Damaged Veritas Bench Chisel Handle

[Mike Henderson]

You can make your own brass hammers - I have a tutorial here (goes back to 2008). I used 7/8 inch brass stock and would use a bigger piece of stock if I did it again.

Mike

[JOEL MONGEON]

Thanks for all the great replies to my question. I found it great to hear what everyone uses for mallets and surprised at the variety out there. For now I bought Lee Valley's carvers mallet: https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...t?item=27E0501
but I can see the cabinet makers mallet in my not so distant future with custom face like Derek mentioned.

As for my chisel, I finally got around to fixing it. Used a rasp and several grits of sandpaper and finished it off with a few coats of Osmo Polyx. I think it turned out well.
20230112_091312.jpg

And in case you were wondering what I was using my chisel for when I damaged the handle. I was installing my new HNT Gordon tail vise. I decided to make the cover for it with strips of ash, wenge and and padauk. I thought my bench could use a little bling
20230112_091357.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

I can see the cabinet makers mallet in my not so distant future with custom face like Derek mentioned.

Cabinet makers mallets are not difficult to make. Here are posts on three of mine and the fourth link is to a mallet turned into a meat tenderizer:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?280200

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?288317

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?218732

Here are some of mine used over the years:

Ring of Mallet.jpg

This image was taken almost nine years ago.

The one on the lower right is a piece of oak off of a pallet with a cut handle. It came to me from the estate of a friend.

The one on the lower left is my first mallet. It was purchased in a hardware store that closed years ago.

jtk

[Edward Weber]

+1 ........

+2
If it doesn't have a hoop, don't hit it.

[Mike Henderson]

+2
If it doesn't have a hoop, don't hit it.

That's way too restrictive. None of my chisels have hoops - I even rehandled my Japanese chisels with western handles and I hit them all the time. I use a wooden mallet and have never noticed any real damage to the handles. I rarely have to really wack them, but have occasionally.

I don't like hoops because the handle doesn't fit my hand well when I'm not using a mallet - just pushing by hand. I find that western handles are much more comfortable in that situation.

Mike

[Edward Weber]

That's what I use. I make the mallets myself.

Mike

+1
I also use wood mallets, if necessary, on the chisels made for striking.
Simple to make

[Ernie Hobbs]

first, don't stress about it. If you are using your chisels and doing work with them, they'll get dinged up. It's OK. If they get too bad, you're a woodworker- you can make a new handle.

While I don't disagree with a lot of the advice, I think some might be overkill. I've been known to use a metal claw hammer (tapping with flat side, not the ends) with my carving chisels. As long as you are careful, it may leave a dent or two, but not a big deal.

[Edward Weber]

That's way too restrictive. None of my chisels have hoops - I even rehandled my Japanese chisels with western handles and I hit them all the time. I use a wooden mallet and have never noticed any real damage to the handles. I rarely have to really wack them, but have occasionally.

I don't like hoops because the handle doesn't fit my hand well when I'm not using a mallet - just pushing by hand. I find that western handles are much more comfortable in that situation.

Mike

Very simply, it's a personal method of work.
Hoops keep handles from splitting, I just don't strike chisels without them if I can at all help it
On most of my chisels, I turn my own handles to fit my hands and the chisels' intended purpose. I attach hoops to all of them and ferrules if they're necessary.

[Jim Koepke]

Very simply, it's a personal method of work.
Hoops keep handles from splitting, I just don't strike chisels without them if I can at all help it
On most of my chisels, I turn my own handles to fit my hands and the chisels' intended purpose. I attach hoops to all of them and ferrules if they're necessary.

Edward, I agree with what you posted. Some of my paring chisels might get tapped lightly as the situation calls for it.

My stouter chisels tend to have handles made of stouter wood and can take a mighty thumping.

Chopping a 1X2X3%22 Mortise.jpg

This is a heavy 1" chisel with an ash handle. It can take a beating and keep on eating wood.

Even my chisels with hoops do not get hit with steel.

jtk

[Edward Weber]

Edward, I agree with what you posted. Some of my paring chisels might get tapped lightly as the situation calls for it.

My stouter chisels tend to have handles made of stouter wood and can take a mighty thumping.

Chopping a 1X2X3%22 Mortise.jpg

This is a heavy 1" chisel with an ash handle. It can take a beating and keep on eating wood.

Even my chisels with hoops do not get hit with steel.

jtk

Thanks Jim

I have used a steel hammer in the past and IMO the damage done to the chisel just isn't worth it.
I simply use a larger mallet, something like a beetle, if I really need to persuade something or push through a stubborn cut, like corner chiseling.
Just a couple of different chisels I've put handles on. The chisel awaiting a handle is 1.25"
IMG_0157.jpg

[Mike Brady]

The "Wood Is Good" urethane mallets are excellent, and have never damaged any chisel hit by them. My Lie-Nielsen chisels look like the day I got them. What I would never use is any metal-faced hammer.

[JOEL MONGEON]

Thanks to all those who said I should go make a mallet.
That's just what I did this week with some scrap walnut and ash.
Just in time for my new 1" Veritas chisel that arrived yesterday.
This is much smaller than the beech mallet I was using and smaller than the Urethane mallet I picked up a few weeks ago. I've not used it yet but looking forward to trying it out.
20230203_112100.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

Nice looking mallet Joel.

It looks like it will be good for light thumping when cutting dovetails. For those deep mortises you may want to make one with a longer handle to create more force at the head.

jtk

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

I have a set and after trying i no longer use the brass mallet on them. The handles ding up pretty easily

[Ed Mitchell]

Attachment 492686

A few days before Christmas I was using my favorite 3/4 bench chisel from Veritas to install a tail vise into my workbench. Right before I was about to finish for the day I felt my chisel kind of give out. I took a look and was really bummed out to see the corner of the handle was damaged.

I was alternating between using a joiners mallet and a Veritas Journeyman's Brass Mallet. I did not think I was hitting the handle very hard but maybe I clipped it with the edge of the brass mallet. I'm going to switch to the polyurethane mallet Lee Valley sells tomorrow.

Is this something I should be concerned about? Can I use a spokeshave, rasp and some sandpaper to shape new end to the handle just a little lower down? Or will this keep happening?

I really like the Veritas chisels that I have and would eventually like a whole set (when they actually become available to purchase). I am a little worried now that the maple handles aren't as robust as other manufacturers handles and it may be extremely hard to replace as I read they are epoxied into place (correct me if I'm wrong).

There was a bit of an issue with the 1st-gen Veritas torrified maple handles. Maple is not the ideal wood to put through the torrefaction process, and Veritas had to tweak their process after some failures in the 1st-gen handles. Shannon Rogers talked about this in his Lumber Industry update podcast if you want more detail. Maybe yours is 1st gen?

Anyways, a metal hammer on a non-hooped chisel is a bit of a tough ask on the chisel handle, esp when it has the shape they've chosen. Not a huge deal, but as you found out, maybe not ideal, so you fix and move on -- again, not a huge deal. They're still among the best chisels on the market.