Chisel Problem

Re: Chisel Problem

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Most likely the wood has swollen a bit from humidity. Why not just accept your luck and use them as are? As you beat on them, the hoops will likely seat well enough. Or put them in a dry spot for a bit?

Pam

Re: Chisel Problem

Hank Knight

>I had the same problem and took care of it this way: I clamped a dowel a tad smaller than the diameter of the chisel handle in my vise. I butted the end of the handle against the end of the dowel and tapped the hoop off with a very dull cold chisel and a hammer. The protruding hoop helps keep the chisel in place on the dowel. The next problem will be getting the handle compresed enough to slide the hoop back on far enough to pound the top of the handle into a mushroom. I had to pound mine pretty severely to get them to compress enough, and I was worried about spliting them. Fortunately they took the punishment and all worked out well. Pam's idea of just using them until the hoops seat themselves is probably a better alternative approach. Good luck.

Kinda like Hanks way...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>but a little different. Take a scrap of wood, drill a hole in it that will clear the handle of the chisle, but not the ring (you may have to cut the scrap in half for large sizes chisles). Clamp the block ofo wood in the vice, insert chisel and with a dowel or other scrap of wood tap the chisle out of the ring. Be carefull if doing this if your floor is concrete! Other wise like Pam said they will probably seat themselves in time.

Agree w/Pam, you got lucky!

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>

Re: Kinda like Hanks way...

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>This sounds doable. I'd probably use two pieces of wood, one below the first with a smaller hole to catch the chisel as it falls. Even if you've got a wood floor the chisel could be munged by falling a few feet, to say nothing of your toes.

Basically, though, the humidity has done the first job of the seating process for you. Now you just need to bash the hoop down a tiny bit before you can bash the handle to mushroom the end.

Pam

Re: Economical/Good Workbench

glh

>Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll try Pam's pounding method first. I actually did some of that last night with a rubber mallet. However, I only gave the chisel 4 or 5 pretty stiff blows--not enough to drive the hoop down to the level of the handle. I think this along with low humidity (a rarity in Tennessee) will eventually work, but I think I need to use a rubber mallet.

The hoop is slightly above the top of the handle so it could really mess up my wooden mallet and my chisel hammer would mess up my hoop. On the two hoops that I have removed I will run in the problem mentioned by Hank. It was surprising to me how much difference there was in the size of the handle that was below the hoop and that portion of the handle that the hoop covered. A lot of oak will have to be compressed to get the hoop on correctly. And, I thought I was actually saving time (honing, lapping, etc...) by buying Japanese chisels. Frankly, my Marples Blue Chip and my Crown butts were doing a fine job.

Re: Chisel Problem

joel

>THe simplest way I know of to remove a stuck hoop without damaging the handle is the hold a screwdriver tip under the hoop and bang the screwdriver head on a workbench or a piece of scrap so you don't dent the workbench. Do this evenly, all around so the hoop doesn't rack on the handle and it will come off in a jiff.

joel

(who has done this dozens of times and so far hasn't damaged either the handle, the hoop, or the screwdriver).

You've got the wrong problem.

John K in Hastings, MN

>Somehow a new set of tools went six months without being used???

John

My Defense

glh

>Why 6 months? First, woodworking is not the way I earn my living, but it is how I like to spend to my time. Unfortunately, I don't get to spend as much time enjoying my time as I would like. Second, I bought this set of chisels for a specific purpose -- to cut dovetails. I'm not sure that I made the right decision as to tool selection, but I'll have to live with it for a while. Nevertheless, I haven't worked on anything since I bought them that I wanted to dovetail.

I'm fairly new at dovetails (first experience was at a workshop summer before last),so I thought I'd practice before I tackled a couple of Shaker-style end tables with drawers I plan to build later this spring. I have a set of Marples Blue Chip and a set of Crown butt bench chisels that I use for other stuff. I bought them before I had really thought through things. I was also considering a set of either Two Cherries or Hirsch. There was a woodworking show in town and I got the Japanese set at about 15-20 percent below their regular price.