctive handles on your tools, you might do like my friend Joe did - he spray painted all of his tool handles red! Wrenches, sockets, wire cutters, screwdrivers, everything, bright red. Never any doubt which tools were Joe's...

JKJ