and speaking of chisel handles...

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Yes,mine got loose too.Wood moves.Steel doesn't.Just put the blade into some hard endgrain and whack it with a mallet.This only happens when I don't use them for awhile.If you remember to give them a tap now and then when not in use you shouldn't have this problem.---Jack

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

john jesseph

>I dug mine out today for the first time in months. First chisel had a loose handle. After pulling out the chisel I wanted I checked the rest and they were loose too. But I didn't think too much about it, just thumped the handle back on and away I went.

I really like those chisels! I am going to buy the fill sizes some time soon, maybe get a bigger chisel roll and use the LN roll for the violin scroll gouges I am making.

I find that mice really must like those chisels too. Right when I first go them, a mouse crapped on one of them and left a big dark stain. When I got out the chisels today, there were some mouse poison pellets in there, I guess the little bastage was going to nest in there...

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

bob marino

>Agree, not too much of an issue, I have just never heard of it with other chisels.

Bob

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>No, I've never heard of people having mouse problems with chisels, either.

Oh, you mean the handles. Consider how few modern chisels are made with sockets - the old ones have had years to settle in.

By the way, to be technically correct, Jack Guzman's statement isn't quite correct. Steel does move - it's just that it moves so little we can't notice it without measuring tools. Any machinist, though, is familiar with shrink-fitting a flange on a shaft: you machine the hole in the flange to be ever so slightly small, freeze the shaft and put the flange in a low oven - slip them together quickly and let them come to room temp. Can handle only so much torque, but you do get a tight fit.

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

Jack Guzman from Maine

>You're right of course. I should have said that wood moves alot more than steel does.---Jack

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>After you have used them a few times they won't come out that easily. The rosewood seems to seat better than that horribly hard hornbeam. I did cring at the thought of mashing my sharp chisels into end grain.:) Some of the older chisels I have the handles will fall out if not used for a period of time. No expert but I have seen some gummy substance inside older chisel handles that I've had to remove to repair or replace the handles on.

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>But, what about all those old. handleless chisels everybody seems to be bringing home from the flea markets and tailgating events all the time? Something had to have happened to them. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many of us spending so much time turning new handles for old chisels. At least the hophornbeam L-N handles should minimize your chances of ever having to turn another one because the original failed in use.

Or maybe this was a reverse driveby ungloat, and we missed it? "Pity me, because I haven't had a fair amount of time to use these new toys this winter." :^)

I always, and especially in the winter, treat all my socketed chisels and gouges just like I treat my wooden planes. I assume they are loose until a hammer has proven them to be tight. No sense taking a trip to the emergency room with a toe on ice in a ziploc bag, and then come home to a tool with a chipped edge and pitting from spilt blood.

End grain alternative

Bob Hackett

>Most of my chisels are sockets and I`ve developed the habit of picking them up by the socket and handle,turning them edge up and tapping the end of the handle on the bench to seat the handle before attempting to put them to work.The weight of the blade is enough to seat the handle and go to work.

It`s also not a good idea to store a socket chisel in a rack that holds them by the handles as the blades will end up on the floor during the heating season(I`d say winter but our heating season lasts from September to June).

Mainely,Bob

Re: End grain alternative

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>You guys only have two seasons: Winter and Independence Day. If you're lucky, you get a whole weekend :^)

Or the opposite season

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>On the North-Left Coast, the wood-shrinking season is summer, due to high humidity during the rainy winter.

Ah...The Tom Price Story!

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>

Re: Ah...The Tom Price Story! *LINK*

Tom Price

>Except that I didn't quite manage to cut off the toe... Plus the toe saved the chisel from a chipped edge. Always a silver lining...or crimson.

- Tom


When bad things happen to good people

Re: and speaking of chisel handles...

David W. Dougherty

>Wow! You're making your own gouges? I'm a violin maker living in Keizer, OR. I'd love to see some pictures.

DWD