Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Question for Adam
John Hoffman
>I was re-reading your A&M article on advanced chisel techniques. I want to put new handles on my firmers and hoped you could give me the demensions of the seaton handles in your article. I would guess they were 1 1/2 x 2 at the top and tapered down?
Thanks
JH
Re: Question for Adam
Adam Cherubini
>Scaling from page 50, I get 5.5" long, and varying from 1" wide at the butt for the smallest chisel to 1-1/2"+/- for the 2" firmer.
My blades are old so they appear a bit short for the handle:
Seaton's Butt
Adam Cherubini
>It isn't easy to tell what the butt end looks like from the pictures in the Seaton Book. blah blah blah- this could be a long story. I used to have hard chamfers, but I've since rounded the butt end chamfers.
Though there isn't a good picture, John, Paul and Joel have convinced me that this is what Seaton's handles looked like and this design looks like other designs and is comfortable so..
Notice that the chamfers along the length increase in width toward the butt and aren't as wide as the flats (not a perfect octagon). There is a hard line between the butt chamfer and the sides of the handle, but the top is smoothly curved. On the larger chisels, this curve is much flatter. This chisel has a small flat on the butt which may or may not be correct.
FWIW,
Adam
correction
Adam Cherubini
>The handle is a full octagon, perfectly matching the bolster where the handle meets the bolster. From there, the chamfer grows slightly, but not as fast as the flat sides do.
Easier to make than describe. I fitted the tangs first then just planed the handles. My handles are beech and I soaked them in linseed oil overnight. That oil is just trapped in there.
Adam
Re: Question for Adam
John Hoffman
>Thanks Adam, the pic's help a lot.
JH