Plastic chisel handle removal

[Richard Dooling]

I'm planning on regrinding some old chisels for specific jobs like dovetail cleanup. I'd like to put new handles on them also so I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for removing the old molded plastic handles.

I'm trying to avoid my usual pattern of doing something the hard way a few times before that "ah-ha" moment where I see it could have been done sooooo much easier.

Or is this one of those jobs that's just a PITA hacksaw and brute force job. I guess I could go out and rent a brute.

[George Penfold]

hi
I would use a hacksaw to split it, then warm the plastic and rip it off the tange

[Bill Rittner]

I'm planning on regrinding some old chisels for specific jobs like dovetail cleanup. I'd like to put new handles on them also so I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for removing the old molded plastic handles.

I'm trying to avoid my usual pattern of doing something the hard way a few times before that "ah-ha" moment where I see it could have been done sooooo much easier.

Or is this one of those jobs that's just a PITA hacksaw and brute force job. I guess I could go out and rent a brute.

I have taken the hanles off of several Stanley #60's. These are translucent. Saw the handle off as close to the steel stub as you can get. Then open a vise just enough to let the blade and shank through but not the remains of the handle. Then use a hammer and punch to drive the chisel out of the reamaining handle. It does not take much force.

[Alice Frampton]

Heat gun - slips right off, in my experience.

[Niels Cosman]

I took the handles off off some blue handled marple/irwins a couple of years ago. Im pretty sure but the blade in a vise and then cranked on the handle with a pair of vise grips or maybe a pipe wrench. I dont remember if i cut into it beforehand. The handles shattered into pieces, definitely not "unbreakable" haha. I had to clean some junk of the tang- nothing substantial.
I didn't think to use heat, but that that sounds like a easy enough solution.

[Jim Koepke]

There are likely going to be different ways depending on the composition and how the original handles were applied.

My suggestion would be to start with the easiest and least destructive and move up from their.

Heat from a hair drier, heat gun or water bath might be a good start and move up through the sawing and brute force if the heat does nothing.

Good luck and post your results for the rest of us to go through in the future.

jtk

[Zach Dillinger]

Maybe I just had a bad batch or something, but removing the handles from a set of Blue Chip Marples was almost disappointingly easy. I cut the handle with a hacksaw, then split the remnants off with a junker chisel. Total time invested, in each chisel, was about a minute.

[Richard Dooling]

Well this was way easier than I thought it would be.

1. Use a hacksaw to cut down to the tang leaving it a little proud of the plastic.
2. Use a hammer to knock the waste off.
3. Place the blade in a dog hole.
4. Hammer the tang to release the plastic's adhesion.
5. Use a drift pin to drive the tang out of the handle.

It's helpful to have that little bit of the tang for the initial loosening so you don't need to use the drift pin. The ends of two of these tangs are rounded.

Be sure to use eye protection as the plastic may shatter.

Maybe two minutes per if it's a Sunday afternoon.


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