What Wood for Chisel Handles?

[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/Handl...le_Making.html and 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...