Best wood for chisel handles? Glue 2 blanks OK?

[Jim Koepke]

Due to the generosity of Jeff Heath, I now have an ample supply of hardwood cuttoffs/blanks ready for turning..Picked up this morning at Jeff's magnificent workshop. Looking forward to this,,Thank you, Jeff. The new adventure begins.

As always, remember to take some pictures of your newly handled chisels.

jtk

[Alfred Kraemer]

The source of the wood for my chisel handles have been:
1. a hickory cane that had been cut too short to be useful as a cane. Beautiful grain. It was a cane that was made from a 1 1/2 diameter branch.
2. some broken ash and hickory tool handles. Split to size to get best grain direction.
3. some more uncommon woods, Persimmon - from an Etsy store selling duck call blanks,
goncalo alves from a wood store bargain bin, and black locust and elm from my backyard.
Black Locust is hard but didn't last long as it tends to split.
All the hickory handles are still in good shape. Of course, for a chisel that is not to be used with a hammer or mallet, many types of wood should be fine.

Alfred

[Morey St. Denis]

Alfred,

Could we pursue a bit further the nature of that splitting failure attributed to Black Locust in use as a tool handle?.. Was your piece all solid heartwood of a greenish brown color? Was it harvested from a well developed mature tree during the dormant months? How did the failure occur? If it sounds as if I am somewhat incredulous, it's because I have attempted to split a good deal of Locust for use as firewood (believe it's rated as the highest in heat value of any readily available N. American hardwood). Black Locust is considerably harder to split than Oak, Ash, Elm & Maple due to the heavily twined interlocking grain structure. If you've ever tried to split any by hand with edge & wedge, except for crotch wood, it just doesn't get more difficult to split than air dried Black Locust.

Morey

[Jeff Heath]

Jerry, you are most welcome, and it was a pleasure meeting you, and having a shop visitor. I hope you'll post pictures of your new handles once completed. Let me know if you run short and need some more.

As it regards to Black Locust, I can only say that stuff I've been around was more difficult to split than granite boulders. I suppose every tree is different. The one's I have come across have laughed at my axe, and I'm no small fella, at 6'2 275 lbs.. I still chop 3 to 4 cords per year by axe, as I heat my shop with a wood stove. I haven't succumbed to the will and call of a 10 hp logsplitter, although I'm sure the day will come.

[bridger berdel]

I think if I were intending to glue up stock for a chisel handle I'd make it in 3 pieces with the center being a thin slip of contrasting wood. Make it a feature rather than a workaround for not having thick enough stock.

[Alfred Kraemer]

Morey,

I'm pretty sure what I have is black locust. I split the blank for the 'failed' chisel handle and a hammer handle - see attached pic from the board in the same picture. I split a section of the board again - with a hatchet as a wedge and a maul to drive the hatchet into the end grain. The board is very dry - I have had it for at least 5 years. It is very heavy, and when tapped, has a solid 'ring' to it. I have heard that black locust is sometimes used for xylophones. Splitting wasn't too difficult, maybe because the board has somewhat straighter grain. I have seen much wilder grain in black locust board. When making the handle for the little hammer in the picture, I recalled having to switch direction of cut with the spokeshave because I was running under and long, narrow splits were coming off the wood.
I did a quick search on black locust and splitting which yielded some interesting information: black locust splits were/are used for fencing, Abraham Lincoln is said to have split a lot of black locust.

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[Morey St. Denis]

In case you do not recall witnessing that tree from your backyard under leaf and are only "pretty sure" that it may have been Locust, you might consider deploying the "secret weapon" that can help with differentiating between certain similar appearing hardwoods such as Mulberry, Elm & Osage Orange. If you have brief access to a blacklight or UV emitter, Black Locust (green or fully dry) will be readily observed to fluoresce a bright uniform green color when exposed to UV sources in the range under 390nm; Mulberry, Elm, Osage & most others do not. Russian Olive is also reported to fluoresce medium green, but not as brilliantly.

[Alfred Kraemer]

Morey,

I don't have access to either one of those, but if you do, I'd send you a chunk. No cost to you.
I could send you a chunk big enough for a couple of handles or similar - make it worth your while. My handsaw is newly sharpened, and I have used it recently on Osage - which is similarly hard. Something that fits into a small USPS flat rate box.
Let me know if you would like me to send a sample. I'd pay the postage and would not expect the sample to be returned to me.

Alfred

[Andrew Pitonyak]

+1 for hickory. Where to find it? It's available anywhere that replacement handles for garden tools such as hoes and the like. No need to glue up.

I have some rakes purchased from Ace Hardware and Home Depot, The handles are some light soft wood and they rotted through / broke in a year (yes, they were often left outside). I cut down some small maple trees and made a replacement handle.

If I had gone to some place like tractor supply, might I have found a better quality replacement handle?

I think that the one that I made is easier to use than the original ( I chose one with a very slight curve near the base).

[Jerry Olexa]

Actually turned and finished 3 chisel socket handles today...My first!! Pics attached...Process became easier each time..The fitting of the socket portion is the critical part I learned....
This turning can be fun..I esp enjoyed using the skew tool for fine adjustments...Well, only 18 or so to go..It was fun and I'm learning as I go..Thanks

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[Jerry Olexa]

As always, remember to take some pictures of your newly handled chisels.

jtk

Jim posted pics of the first 3 completed....Not perfect.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim posted pics of the first 3 completed....Not perfect.

Just saw them, they look good and more consistent than my early (and continued) attempts.

jtk

[Jeff Heath]

Looking good, Jerry. You're on your way. If I recall correctly, I remember throwing my first attempt or two in the firepit, so you're doing very well.

Looks like the ash is working out well. If you need some more, let me know. I just set some aside.....just in case.

[Jerry Olexa]

Thanks Jeff and Jim...it's been a fun adventure...couldn't have happened without the 6/4" stock from Jeff...long drive to the hardwood supplier...thanks again
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