Bending a diy crank handle chisel?

[point5clue]

Anyone tried it? I will only use it very occasionally and have a few inexpensive 3/4” chisels that I could experiment on.

I was thinking of putting it in a metal vice and bending it just enough for the handle to be clear of the plane of the back. I’m hoping that will keep the back flat for most of its length.

 

[Fitzroy]

i am no metal work expert but my understanding is when you harden the steel in a chisel you make it pretty hard to bend, and much more liable to snapping than bending. I exepct cranked chisels are bent to shape before they are hardened. I'd wear some good eye and hand protection whilst attempting.

 

[ChaiLatte]

If you do not want to affect the heat treatment of the business end, hot bending is possible by sticking the end into a large potato and heating red hot at the bend location. Clearly this will not work on an item with a plastic handle.

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

As above but with a bowl of water or cloth either side that is kept wet.
Depends how the tool is hardened it could well snap if you try to bend cold. Even after hot bent, you could leve the steel soft and it could then bend when in use

 

[niall Y]

It would be best to remove the chisel from its handle and bend it whilst red hot. It will then have to be re-hardened and tempered. The re-hardening will most likely require quenching in oil. And, the tempering can be carried out in a domestic oven with a oven thermometer to check the temperature.

You could perhaps just heat around the tang only, and then bend this to an angle, In fact it is most unlikely that the tang is hardened at all. In which case heat should not be required. This would be a sort of compromise between having the real thing, and having a solution that would, at least, keep your hand out of the way during use.

 

[Amplidyne]

It would be best to remove the chisel from its handle and bend it whilst red hot. It will then have to be re-hardened and tempered. The re-hardening will most likely require quenching in oil. And, the tempering can be carried out in a domestic oven with a oven thermometer to check the temperature.

You could perhaps just heat around the tang only, and then bend this to an angle, In fact it is most unlikely that the tang is hardened at all. In which case heat should not be required. This would be a sort of compromise between having the real thing, and having a solution that would, at least, keep your hand out of the way during use.

I was about to put the same sort of thing. take the handle off, heat the steel, and bend to the required shape.

Cooling off naturally in the air won't anneal it.

I "made" some bevel chisels for cleaning out half blind dovetails and so on. I bought a couple of old firmer chisels that had little use, but a lot of abuse from a car boot. Heated them up in a box made of four firebricks, and left them to cool. I then ground and filed them to shape.

To reharden and temper I did the old thing we were shown as apprentices when we made cold chisels. Heat the end up to "cherry red" holding it in tongs or pliers, dip just the very end in water or oil, until the red heat goes. Quickly clean the face of the chisel near the end by rubbing it on some emery cloth pinned to a piece of wood or similar. Remember it's still hot! Wait for the colour of the oxide that will now be visible of the cleaned steel to turn the required colour for the tempering temperature, I'd reckon that was darkish brown for a wood chisel, and quench the whole piece at that. It worked well with my chisels. You'll need to clean up, flatten the back, and fit a handle obviously.

The whole hardening and tempering job only takes a few seconds to do once set up.

 

[Orraloon]

Like the others have pointed out you need to use metalworking basics. The tang itself will not be hardened so the easiest way will be just heat the base of the tang to red then bend the tang to the desired angle and let it cool down. Then fit a handle.
Now if the reason for all this is to clean out the bottom of a dado then how about one of these.
poor man's router plane - Google Search
A lot of us have got through a lifetime of woodworking and never laid hands on a cranked chisel
Regards
John

 

[Chubber]

How about making a mild steel dog leg with a tang that fits a handle nicely, cutting off a chisel with a disc cutter and, having fettled the two weld the two together?

 

[RobNichols]

If on reflection you don't fancy a metallurgy project you can get Henry Taylor cranked chisels new from a few tool specialists.

Alternatively they are not hard to find second hand, though shallow cranked gouges are the common option. Also search for pattern makers chisels as that can turn up some nice results. I think cranked chisels and gouges were often used by pattern makers.

Personally I've found Fenland tools a good source for these type of things.

 

[Chubber]

If on reflection you don't fancy a metallurgy project you can get Henry Taylor cranked chisels new from a few tool specialists.

Alternatively they are not hard to find second hand, though shallow cranked gouges are the common option. Also search for pattern makers chisels as that can turn up some nice results. I think cranked chisels and gouges were often used by pattern makers.

Personally I've found Fenland tools a good source for these type of things.

This route involves the expenditure of many SLW tokens
(Scottish Laughing Water)

 

[Owd Jockey]

Although I have never used a "cranked chisel", I would add to the other excellent tips and advice from posters, that to ensure you get the "Cherry Red" temperature have a magnet handy, the chisel will lose its magnetic properties because the crystal structure of the metal has changed. Quenching can be done in various ways, using water, oil, Perlite or other cooling agents. Needless to say, safety is very important with such high temperatures. In my forge, I always prepare what I need, have it to hand and practice my movements. The steel will cool quite quickly and become unworkable the longer you leave, meaning you will have to start over again.

 

[Amplidyne]

Like the others have pointed out you need to use metalworking basics. The tang itself will not be hardened so the easiest way will be just heat the base of the tang to red then bend the tang to the desired angle and let it cool down. Then fit a handle.
Now if the reason for all this is to clean out the bottom of a dado then how about one of these.
poor man's router plane - Google Search
A lot of us have got through a lifetime of woodworking and never laid hands on a cranked chisel
Regards
John

I designed and made wooden furniture for 20 years or so. I don't have a cranked chisel. Thought about it, but it was always an "I could use a cranked chisel for this" moment, and never really mattered that much as I always got round it.

 

[Jake]

How about making a mild steel dog leg with a tang that fits a handle nicely, cutting off a chisel with a disc cutter and, having fettled the two weld the two together?

Drill out the rivets from a trowel handle for a proper timesaving macgyver! Just don't look at it when using it and hide from sight when not.

 

[Amplidyne]

Drill out the rivets from a trowel handle for a proper timesaving macgyver! Just don't look at it when using it and hide from sight when not.

It really depends on whether you just want something functional, or want to make something that's both useful and that looks good.
Hand tools I tend to go for the "looks nice" jigs and fixtures for machines, not so much. If it does the job, that's great.

 

[ChaiLatte]

I would add to the other excellent tips and advice from posters, that to ensure you get the "Cherry Red" temperature...

Please could you, on behalf of all the other heat treatment suggesters here, say why you think this is necessary or desirable.

A good first step to answering this might be to look at some real cranked chisels from the links provided by RobNichols. The bend is where the tang emerges from the top end of the chisel, nowhere near any part of the chisel that needs heat treatment.

Frankly, if a person is unable to heat that spot up to red hot without affecting the temper of the sharp end, they had better stick to barbeques.

 

[point5clue]

Not pretty, but it bent cold - it look like it is a bit stressed at the bend, but I only intend to use it for light paring - mostly flushing edging up e.g. a plywood panel with a solid wood edge. Before I've used a plane and risked catching the thin ply, or having to register against an already flushed up bit rather than the flat plywood.

 

[RobNichols]

Fair play. Glad all the advice was useful

 

[TRITON]

Bend the tang only and make the handle the bent bit. Plastic, long enough to have a double bend in it and still enough to hold

 

[Owd Jockey]

Please could you, on behalf of all the other heat treatment suggesters here, say why you think this is necessary or desirable.

A good first step to answering this might be to look at some real cranked chisels from the links provided by RobNichols. The bend is where the tang emerges from the top end of the chisel, nowhere near any part of the chisel that needs heat treatment.

Frankly, if a person is unable to heat that spot up to red hot without affecting the temper of the sharp end, they had better stick to barbeques.

Perhaps it is you that needs to explain why it is good practice to realign/re-set the metal crystals before bending metal to a new shape and thence to quench ensuring any bend is not a point of failure. Who said anything about tempering/annealing?
Your 'advice' concerning "barbecues" is probably best left on the barbecue!

 

[BentonTool]

Not pretty, but it bent cold - it look like it is a bit stressed at the bend, but I only intend to use it for light paring - mostly flushing edging up e.g. a plywood panel with a solid wood edge. Before I've used a plane and risked catching the thin ply, or having to register against an already flushed up bit rather than the flat plywood.
View attachment 193800

I purchased a set of similar DIY "pattern-maker's" gouges on the dreaded e-site years ago.
In use, they were a bit more cumbersome than the commercially made products.
The line of force applied with the handle at this angle takes a bit of getting-used-to, but they do the job!