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Thread: Chisel Hoops in a heated shop

  1. #1
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    Chisel Hoops in a heated shop

    Other than building a humidor do you guys take certain measures to keep your chisel hoops as tight in the winter as in the summer?
    Been working steadily with the wood stove going this winter and my hoops are all spinning. They are just right 3/4 of the year.

    Not the first time I notice and I'm guessing that mine aren't the only loose hoops. Any thoughts?

    Thanks much.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  2. #2
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    Any thoughts?
    Yes but you won't like it.
    I am one of the crazies that think there is enough pollution and heat generated into the atmosphere as it is (and there is the carbon problem).
    Sooooooo since I use my lungs to get to work and need oxygen more obsessively than most. I hate riding along in the winter and getting big lungs full of smoke from people burning crap wood and trash in their fire places. Good hard wood is way better but still way less desirable than just auto exhaust polluted "Air".
    I say . . . .
    Don't burn wood. Don't use a wasteful stove.
    Use the most efficient natural gas furnace you can get your hands on, hot water heat, or go passive solar or other (hot spring ? ? ?).

    Could maybe re seat your hoops baking the handles gently to lower moisture content before installing the hoops and then they will be extra tight. Might still loosen some part of the year.
    Sharpening is Facetating.
    Good enough is good enough
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    Better is Better.

  3. #3
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    Thanks for a wasted answer. You are right I don't like it.

    Shall I burn oil? Shall I burn natural gas? Should I use electricity? If I were wealthy (and/or 30 years younger) I would install a wind generator and be very very happy to do so. I live in the woods in Maine, and by the way I burn compressed wood blocks. My wife and I are making the best of our situation and doing everything we can in practical ways to contribute to the health of our planet. We don't have kids and don't eat processed foods either. Save your judgement for when you are explaining yourself to St. Peter (That's a metaphor - I don't need a reply debating religious beliefs.)

    Loose hoops in the winter it will be then
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  4. #4
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    Sam,

    My chisel handles dried out after their initial hoop setting. I just gave them another quick soak in camellia oil and mushroomed the handles a little further with a ball peen.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  5. #5
    Are these japanese or western chisels?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Weaver View Post
    Are these japanese or western chisels?
    They are Japanese a mix of makers.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  7. #7
    I have the same problem. I allow them to be loose. I guess if we used them enough, there'd be less of a problem. The older set of iyoroi chisels I have (I guess it's actually my newer set, but the old set of ouchi chisels i have didn't get their hoops set until last year), I set them in the summer and had to trim the handles and of course that resulted in all of them being loose.

    I don't know if there's merit to soaking them with water and then trying to replace the water with non drying oil, but I think I'm going to do that.

    I had a gumi handle actually release a piece (even though the hoop is set properly) of fairly large material the other day while pounding out HBDT , but the chunk came out at the top of the handle in the hoop.

  8. #8
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    One of the pluses of the non-drying oil is that it will not cause the hoop to rust.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  9. #9
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    I enjoy a little smell of burning wood or coal in the air. Makes me reflect on my young life in Renton,Seattle,or Alaska.

  10. #10
    I do, too. We heated with it my entire childhood and I had the good fortune to be involved with collecting or splitting most of it (which I liked as a kid, it was a summer family activity).

    Gas heat is nice (which is what we have now) and it's sure cleaner, and right now dirt cheap, but there is something nicer about having a fire and a bit of a smell of oak (coal was common when I was a kid, too, but most coal got replaced with oil furnaces in the cheap oil 90s) and it's hard to find much of it in use other than the amish and mennonites.

  11. #11
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    Alright - thanks for some thoughtful answers.
    I will put camellia oil on the shopping list and in the meantime not use intense whacks on the chisels.

    And yes the air smells good around my place these days - what with the ocean breezes and the wafting wood smoke.
    Though I get Mr. Applegate's point, my options are severely limited.
    Last edited by Sam Murdoch; 01-16-2015 at 8:32 PM.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  12. #12
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    Before installing the hoops, I use a hammer to pound the sides of the handle, to compress the wood slightly. That way when you side the hoops on, the wood will expand tightly against them. Also make sure the hoops are installed in the correct orientation. The hoops should have one side with a thick rim and one side with a thinner rim. The hoop itself should also have a bulge in the middle. Use a file to smooth any rough edges, and install the thin side into the handle first.

    Of course your seasonal humidity swing could be just too extreme, resulting in loose hoops no matter what you do.

  13. #13
    I don't have a fireplace but I love the smell coming from the chimneys in my neighborhood. I like your reply.

    Oh yeah, chisel hoops... I don't have any.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Murdoch View Post
    Thanks for a wasted answer. You are right I don't like it.

    Shall I burn oil? Shall I burn natural gas? Should I use electricity? If I were wealthy (and/or 30 years younger) I would install a wind generator and be very very happy to do so. I live in the woods in Maine, and by the way I burn compressed wood blocks. My wife and I are making the best of our situation and doing everything we can in practical ways to contribute to the health of our planet. We don't have kids and don't eat processed foods either. Save your judgement for when you are explaining yourself to St. Peter (That's a metaphor - I don't need a reply debating religious beliefs.)

    Loose hoops in the winter it will be then

  14. #14
    About 75% of my house heat comes from a wood stove and I love it. We always keep a kettle of water on the stove, the boiling water creates a measurable increase in the humidity in the air (NOT ENOUGH TO CAUSE ANY KIND OF RUSTING), I would suggest you add a kettle of water, it will keep you and your chisel handles more comfortable.

  15. #15
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    It's not a wasted answer.
    Hopefully it will prevent some from poisoning all and bringing on a sooner and irreversible environmental disaster.

    And to repeat my attempt to provide a solution
    Could maybe re seat your hoops baking the handles gently to lower moisture content before installing the hoops and then they will be extra tight. Might still loosen some part of the year.
    coal got replaced with oil furnaces in the cheap oil 90s) and it's hard to find much of it in use
    Thank Bob. Ask the Brits how coal worked in London back in the day. People were falling dead from it.

    my options are severely limited.
    I can relate
    In the early '80s I burned wood.
    I could not afford a modern furnace if I had to put one in tomorrow.
    I am lucky the landlord bit the bullet and put one in about two years ago.
    I aimed my comment to those who can easily afford to adapt and do not.
    I think that is the majority of the readership here.
    To save fuel I have been known to sit on the couch late at night in a down coat (after SWMBO goes to bed) rather than turn up the heat. By the way that is THE ONLY use I have ever had for a down coat; when my circulation has slowed way up while sitting around for long periods. Once I get up and start doing something off comes the down even if I am camping.
    I like cooler air in the house, 57 to 60° with more cloths on anyway though. Rooms that are hot like most every where I go in the city in the winter drives me out.
    I have a mountain man's metabolism in a city slicker's world. At work I work in shorts with my shirt unbuttoned part way while every one else is in long winter pants and sweaters. Makes me swoon just thinking about wearing their cloths in that environment.
    Wheeeeuu

    See photo. This hammer never loosened after I made it with the Windsor chair technique I mentioned above. I wet the end of the baked handle with water after I tapped it through the head, then peened it ala Japanese chisel hoop setting.

    I am in Colorado though so your milage may vary.
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    Last edited by Winton Applegate; 01-18-2015 at 7:09 PM.
    Sharpening is Facetating.
    Good enough is good enough
    But
    Better is Better.

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