# Chisel handles for the tool-challenged



## Alf (28 Sep 2006)

A bashed together this one to demonstrate a couple of things:

a) You don't need a lathe to make chisel handles. Neither do you need to try and make round handles off the lathe - take advantage of the benefits of non-round handles.

b) You don't need fancy tools to do this sort of thing.

c) Plastic handled chisels can be made bearable for even the dedicated wooden handle user.

d) There's nothing so daft that I won't try and encourage someone else to do... 8-[

A quick look at the contents of the famous Seaton Chest will show you a sort of squashed tapered octagon handle shape on many of the chisels, which is flippin' comfy. This is kinda an approximation, but I probably didn't take as much trouble over it as I would have if the chisel had been worth the effort... 

First, take your unlovely plastic handled chisel. In this case a Stanley 5500; not very old at all and really very, very unlovely indeed.




Remove the plastic that doth offend your hand. I used a hot air gun, but hacksawing it off is another option I've tried with success.





And here is the rather odd tang revealed; a brief trip to the grinder dealt with the vestigial lugs. Two options; spend a while grinding it into a square tapered tang; or cheat, bore a hole and get out the Araldite...





I cheated. Well I did the tang thing last time I did this, so I wanted to see how the epoxy'd hold up. The handle in potentia is a piece of beech, about 1" x 1 1/4". In hindsight maybe 1 1/2" would have been better, but then again... Length is up to you. And yes, we attach the handle before we do the shaping. If you want to be all posh, you could refer to this as "the workmanship of risk". I call it "in that case let's try not to make too big a mess of the handle shaping then, shall we?" :wink:





First stage, a taper shape across the width. Then the same on the thin sides, so you've got a sort of tapering oblong-ish shape. I actually slightly curve the taper so it's not dead straight, but a bit convex.





The high-tech tool used for this delicate shaping? That Groz block plane. No fancy tools, see? If you like you could look on it as a good opportunity to play with a spokeshave. Or just sand the heck out of it.





You might need to do a bit of angling to avoid trying to plane the blade of the chisel, but to be honest it's not much likely to hurt either of these tools... :wink:





Then it's a case of planing down the corners to make the squashed octagon shape. I pencilled in a couple of lines to give me a guide, but to be honest it ended up being a case of a tweak here, a tweak there to get it in line with the chisel - which is the benefit of doing the shaping after fitting the blade. _Ah ha_ :idea:





A bit of rounding over of the facets at the butt end to make a comfortable area to push against, a wipe of shellac and a lick of wax and it's... well still ugly, but _slightly_ less so than it was. IMO. Of course _you_ may be sitting there, banging your head on the monitor, wailing "why, Alf? Why? That beautiful plastic handle, destroyed. And for this?!". Sorry. 





At about that point I lost the plot completely and spent time grinding down the agricultural bevels, regrinding the primary bevel and honing the lot on the felt wheel. Pearls before swine really, but it did perform okay once it was done. Should need resharpening again by the end of that shaving... :roll:





So I don't want to hear any more excuses, ya hear? [-X 

:wink: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Paul Chapman (28 Sep 2006)

That's great, Alf =D> 

Paul


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## Colin C (28 Sep 2006)

Well done Alf 
I did the same thing with a Sorby handle that split ( next time dont use a hammer :roll: )

Good fun  
Colin
On the subject of chisels, what did you think of you carving tool that I gave to Paul  8-[  
( sorry for going off topic ) :wink:


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## engineer one (28 Sep 2006)

some people will take no prisoners!!! :twisted: :roll: 

just when we felt it was safe only to buy decent tools
alf you do this :lol: :lol: 

nice though

paul :wink:


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## George_N (28 Sep 2006)

Another cracker Alf, well done =D>. I have just such an unlovely Stanley chisel in the garage and some scraps of beech, all I need now is for the tuit to arrive.


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## Frank D. (28 Sep 2006)

Nice job Alf! They remind me a little of my own handles (the ones on my chisels, that is). Great tutorial as usual.


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## Adam (28 Sep 2006)

Well done. Always interesting to see tool improvements. 

Adam


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## Alf (28 Sep 2006)

George_N":36gg1v5f said:


> ...all I need now is for the tuit to arrive.


Sorrry, George; knew there was something I'd forgotten. #-o

Colin, hell, didn't I say anything about your gouge? Shame on me.  T'was most excellent - those square tapered shanks give a sturdy old tang, don't they?  I must confess I seem to fall over gouges with monotonous regularity, whereas shell bits are a bit of a rare bird.  So as long as you're not destroying useable ones... :wink: :lol: I was browsing through the 1940 (iirc) Woodworker last night, ostensibly looking for something else :-$ 8-[ and there were a few further ideas for converting broken/worn out tools into other tools that appealed to me but I can't recall if they'd suggested that one.

