More Chisels With New Handles

[Tom LaRussa]

These are not quite finished yet. I still have some detail work to do on the tops of the handles.


3 Fulton Bench Chisels

These are bevel-edged, but the blades are pretty thick, so I feel comfortable giving them brass hoops rather than leather striking buttons.




Ohio Tool Co Firmer

This is a big, heavy sucker.




James Swan Firmer

A Nice One, (IMHO).

[Marc Hills]

Tom:

I must say those chisels and your hand turned handles are stunning. The brass bolsters add a very classy touch. I do admire anyone who restores fine old tools to their working glory.

What kind of wood is that? It looks a bit too red to be walnut. Mahogany?

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom:

I must say those chisels and your hand turned handles are stunning. The brass bolsters add a very classy touch. I do admire anyone who restores fine old tools to their working glory.

What kind of wood is that? It looks a bit too red to be walnut. Mahogany?

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your kind words.

The wood is cocobolo.

Turns pretty nice, don't it?

[Mark Stutz]

Tom,
Those look very nice. Do you start with a 2 X 2 turning blank for each handle or something smaller? And how do you get them so shiny--or is that a "trade secret"?

Mark

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom,
Those look very nice. Do you start with a 2 X 2 turning blank for each handle or something smaller? And how do you get them so shiny--or is that a "trade secret"?

Mark

Hi Mark,

For it to be a "trade secret" wouldn't it need to be part of a trade? I mean as opposed to being a sort of weird obsession...

Anyhoo,

I'll run down the entire list of stuff I do, so folks can see what they may need to try in different situations. How many steps I perform on each tool depends on what shape it's in when I acquire it -- in other words, it's a judgment call that a person has to make with each individual tool.

[1] Electrolysis or phosphoric acid bath to remove heavy rust;

[2] Grinding with stationary bench sander to get rid of pitting. Depending on how deep the pits are I start with either 60 or 120 grit and work up to 320.

[3] If the chisel has particularly stubborn spots, I use one or both of the following, in various grits as needed:

• Rubberized Abrasive points chucked in a Dremel http://www.lascodiamond.com/products/silicone.html
• 3M Unitized Wheels on Dremel http://www.fdjtool.com/store/showite...BF9025&store=5

[4] The step that produces the greatest immediate change is Polishing with 3M Cut & Polish wheel -- all chisels get this step. http://rshughes.com/products/048011_03270.html

[5] If warranted, I use a cotton buffer and some of that stick-type abrasive stuff for a final polish.

[Sam Miller]

I thought Mark was talking about the wood being shiny.

[Tom LaRussa]

Welcome to the 'Creek, neighbor! (I'm in New Tampa.)

I thought Mark was talking about the wood being shiny.

[Jim Becker]

Tom, your handles look great.

Question, since I'm not familiar with this "sport"...I notice that your turned handles don't provide a shoulder at the top of the socket for the metal to seat to. Is that the way they have always been made? 'Just curious 'cause I'm not familiar with this type of chisel. (I'm definitely a chisel novice!)

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom, your handles look great.

Question, since I'm not familiar with this "sport"...I notice that your turned handles don't provide a shoulder at the top of the socket for the metal to seat to. Is that the way they have always been made? 'Just curious 'cause I'm not familiar with this type of chisel. (I'm definitely a chisel novice!)

Jim,

All the old socket-type chisels I've seen look this way.

I'm not sure why they are made with what looks like it could be a shoulder, (if it were fitted more exactly), but isn't.

My guess is that a shoulder would not really add much contact area, compared to that inside the socket and might even be susceptible to cracking under the force of hammer blows.

Who knows?

[Jim Becker]

Tom, I only asked the question because the situation isn't dissimilar to what one should do when turning a tenon to use with a chuck on the lathe. It's very important that there be a shoulder that the top of the jaws butt up against to reduce the chance of cracking the tenon off. On the chisel, I'm wondering if providing a shoulder that makes for a smooth transistion from the metal to the wood might do the same thing. My Ashley Ilse chisels are constructed with both the shoulder that backs up the socket and a ferrule!