home made mortise chisels

Re: home made mortise chisels

kees

>What's CPM 3 V?

kees

Check the articles.

Dan Donaldson

>Do a search for tindall or cpm and you should get them.

Look to the Future!

Todd Hughes

>Wood Handles !?.....Hey this is the 21st century lets get away from using this tradtional but inferior material since so many modern plastics will hold up better and out perfom it. Why be satisfied with just improving on the steel and the construction used in making chisels yet use that "old stick in the mud" wood for the handles?......Todd

Re: home made mortise chisels

Frank D. in Montreal

>Nice Job Bill!

Thanks for posting your results. I just made a marking knife with the exact same method for the handle. It works fine. I'm a little worried about the epoxy creeping though. I think it's Finch in one of his books who recommends using epoxy for the tang and yellow glue for the wooden parts. What do you think?

Actually my marking knife was inspired by you: I'm just using it to practice handles for the chisels I'll be making after having seen your posts on the subject. I tried to get some 3V but even at the crucible distributor here in Quebec they couldn't get it (or didn't want to...) so I went with A2 (these will be paring chisels).

Thanks again for sharing your work,

Frank

perhaps it`s because...

Bob Hackett

>Few of us have refineries in our backyards.Don`t know about you but I`ve got trees in mine.

Besides,I sold off all my injection moulding equipment when I took up woodworking.(Do I really need to put up a winking smiley face here?)

Mainely,Bob

Re: home made mortise chisels

Todd Stock

>Was it on oldTools a few years ago that I saw bronze plates riveted to each side for handles? I like the wood better...if you are burning up testosterone mortising rock hard maple, the sweat needs to go somewhere.

Re: home made mortise chisels

dave jeske

>Nice Bill! Are you going to pound on them and let us know how they hold up? The handles look like the boxwood handle on an old Greeves mortise chisel I have. I saw another just like it this weekent at the Pacific Northwest Tool Collectors Association meeting and flea market. Yes, I brought home a few fleas!

dave

FWW

Bruce, a MN galoot

>had an article on this, complete with pix, but I can't seem to find it in the index.

Bruce

Re: home made mortise chisels

Murray in Palo Alto

>Bill,

Very nice; I like those big hunks of steel.

More details please - is there a bolster on the tangs, or are these similar to the bench chisels made earlier this year?

holding up fine

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>I have been pounding on them, well actually tapping. I will post soon the rest of what they are sitting on, which required some 1/4and 1/8" mortises. With a 25 degree bevel tapping buries them and pounding is not essential, or even desirable.

Re: home made mortise chisels

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>The metal is just a piece of rectangular bar stock 1/2" x yy", in this case 1/4 and 1/8". I have found that with a flat top(tang) end of the chisels that the flat top provides plenty of support against further penetration of the chisel into the handle while pounding. I stuck a 5/16" chisel into a soft maple limb to provide a quick handle and even this flimsy arrangement worked fine until I get a real handle on it. (my tool making usually lags my tool needs. I had been using these chisels unhandled until someone embarassed me into getting handles on them)

answer what is 3V

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>CPM 3V is a high alloy particle tool steel that we think has some particularly good properties for a mortise chisel. It is exceptionally tough so there is no danger of snapping a fine point and it takes a keen edge. These chisels are sharpened at 25 degrees and they hold up well at this steep (for a mortise chisel) bevel angle.

new "improved" chisel handles

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>Stung by Todd's criticism that the technology of our handles did not measure up to that of our steel, yet inspired by the comment of an injection molder in the back yard(see picture below), we revisited the issue of handling our chisels. The ideal choice would be cellulose acetate, Tenite. Invented in 1860 it can be considered antique or vintage but it can be brought to modern technological standards by the addition of a fashion color palette and modern environmental sensitivity by emphasizing its renewable origins. While cost prevented the classic chisel makers from taking advantage of its superior properties, I am sure LN would have used it in that day.

At this time we only have molded Green Apples and Red Cherry. We look forward to completing the color palette with Osage Orange, Purpleheart, Rosewood, etc., all in electric colors, of course. (Mr. Lee, we would consider a lucrative licensing arrangement.)

A before and after comparison is offered below and the improvement is obvious........

(I sure hope some new-to- Forum person doesn't read this and take it serious! And thanks to daughter who makes this stuff..........)

Phil's backyard injection molding facility

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>The place where Tenite, the preferred choice for screwdriver and chisel handles, is made.

Re: Phil's backyard injection molding facility

Bob Hackett

>Well Todd,nows your chance to pick up on the ultra rare prototype.I`m sure Bill can find an elderly widow to stand in for him at the sale.

Nice facility Bill.How much is waterfront property going for down your way?Looks like you may be able to sell some of your backyard off and retire from the chisel business,maybe even have enough left over to buy yourself some of those LN socket chisels everybody(well..ALMOST everybody)is raving about.Might want to think about a maker`s mark for those handles.I suggest "Billey".It worked for Stanley,didn`t it.

After you retire,give some thought to making stainless steel infill planes with flames cut right into the sides.That red stuff would be just the ticket for the infill.

Let me know when you`re ready to test the plane as I have a hull that needs fairing and I don`t want to haul out.

Mainely,Bob

You are BAAAD!

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Did you (or your daughter?) actually make those handles? How was the mold made?

Todd will love them.

BTW, of what/where is the aerial photo?

Re: You are BAAAD!

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>It's a view of Long Island, from Moore Hill

Re: Phil's backyard injection molding facility

Dave Anderson Chester, NH

>Am I right in guessing that is the Eastman facility in Kingsport? Gee Bill, iI wasn't aware that CAB was available in "1860". Sorry, I just coudn't resist with that kind of typo. ;-))

Re: Phil's backyard injection molding facility

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>Yup, the address matches pretty close, anyhow. Follow the link to the Mapquest image, with the plant centered. The view in Bill's photo is towards the North. Their business office address seems to be on the far side of the Holston River.

1860 is correct

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>Cellulose acetate was discovered in the early 1860's, but of course it was not commercially available until much later. I make a wooden part used in the plant and the early date on the print is 1926, so it was commercial by then. I think the butyrate ester is too expensive to use in handles any more.

Re: 1860 is correct

Dave Anderson Chester, NH

>OK Bill, I stand corrected. It looks like I need to pull out my old copy of my plastics history book. Years ago I used to fly into Tri-cities to go to the Raytheon plant on Vance Tank Rd and the Sperry plant a few miles away.

Re: new "improved" chisel handles

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>According to one Google entry I found, "Handles for tools have often been made with cellulose acetate. This materials has been used for this application due to its natural feel and toughness." So you're right in line with tradition.

Isn't this the material that was so famous for springing into flames when used as photo stock, though?

Re: new "improved" chisel handles

Phil Smith

>The material that was used in film and had a reputation for easily catching fire was cellulose nitrate, which is still used to make laquer finishes.

Kodak developed cellulose acetate as a film base and used it to make film which did not combust like the cellulose nitrate.

Cellulose acetate, and its butyrate and propinate cousins have been used for a wide varitey of uses.

Everyting thing from toothbrush handles, eye glass frames to screwdriver and chisel handles. If you have a craftsman screwdriver with a clear handle you have one of the cellulose esters.

By the way I have a great view of the plant from my office each day.

Re: new "improved" chisel handles

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>I have a great view of some woods from my "office". Silver maple, black locust, black cherry, red mulberry, tulip poplar, sycamore, white oak, black walnut, osage orange, persimmon, crabapple, magnolia, dogwood, redbud, etc., make great tool handles, but also have a well deserved reputation for springing into flames. :^)