Cheers, Alf


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## Colin C (28 Sep 2006)

Alf":wpj9u65s said:


> Colin, hell, didn't I say anything about your gouge? Shame on me.  T'was most excellent - those square tapered shanks give a sturdy old tang, don't they?  I must confess I seem to fall over gouges with monotonous regularity, whereas shell bits are a bit of a rare bird.  So as long as you're not destroying useable ones... :wink: :lol: I was browsing through the 1940 (iirc) Woodworker last night, ostensibly looking for something else :-$ 8-[ and there were a few further ideas for converting broken/worn out tools into other tools that appealed to me but I can't recall if they'd suggested that one.
> 
> Cheers, Alf



Thanks for that but I cut a tang out of the shankso that you get a sholder for the handle to sit on to Hopefull you will see at the next bash  

Destroy useable one who me :shock: 8-[ :-$ but come to think of it :-k.
I am not destorying it but changing its use :roll:  .
Plus it has saved me lots, which is always good :wink:


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## Alf (28 Sep 2006)

Gawd, I'm doing well today - I meant bolster! #-o

Sheesh, some days I'm not safe to be let out of the padded cell... :roll: :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## NickZ (28 Sep 2006)

Not sure if I should admit this but :lol: I've made file handles from tree branches. I just pick some that are about the right thickness and cut them to length. Leave them be for them to dry out. Then peel off the bark and shove the file handle in the branch.


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## bugbear (29 Sep 2006)

Alf":decd3fzv said:


> Remove the plastic that doth offend your hand. I used a hot air gun, but hacksawing it off is another option I've tried with success.


Nice driveby - care to tell me more about that NEAT little sliding bevel?



Alf":decd3fzv said:


> At about that point I lost the plot completely and spent time grinding down the agricultural bevels



Ooh. Neat work - any thing involved doing that except time, care, and the Mk 1 eyeball?

BugBear


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## Alf (29 Sep 2006)

Nick, well I feel like I've been unnecessarily fancy in my handle now.  There's a guy on the Old Tools list who does the same thing, iirc, but I think he doesn't even bother removing the bark.



bugbear":2md0w14w said:


> Nice driveby - care to me more about that NEAT little sliding bevel?


Purely coincidental  All about the bevel here (I'll take a "You suck" for it, btw... :wink: )



bugbear":2md0w14w said:


> Ooh. Neat work - any thing involved doing that except time, care, and the Mk 1 eyeball?


Bench top belt sander...  Didn't take that long as it happens. Possibly because I didn't mind that much if I messed it up, so naturally it went swimmingly. :roll: :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (29 Sep 2006)

You must enter a message when posting


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## bugbear (2 Oct 2006)

Alf":17ak0gl2 said:


> bugbear":17ak0gl2 said:
> 
> 
> > Nice driveby - care to me more about that NEAT little sliding bevel?
> ...



Ah - I remember that post now. I suspect the bevel is an apprentice piece - since the nut is larger than the stock - A design mistake that a factory would fix after the first round of complaints

BugBear


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## bugbear (2 Oct 2006)

Mr_Grimsdale":2jivdpx8 said:


> Alf":2jivdpx8 said:
> 
> 
> > snip
> ...



The steel is soft, and the handle is ugly.

BugBear


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## Alf (2 Oct 2006)

bugbear":2prfhib4 said:


> ...the nut is larger than the stock


Perspective I think , 'cos it's not. 

Cheers, Alf


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## bugbear (2 Oct 2006)

Alf":30fqgk4v said:


> bugbear":30fqgk4v said:
> 
> 
> > ...the nut is larger than the stock
> ...



You expect *me* to have proper perspective?!?!?

BugBear (who is happy that Alf has a correctly working tool)


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## Alf (2 Oct 2006)

I will refrain from comment. It's hard. Oh so very hard. But nevertheless, refrain I shall... :wink: :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Colin C (2 Oct 2006)

Alf":3mwldfqx said:


> I will refrain from comment. It's hard. Oh so very hard. But nevertheless, refrain I shall... :wink: :lol:
> 
> Cheers, Alf



Now there is a first :shock: :wink: 

( running for the hills )


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## Alf (2 Oct 2006)

Cheeky devil...


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## Anonymous (2 Oct 2006)

You must enter a message when posting


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## bugbear (2 Oct 2006)

Mr_Grimsdale":304azdst said:


> How do you know that the steel is soft? Can't say I've noticed with mine - though it is a bit unfinished looking; not polished like a Stanley 5001.



Scientific induction  

BugBear


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