chisel handle material ?

[Adam Cherubini]

I have been unable to find hickory up here in anything thicker than 3/4 inch.

Hickory is really not a great material for a chisel handle. There are different kinds of strength. Hickory has good tension strength, but tension isn't the typical failure mode for chisel handles. Chisel handles split across the grain. Birch is better. Last I looked, Beech was slightly better than oak or hickory. Maple is also a good choice, but it's not as shock resistant as beech.

I intend to use copper rings or leather washers on the chisels that will be used with a mallet.
Marty Weatherup

The rings at the end of a chisel handle are there to resist splitting exactly as I have described above. The problem with these rings is that the wood shrinks, the rings get loose, and they cease to perform their function. (that doesn't mean the handle instantly self destructs, however). There are ways to make these work. You can taper the handle. This works better when the ring is tapered. I've seen old rings like this.

My advice is to make the top of the handle slightly rounded. I also think its a smart idea to make the butt end fairly large. I think the chisel handles in the Seaton chest are the best I've even seen or used.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at a nicely shaped polystyrene handle. You could turn a block of this on a wood lathe. Might be worth your effort. My chief objection to plastic chisel handles is that they are often poorly shaped (tho Marples aren't bad) and permanently attached to the chisel.

Adam

[Richard Niemiec]

I've always used maple, just because its tight grained, hard, and most importantly its in the scrap pile and available, and never had an issue with the handles failing. Now, that being said, I've only made them for bench chisels and sash mortise chisels, which don't get beat on like a big honking mortise chisel, where it might have some issues.

[Marty Weatherup]

[QUOTE=Adam I also think its a smart idea to make the butt end fairly large. [/QUOTE]

After all the holiday sweets my crew brought in this last week my butt end is large enough, thank you very much.

Marty

[George Neill]

My advice is to make the top of the handle slightly rounded. I also think its a smart idea to make the butt end fairly large.

I wholly agree. Rounding the handle disperses the energy from a mallet into the handle without fear of mushrooming it.

Having large hands, I've always made replacement handles for my chisels in various timbers with broad, rounded ends and haven't experienced any degrade in their shape.

This is a brief description of how I make my replacement handles.