Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
Rick Hoppe
>I�m thinking of replacing the handles on a couple of Japanese paring chisels. This is purely for aesthetic reasons. Considering how Japanese chisels are constructed, like a cross between a tang and socket chisel, I might be getting my self into a potential nightmare. Does anyone have experience with this�or even just an opinion?
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
ThomD
>I had this same idea about 15 years ago. I have these Robert Majors Special Value HSS bench chisels that are just wonderful, but they had red oak handles that weren't as nice as the boxwood I coveted. I disassembled the handles, and made a perfect wood turning replica in heart centered Boxwood. Everything was looking good, it looked like a Triumph in the making, until it came to final assembly. For some reason the hoop just wasn't perfectly centered, and that bothered me more than the old handles. I was apparent that they blended the top and bottom segments by grinding them. Today I would probably just grind them, though at the time I didn't feel as comfortable with metal as wood. If I wore out a handle today, I would just try it all over again, I might make my own socket so I would have a little more material for a final blend.
I now feel the flashy handles are a little gauche. But less so on push chisels since they perform pretty much as well, though I prefer the ballance of the lighter woods. On bench chisels the really hard and heavy woods like ebony are not as easy to work with.
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>In what way do they aesthetically displease you? If they're too fat, put the chisel in a vise and reshape the handle in place. If you need replacement hoops, I know Hida and Hiraide carry them. Most anything to avoid bashing the handle off (hold the chisel by the working end of the shaft, bash the handle against some solid object like the end of your bench until it comes off) and fitting the new handle. I've only bought one replacement handle, merely had to again hold it by the handle end of the shaft, tap the bottom of the handle with some force on your bench until it fits.
Pam
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
Rick Hoppe
>Hi Pam. Sounds pretty straightforward. Am I correct in assuming the collar where the handle meets the chisel is loose until it all is assembled? If so, is there any trick to replacing it?
Thanks,
Rick
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
ThomD
>It's loose once you remove it. If it doesn't center dead on with the lower part of the chisel and the center hole, it won't line up with tang. So you need to grind it and possibly re-blue. Or leave it the way it comes out.
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>Yeah, I'd draw a magic marker line before taking the original handle off so you can line it up again.
Pam
Pic 1
Tim Sproul
>Let's see if the images speak for themselves.
pic 2
Tim Sproul
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Pic 3
Tim Sproul
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Pic 4
Tim Sproul
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Pic 5
Tim Sproul
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Pic 6
Tim Sproul
>This is the first and only time I've ever gone to take a chisel apart. Remove the hoop and I split the handle so I could get a peek at the tang. A little judicious sawing and cracking of the wood removed the vast majority to reveal the tang. Grip the ferrule in something soft - I clamped between some hemlock 2x material and a light tap or two with the hammer on the tang pushes the chisel right out. To remove the remaining wood, I chose to bore and chop a couple pieces out rather than flipping the ferrule large end down and tapping the wood out. That is a hunk of black acacia which will eventually become the new handle.
Good luck,
Tim
Yes, but Please...
Garrett in Victoria
>Hi TIm
The photos speak well, but not completely. COuld you provide some words so I could turn this useful collection into an article for the Hand Tools Section, please?
Cheers, Garrett
Editor, WC Articles & Reviews
Wow, thanks for the pics!
Scott Burr in rainy Ben Lomond,CA
>I would love to see more as you progress with your handle making. Thanks for sharing!
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
Rick Hoppe
>Good thinkin' Pam and Thom! Thanks! It looks like I�ll have to be real accurate when turning the portion of the handle that fits into the ferrule.
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>Sure, so it would be made much easier if you can get the old handle off with the ferrule intact so you can copy it.
Pam
Should have been "ferrule area," not "ferrule."
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
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The handles come right off?
ThomD
>I think Pam mentioned if you grab the blade and wack the side of the handle against a log, it just comes off, you don't need to blow it up.
Re: Replacing the Handle on a Japanese Chisel
ThomD
>It wasn't hard to tell how it went back on. And my turning was dead nuts perfect, after all the lathe makes things concentric, you have to work at getting that wrong. Either the original wasn't centered after they ground them, or in squaring the hole I got it off center. I'm sneaky that way, I know how you fit a tang without having that kind of problem. I think the parts once removed just weren't replaceable without more grinding, and what the hay the original handles were good enough. When I put the original handle back on It was pretty much perfect, I'm not sure I could find the one I worked on today.
Re: The handles come right off?
Tim Sproul
>Perhaps.
I've also heard of some craftsmen (and women ;- ) ) who've had the chisels come apart while seating the hoop so you could try banging really hard on the hoop end of the chisel while holding the handle. Take care to strike the end squarely. My suspicion is that this occurs more frequently when the chisel is assembled during humid months and then the hoop is set later in an arid environment.
If it is a chisel worth keeping, I wouldn't go wacking the handle on a log while holding the business end. Chisels will take a lot of abuse with compression forces parallel to the long axis, but don't fare well with forces normal to the long axis. I like my chisels to be fairly straight. The procedure above took me about 15 minutes. And it was that long simply because I didn't really know what to expect and I had to pause around 10 times to take photos. If I needed to do again, I suspect I'd have the chisel taken apart inside of 5 minutes without worrying that I might have bent the chisel. Y'all should keep in mind I know little to nothing about Japanese tooling or any tooling for that matter.
Tim
Re: The handles come right off?
ThomD
>I'm happy if your happy. Seriously. But that just is the method you tap the side of the chisel while holding the whickedly sharp end, does no harm off it comes. The beauty is it's reuseable should that prove necesarry for any reason. Reverse proceedure is you poke the chisel in the hole and start tapping on the back while the chisel hangs off the end, and it climbs back inside.