Re-handling pigstickers

[dchenard]

I've acquired three pigstickers today. Unfortunately, they came without handles:

On one I read "I&H Sorby", next one is a "Isaac Greaves", and the last one seems to say something like "C. Pearson". They're all in good shape, and I think the price was right (about 22 pounds for the three).

Now, how do I put handles on these? The tangs' shape make them not obvious to put a handle on, or so it seems (never re-handled a chisel before). How does one go about it?

As far as timber species, I have available a number of them, from maple to beech to boxwood to lignum vitae (which would seem a waste of expensive wood), and I can source hop hornbeam from a friend for free. My inclination would be to go for the hornbeam, not as much for the price as for its reputation for toughness.

Opinions, hints, etc.?

TIA,

DC

 

[David C]

Not done this much but I have always understood you drill a series of different sized holes to mimic the taper.

Careful measurement of thickness at different depths required. A good drawing will help decide where to stop the depth of each different drill diameter.

Hophornbeam should be an excellent choice.

David C

 

[Scrit]

I have some Ulmia mortice chisels and these were made with hornbeam handles which was a traditional timber for the task in Germany, although they are hooped at the top

Scrit

 

[lurker]

I wish people would not call them Pig stickers.
Seems somehow disrespectful

 

[Anonymous]

I've done this a couple of times.
You start with a blank well oversize.
Drill a hole (say 1/4" dia) to the full length of the tang.
Fit the tang and tap it as far as it will go, you might need a bigger starting hole - i.e. you tap the end of the handle down on to the bench with the chisel at the other end pointing up. Not too hard or you might split the handle.
Look at the hole - a small torch will help, and chisel away the obvious shiny high points with a small bevel edge.
Repeat this as often as necessary getting a close fit until about 1/4" to go and then tap it right home, or nearly so, it'll find it's own way with use.
Then shape the handle. Draw the desired profile at each end with a cut out cardboard pattern - positioning it so that the chisel blade is in line i.e. with the sharp end close to central on the axis. Then simply join up the lines with a plane, finish with sandpaper.
A quicker way is as above but you remove the waste by simply twisting the chisel around in the hole so it reams out the waste. Helps if you clean up the tang and give it a bit of a sharp edge.
cheers
jacob

 

[geoff-oz]

Hello,
Have a look at Derek Cohen's article at www.wkfinetools.com on re-handling an oval bolstered mortice chisel. Look under the "restoring fine tools" tab. Hope this helps.

 

[Chris Knight]

I wish people would not call them Pig stickers.
Seems somehow disrespectful

To pigs or the stickers? :lol:

 

[ac445ab]

Hi all again

Recently I have done this job and I wrote about on italian woodworking forum; so I try to translate
These vintage mortice chisels were made in France by Peugeot and Coulaux. The sizes are between 6 and 16 mm

The wood was wengè (I hope you know with same name). The ryoba has some difficults with this very hard wood.

The rough work was done with a Stanley #40 scrub plan, planing along the corners.

So, the handle begins to take its shape.

Helping myself with oval shaped cardboard and a rasp…….

…The handle is ready for being installed.

I execute gradual sized bores

Wit h6 mm chisel I try to reproduce the tag shape

For the last mm, some determined hammer shots

before finishing……

And after shellac and wax……..

Ciao,
Giuliano

 

[AHoman]

Not done this much but I have always understood you drill a series of different sized holes to mimic the taper.

Careful measurement of thickness at different depths required. A good drawing will help decide where to stop the depth of each different drill diameter.

Hophornbeam should be an excellent choice.

There are other ways to approach this. I also got a 1/2" chisel sans handle and cut a blank out of hard maple. It waited for months while I avoided it for fear of the "careful measurement of the thickness at different depths." Eventually I decided to "wing it" -- I drilled to the exact depth, thickness based on the thinnest part. Then I "freehanded" the rest on the drill press and with a small sash mortise chisel, creeping up to the size needed, rather than making the mortise too big. Finally, tapped it home with a wooden mallet -- it fit very snugly. So while you do want to account for the taper as you shape the mortise, I'm not sure that so much care in measurement is called for. In the worst case scenario you might ruin a blank and waste some time. I don't recommend the freehand drill press part (it's not safe) but the point is, there is a time and place for careful measurement, and I don't think that it is necessary when fitting these chisel handles. If you can measure quickly, go for it, but don't let it suck up your time, for it's possible to get good results without so much futzing about.
-Andy

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like we are all doing it roughly the same way- my only variation is in shaping the handle after fitting the tang - easier to get tidy alignment compared to the other way around.

cheers
Jacob

 

[Frank D.]

Hi Denis,
I'd go for the hornbeam too.
I just drill a small pilot hole for the tang (big enough to fit the tip in), then put the blade in a vise, then heat the tang red and set the handle. The handle seems to melt on to the red tang. It might take 5 or 6 shots to get the handle on completely. Don't let it cool again on you when there's only 1/4" or so to go, just try to push harder or drive it home with a mallet (if you heat the tang again at this point the handle will be loose).

Here are a few chisels I made, the top 2 in this pic (I prefer octagonal handles to oval ones). I shape the handles after I set them so i can correct if the alignment is a little off):

 

[dchenard]

Thanks all, many options here, I'll mull it over and show the results when they're done. We're supposed to hold a garage sale tomorrow, that would be something to work on during dead time...

It's interesting to note that many of these chisels seem to be found in the wild without handles. My dealer had only one with a handle out of 20 or so. I wonder if this is due to the pounding these chisels take, or the shape of the tang that wedges the handle open over time (especially after a few years of seasonal relative humidity changes), or the burning approach that (possibly) weakens the wood, making it more susceptible to the first two causes...

I'll probably try more than one approach in setting the handles, the worst I can do is split one :wink:

Thanks again,

DC

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Giuliano,

Thank you, very nice indeed.

Cheers

Mike