What does a hand tooler do with a tablesaw...

[D_W]

hang it on the wall and let it catch sparks off of a belt grinder.



I forge weld on a 1x1x1/4" bit of metal to a chisel tang (so that it doesn't deform going through a hole on the anvil - the tang of the chisel goes through the hole, that is), and then need to grind most of it off before filing the bolsters to final octagonal shape.

I didn't catch the last part (doesn't matter) , grinding the angle onto the facet to remove any remaining scale and save the safe edge files that I use to finish filing.

There's a little bit more than 4 feet from the contact area to the table saw (you can see the sparks splash off of the TS when the grinding stops, otherwise it's hard to make out that the sparks fly into the table saw top and fall onto the floor. Normally, this would be dusty and smoky (need a mask), but the bolster is mild steel and the steel just comes off in large bits and not much ends up in the air.

The type of belt (ceramic) is tiny particles built in piles and then this belt is rated at 36 grit. It doesn't make that much heat, so the body of the chisel never gets too hot to grip. With an al-ox belt, this would be torturous.

 

[D_W]

these all get filed after this to near finish - one ugly gap in a forge weld on one chisel - I'll punch this shut and clean up the filing, the forge weld is fine, it's just not 100% even all the way around.

I toot on often about doing something enough that it become exercise, and these chisels and filing at least at a utility level like this, filing these facets is just exercise now. That is when work becomes really pleasant, when you're not stopping and starting or correcting or not sure if things will turn out. These are a set for someone else, as usual, just for cost of materials - it's nice to share things with people, but at about $15 each chisel in supplies, I couldn't justify continuing to make set after set if I had to give them away. Break even is wonderful luxury.

They are headed for quench and temper in about 5 minutes (headed as in just done with forge and quench oil no commercial anything) and then I will correct and final grind them hardened (just like the "Real" makers did!) and handle them. The grinder is a blessing. I wanted to do all of this by hand, but the consumption of files is unbelievable. I'd love to have a giant job grinder wet wheel and glazing setup, but it's not sensible in a house, and the modern ceramic belt types are so efficient at sending heat with the particles that you can grind the bevels on the chisels and never dip them and never have them get too hot to hold (a good way to know you're not burning anything).

 

[D_W]

 

[D_W]

After most of the hand grinding is done (I'm going to leave them black at the tangs and blue any bits of corrected fresh metal on the bolsters).

 

[D_W]

By the way, if you guys think advice is shaky with woodworking, you should see what kind of advice is handed out on knife and other forums about heat treating and tempering in your own shop. Most centers around "you can't do it, nothing will turn out", but some is funny ("only canola oil is safe as a vegetable oil for a quench")

If canola is safe, refined soy supposedly isn't? And the quench oils specifically defined for quench often have a low smoke point and will catch fire at the top of the quench tank needing to be snuffed - though you may just allow them to burn temporarily if you're quenching several items to allow the smoke to burn off).

Varnish making, on the other hand - that's an outdoor activity only unless you're working in a steel mill.

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

I think you’ve found your calling, David! Those are my favorite shapes, especially with the bolster!

 

[D_W]

Thanks, Tony. I wish I had unlimited time to make them- they're fun to make. I have only handled the large one of this group so far, chakte viga handle in this case.

 

[D_W]

The final group. Warpage caused the second from narrowest to be a little thinner. The widest started thinner, different type of file.

 

[scooby]

They look very nice Well done. I also like the AI style handles.

 

[D_W]

They look very nice Well done. I also like the AI style handles.

I like that type, too, though I'd refer to it as a marples carver style, but perhaps a bit fat at the top end (some are like a symmetrical pillow, but I don't turn them that way so that someone can chip a corner off and sand them out and have some fat to work with.). AI has kept more true to the old cabinetmaker proportion chisels probably than almost anyone else - nice and light but you can strike them in the direction of cut as briskly as you'd like.

I've sent around probably 40 or 50 chisels now, and I think most people just pare with them. These were initially uber hard, but I tempered them back some - learning lessons that to be usable, they don't need to be quite so bullet hard.