A David Weaver Chisel

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Warren in Lancaster, PA

I tried to influence Lee Valley in this direction around 2011. Instead they made chisels with no bolsters, short fat handles, thick shafts. I got the impression that the people designing chisels had never used a chisel. So why doesn't everybody make chisels like this? They don't know any better.

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Charlie

Love it.

Very Sorby-esque:

https://vintagetoolshop.com/collections/chisels/products/1-4-vintage-i-sorby-chisel-43683

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Wiley Horne

Really beautiful, Bill!! Solid too, with that big bolster. Handle looks like cocobolo. Is it that Swedish steel?

Wiley

Does David have a new website?

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

There are a number of features here that warrant comment, as they may pass by someone new coming to this thread.

First and foremost, this is a handmade chisel and it represents the end point of a great deal of research and design by David. This is an enormous achievement. It is more than simply re-handling a chisel, which many of us have done, or restoring a rusty blade, again which many of us have done. This is from scratch. It's a big deal.

Secondly, the workmanship is good. And since function precedes form, it is important that Bill says that it works as is intended.

It "looks" comfortable and I imagine it is balanced in the hand. I like the simple symmetry of the Marples-style handles, and will say more in my reply to Warren.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

I tried to influence Lee Valley in this direction around 2011. Instead they made chisels with no bolsters, short fat handles, thick shafts. I got the impression that the people designing chisels had never used a chisel. So why doesn't everybody make chisels like this? They don't know any better.

Warren, you are so biased that you have long lost any perspective. It is a case that either one does it your way, or the individual (or company) has no clue about woodworking.

There are so many different chisel handle styles from which to choose, and ALL are valid and reasonable since a chisel handle is a personal matter.

Let's take the chisel handle design used by David. The first evidence I can find in a Marples catalogue dates - and this was not yet the same design, just appears the forerunner - was 1903 ...

The actual chisel handle was defined in 1909 ...

Marples began making chisels in possibly the 1840s. There are chisels marked HIBERNIA in 1875. The Boxwood versions (as per David) probably started in 1954 and were offered in Ash as well. The Blue Chip versions were produced in 1968.

In short, this style handle is fairly recent in the history of chisel handles, and represent just one of MANY styles. The earlier styles, which you decry as designed by nincompoops actually are the style preferred in the period you deem to be most relevant in our woodworking history!

As for Veritas handles, since you point fingers specifically at Veritas ... why - no one raised them for comparison? ...

Top is Veritas, bottom is LN/Stanley ...

... while acknowledging that one man's meat, etc .. this is a chisel handle that I consider to be excellent in my hand ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

onemanband

Big hand, small hand, male hand, female hand, right hand, left hand, old hand, young hand, strong hand, weak hand.....no matter what hand, only one handle will work......the one that never has been made yet, and also the one that Warren endorses.

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Charlie

Marples, Sorby, Osborn, Hale Bros, Hildick, Herring Bros., J. Stead, Tyzack, Charles Taylor, Stormont, Sanderson Bros, English Stanley 5002s in plastic, and many more all produced chisels with a simple turned handle as in David's chisel. It's a great design, but one by no means exclusive to Marples.

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Charlie, I know.

I could have referred to a number of other makers, but picked on Boxwood Marples because they are the chisel-of-choice of David's mentor, George Wilson.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I had no idea....

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

how many styles of handles there are, and I suppose your picture is not comprehensive. Thanks for the picture

An important point

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

And since function precedes form, it is important that Bill says that it works as is intended.

My advice to anyone buying a "lifetime" chisel would be to try several. A chisel's ergonomics trumps every other aspect of this tool.

I will have more to say about the chisel after I whack out a few feet (15' to be exact) of dovetails with it.

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Warren in Lancaster, PA

There are lots of designs; I have used lots of designs. However if someone makes a chisel handle that is fat and short, it is obviously not made for someone with big hands, medium hands or small hands. The sad thing is the Lee Valley people could not even understand what a real user was thinking.

Re: Does David have a new website?

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I emailed him about that but no answer yet.

Re: David’s new website…  *LINK*


https://ofhandmaking.com/

Re: An important point

onemanband

True. Try before you buy minimizes disappointments. And I find that my hands actually like more than one style or size of handles depending on the tasks. LN, Veritas, Narex, Japanese, etc. I prefer certain chisels for certain job. The outcome may be the same (skills matter more!!!), but the feel can be different.

Re: An important point

William Duffield

But ergonomics doesn't have to trump other aspects. Most of us here have the skill set and tool set to make our own replacement handles if we are not pleased with the patterns offered by the manufacturers. A universal handle pattern is an oxymoron, because some people, due to injuries, amputations, arthritis, birth defects, stubornness, PTSD from an irrational shop teacher or master, or just being out there on the fringes of the bell curve. Some manufacturers offer several patterns, and some offer a few (e.g., Veritas line of Custom Bench Planes*). But just about any (except maybe Stanley Everlast) can be adjusted to meet individual needs or desires. My point is there are several other aspects of chisel handle design that are also important to functionality, and some become even more important when we take off the blinders and consider similar tools with overlapping requirements, for example timber framing chisels, slicks, carving gouges, carving knives, marking knives, mallets, turning gouges and scrapers, awls, files, rasps, rifflers, etc.

* Perhaps a bad example, since we are discussing chisels and gouges.

Re: An important point

Charlie

Yet examples abound of world-class carvers and other accomplished furniture craftspeople using chisels with handles exactly as they came from the manufacturer.

Worth saying for the lurkers...

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Patrick Gibbons

The handle appears narrow to me. Obviously its size can’t be determined by a picture. I find narrow chisels to be fatiguing for long use. I assume this style of handle is less expensive to fabricate than what was offered 100 years ago. None of this is given as criticism. It’s a beautiful chisel. You’re very positive about this handle design. What about it specifically do you like?

Wil Neptune chisels

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I snapped this picture of Wil in a demonstration. I don't know of anyone with a better body of Period Furniture work than Wil. The tools on the bench are Wil's; those in the cabinet belong to the shop and were not part of demonstration. The plastic handled chisels were used for waste removal by bashing , like chiseling to a scribe line.

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

What about it specifically do you like? Everything listed in the original post. What more could I offer?

Re: A David Weaver Chisel

onemanband

"Why aren't all handles made this shape?"

Reason being that there is not just one single manufacturer in the world nor is there just one single customer. Translation: Every customer is different and has different preferences.

Re: An important point

William Duffield

Maybe they bought them for the handle design, figuring they could sharpen any brand, and were good enough at it that poorer steel didn't make any appreciable difference?

Re: Carpel tunnel?

William Duffield

I like handles with a bit of flare up near the ferrule or bolster, so I have something to push on with my finger and thumb tips. Your handle also appears to be a bit narrow, so without a flare, it requires too much squeezing force to push it with the fingers. These deficiencies leave you with no choices but to push with the palm of your hand (ref. subject) or smack with a mallet. The force of the mallet forces choosing a sturdier, and therefor denser wood or even a striking ring, which can result in putting the chisel out of balance. Since balance is important to some people, a wider or thicker chisel is usually balanced by a more massive handle, which can be effected by increasing the length, the diameter and/or the density of the wood. Some people keep their chisels, when in use, in a box or rack, but others need them to be laying out on the bench, and within reach. To keep narrower chisels from rolling out of reach, back into the tool swale, or even off the bench, at least one flat on the handle can be useful, if not a safety requirement.