Handle wood omnibus

[D_W]

I don't know how common ebony handles are in japan (vs. for export). My first set of japanese chisels was a mediocre quality set, but that came in a presentation box with ebony handles. Certainly fine for work, but exactly the opposite of a typical japanese tool, which is correctly made by a reasonable routine on the metallic parts and the handles are fairly low cost add ons (most rings appear to be third party, too, as are the handles).

The first set was a product of the 80s when low yen value made selling things to "gaijin" easy. When I buy vintage chisels from japan, they're unpretentious and not quite so perfectly filed as the current high priced chisels, but not sloppy, either (suggesting forging and then grinding fairly quickly in some kind of jig).

Ebony and stuff like katalox here would be harsh in a japanese chisel. Not sure how katalox would fare, but many of the really really hard woods are extremely musical. Gabon doesn't seem to have any conviction to grain in any direction, it's just hard. Some of the others are very hard and straight with super hard "straws".

Really musical combined with a steel hammer and something steel at the other end, not that great in my opinion, but gaijin likes.

(in my travels through the used chisels on buyee, the only time I've seen rosewood/macassar ebony type handles are on reconditioned sets thrown together by resellers - I tend to buy chisels that are just used or provided in sets and that look like good finish (but not prissy) full professional used sets.....just looked at what I have here, which may be 7 or 8 dozen chisels. One set with gumi handles, and the rest are white or red oak (including three kiyotadas that were sold in japan, and not through an exporter to the US - just red oak).

 

[D_W]

I'll be putting some of that bling on mine, though!! Mine are just low quality showy junk and I'm playing!!

 

[D_W]

Indian rosewood on the left - chakte viga beside it (the chakte handle is bigger than it looks, but intended to be to be a push chisel). that set of four chisels was all long parers - I got a new quench tank (an ammo can) last week capable of doing chisels this long and all warped both in bow, but also side bow. More considerably than I expected. Correcting the side bow in one resulted in shorter length, and bow in the other, same. But that's the way it goes. It's less frustrating to learn from them than it is to leave them in oddball shape and not be able to use them. The one slightly shortened still works well on the push, and the other will just be handled as a bench chisel.

The rosewood handle is the purpose of this post, though - it's also out of proportion (too long), but I wouldn't have known that it would be without making it and picking it up. The color of the wood is nice, though - much less dusty than louro preto.

 

[D_W]

(chakte viga is becoming a real favorite, though, and probably my replacement for boxwood - different looking, but super smooth feeling, and has a three dimensional quality in some of the grain changes).

 

[D_W]

Granadillo. Polishes wonderfully. Almost no finish on it at all.

This odd little chisel is a parer that broke while straightening.

 

[D_W]

One more in louro preto. It looks semi spalted, but isn't. The grayish yellow is just color variation

 

[D_W]

Domestic apple (Finish is just linseed oil and very thin shellac rubbed on top of it).

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

David: is this another chisel you have made? If so, you really need to have a stamp made to imprint, at least, your initial, if not your last name, on the steel.

T.

 

[D_W]

Yes on both of those (It is one that I've made). At some point I'm going to give stamp making a shot. Just something simple like a 19th century English stamp that will go on the back of the chisel near the tang.

I may be making them for a while. They're fun to make and don't require much equipment.

 

[D_W]

Granadillo, two -same name as above on the listing, same brown color covered with wax. Totally different wood (like the former better, but apparently this type is much more common. Almost like a nicer version of oak with a strange smell of oak and peppery rosewood smell mixed.

Came wet as a gym sock and reacted after I sawed it and turned the cylinders (probably reacted with metal dust floating around and laying around from making chisels - interesting that it smelled like oak and reacted like it, too). That reaction as just on the surface and was long gone once this handle was made.

kind of a pleasing color, working it is "meh", it seems to be a decent overall choice and relatively cheap compared to some options here (about $2.50 a handle).

 

[marcros]

What is the origin of these [strange] timbers David, South America? I have never heard of most of them!!

 

[D_W]

yes, southern mexico, central america, brazil. They come onto my radar as I'm looking for something good, not absurdly heavy (katalox and gombeira are interesting in that they are almost poreless, but they're so heavy and hard - if you bang two pieces together, they'll make your ears ring).

Indian rosewood is inexpensive for now (it's also really nice), but I guess I like to try things. Olivewood is nice, too, but double the price of something like chakte viga or granadillo.

The longer-in-the-tooth exotics were probably mostly from africa whereas most of what I'm seeing now reasonable (other than plantation indian rosewood) is central and south america. The old standby stuff from down there (kingwood, snakewood, etc) is super expensive - I guess it's exhausted. Even cocobolo to some extent is super high (relative to what it used to be). It's nice wood, but the price isn't justified when it's double indian rosewood.