On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 23:06:12 -0600, "bw" wrote:

"Mike" wrote in message
news:d4Ypb.108911$Tr4.295325@attbi_s03...
I recently picked up a set of old socketed chisels with very nasty
handles.

Socketed chisels ? Are these slicks ? Big thing, with a socketed
shank and a loose handle that fits inside. They're meant for hand
use, not hammering.

I like ash for these, because it's strong and lightweight. It doesn't
need compressive strength because you don;t hammer on a slick ! For
big mortice chisels, I use beech as it does resist hammering. If I'm
turning handles for bench chisels, fruitwood, holly or even ivy. It's
easy to scrounge small branches of this from people clearing their
gardens. Too small to saw up, too twisted or stressed by reaction wood
to use as a stick, but they turn into a handle nicely.

Another handle wood that might work that most people don't mention is elm.
Its tougher than you think and who cares if it looks bad.

Elm (English anyway) is one of the toughest temperate woods going, it
looks great if you scrape and oil it, and it's easy to find.

After Dutch Elm disease, our big elms died off. But often the whole
tree didn't die, it put out suckers and grew another trunk nearby.
These new trunks don't get attacked by the beetles until they're a few
years old and a few inches diameter. Often you see a line of them in a
hedgerow, one dead trunk after another. They're no use for big
timber, but they're effectively self-coppicing and if you collect them
at the right time, you can get some useful small diameter poles that
are very strong. Good tent posts.

--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods