Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
hammer and chisel
Dan Donaldson
>In the chat last night, we were talking about wooden planes and adjusting them. I am including a picture of a small hammer that I made for this. The head is pink ivory and the handle is a chunk of cocobolo that I had laying around.
Also, just playing around, I took a Marples chisel with those plastic handles that I don't like, cut off the handle and made a new one out of wood. I like the balance a lot better with the new one. Will have to see how it holds up.
Re: hammer and chisel
Dave (Arlington, VA)
>Hi Don -
Great looking hammer and chisel handle. I'd like to keep that in mind for my blue chips. Much nicer look? So now that you've cut into them are the Blue Chips socket or tang chisels?
Thanks for sharing.
Regards -
Dave
Sorry, Dan.
Dave (Arlington, VA)
>I really do know the difference between Don and Dan.
Dave
Re: I'm glad I'm not the only on...
Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK
>Merry Christams to everyone....Dale
P.S. for the record I use to call Dan, Don all the time
That's OK
Dan Donaldson
>I get called that a lot (as well as a few other names we won't discuss here ;-))
It has a tang that is fairly short, probably 2 inches or a bit less. It has a round section next to the blade for about 1/2 inch, and then is square for the rest with a point on the end. The tapered part of the blade that looks like a socket is just flat on top. I drilled a 23/64ths hole for the square part and a relief for the round. Then I clamped the blade to a big chunk of steel to keep it cool, heated the tang, and burned it into the handle. I couldn't pull it back off, so we will see. I haven't pounded on it yet, so am not sure that it will stay together. The ferrule is just a 1/2 brass compression nut I got at the borg. It does balance a lot better in my mind, though.
Re: That's OK
Davy Barr
>So what did you have to do to get the blue plastic off?
Re: That's OK
Dan Donaldson
>I cut off the end as far down as I could get, which took a good part of the handle off, then made a cut lengthwise down the handle, took an old junk chisel and split it off (I used a hacksaw to cut it, went fast). It broke fairly easily once I got it started. The plastic also melts very easily with a torch if you wanted to soften it and drive something into it to split it.
2 questions
Mike L
>Nice looking hammer Dan. When you say adjusting wooden planes, are you referring to tapping the iron for depth and/or lateral adjustment? Also, what is pink ivory and is it hard and shock resistant. TIA.
Cheers,
Mike
Re: 2 questions
Dan Donaldson
>Yes, I use it for tapping the wedge, iron, or body as needed to adjust the planes. Pink Ivory is an African hardwood that is fairly dense and heavy. It kind of has an oily sheen and turns/polishes nicely. The hammer head in the picture has no finish on it at all. So far, it seems to be pretty shock resistant. I used it because it is dense, and I had a chunk of it;-) That is the only hammer I use for my wooden planes and it is about 2 years or so old.
Re: 2 questions
Mike L
>Thanks Dan. I figured it was some type of exotic wood but thought there was also the remote possibility it came from very fashionable elephants. :-)
Cheers,
Mike