Chisels broke
 

I bought four sets of chisels from a used place. The kind with a light green
see-thru handle and a black trim - no brand. It performed fine for a few
weeks until a pearl sized chip came off in sections from the tip of the green
handle which I did not notice earlier. I was chiseling against the grain of the
wood, not along the grain as instructed from a book. But, I've chiseled against
the grain with a 10-year old Stanley (with a non-see-thru plastic handle) without
problems.

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

Thanks

"Nick Huckaby" wrote in message

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more
careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I
pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

Thanks

Toss them and buy a good set. Hone them before use.

In article 1110033614.29945f02d53262e407d38a91971d5c31@bubba news, "Nick Huckaby" wrote:

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

There are two problems:
1) You bought cheap, low-quality chisels.
2) You should be using a wooden or urethane mallet, not an iron hammer, on a
plastic striking surface.

The best way to "repair" them is to throw them out, buy better chisels, and
treat the new ones properly.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Buy good chisels & use a wooden mallet. I turned a chunk of Red Oak
firewood into a mallet that is perfect in about 10 minutes. My chisels
are used, but they are a nice set of swedish ones that were passed
down. I keep a couple of small sets of Stanley & other cheap ones for
beater projects. You can't do decent woodworking without a good set of
chisels that are just for good work - in my opinion, anyway. - Jim

With this type of chisel I like to use a wooden mallet.

Nick Huckaby wrote:
I bought four sets of chisels from a used place. The kind with a
light green
see-thru handle and a black trim - no brand. It performed fine for a
few
weeks until a pearl sized chip came off in sections from the tip of
the green
handle which I did not notice earlier. I was chiseling against the
grain of the
wood, not along the grain as instructed from a book. But, I've
chiseled against
the grain with a 10-year old Stanley (with a non-see-thru plastic
handle) without
problems.

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15
percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am
more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way
I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

Thanks
Chisels with plastic handles are not made for beating on with a hammer.
For hammering they should have a metal core that extends to the
striking surface. You should never use a steel hammer on any wood
chisel. Beechwood, rawhide or nylon mallets are made to drive chisels.
Save the steel hammer for driving cold chisels.
Bugs

Whatever type of chisel you use, be sure to whack it with a back and froe
motion.

Bob Swinney
"aftershock" wrote in message
oups.com...
With this type of chisel I like to use a wooden mallet.

Jim wrote:

Buy good chisels & use a wooden mallet. I turned a chunk of Red Oak
firewood into a mallet that is perfect in about 10 minutes. My chisels
are used, but they are a nice set of swedish ones that were passed
down. I keep a couple of small sets of Stanley & other cheap ones for
beater projects. You can't do decent woodworking without a good set of
chisels that are just for good work - in my opinion, anyway. - Jim

Funny how some of us hunt the wood pile for turning wood!

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Nick Huckaby asks:

I bought four sets of chisels from a used place. The kind with a light
green
see-thru handle and a black trim - no brand. It performed fine for a
few
weeks until a pearl sized chip came off in sections from the tip of the
green
handle which I did not notice earlier. I was chiseling against the
grain of the
wood, not along the grain as instructed from a book. But, I've chiseled
against
the grain with a 10-year old Stanley (with a non-see-thru plastic
handle) without
problems.


The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15
percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more
careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I
pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

First, the chisels didn't break. The handles did. Second, the chisels
didn't break, you broke them.

I don't know where you got an iron hammer, but use a mallet, instead of
a steel hammer. Now, you can take the handles off, turn new handles,
install them and use a wooden, rawhide (my preference) or plastic
mallet.

Nick Huckaby apparently said,on my timestamp of 6/03/2005 1:50 AM:

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

You can't easily repair them. Try grinding/sanding to shape?
Or better yet, get another set. They are cheap enough.

The iron hammer would be the cause. Use a mallet.
Wood is a good choice and you can make one yourself.
Rawhide hammers are the best for this, IMHO. But hard to find.
If all else fails, get one of those cheap hammers with one
side rubber mallet, the other yellow nylon. Use the nylon
side: it bounces really well.

It's important that the head of the hammer is wider than the
top of the chisel handle. Otherwise it's real easy to
swing slightly off-centre and end up with a chip.

HTH
Cheers
Nuno Souto
in sunny Sydney, Australia
am

Martin, you aren't kidding. I stopped by the saw mill & bought $102
worth of wood yesterday. I don't do it too often & the pile this time
was depressingly small. Locally, we get nice cherry, oak, poplar &
maple. Got a couple of boards of each just to put in the shop & let it
sit for when I need it.

Lately, I've mostly been turning green wood - found wood. I like that
price a LOT better. G We have some neat local woods that never make
the sawmill; osage orange, dogwood, beech & sycamore. There are also
some neat exotics like the japanese sampora that a woman had cut out of
her back yard last year. I'm starting to cut a few of my own boards.
I don't really have the room for even a portable sawmill & drying shed,
so I doubt I'll get into it too much, but besides being a lot of fun,
working with these other woods is very interesting. Also keeps my
wallet from hiding in a dark corner & whining. G

Jim

It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Charlie Self"
wrote:

use a wooden, rawhide (my preference) or plastic
mallet.

Rawhide ? really?

I have plenty of rawhide mallets that I use for coppersmithing, but
I've never heard of anyone using them to drive chisels before - always
wood.

Nick Huckaby wrote:
I bought four sets of chisels from a used place. The kind with a light green
see-thru handle and a black trim - no brand. It performed fine for a few
weeks until a pearl sized chip came off in sections from the tip of the green
handle which I did not notice earlier. I was chiseling against the grain of the
wood, not along the grain as instructed from a book. But, I've chiseled against
the grain with a 10-year old Stanley (with a non-see-thru plastic handle) without
problems.

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

Thanks
If they have plastic handles, they are not designed to be struck with a
hammer.
...lew...

"Charlie Self" wrote in message
I don't know where you got an iron hammer, but use a mallet, instead of
a steel hammer. Now, you can take the handles off, turn new handles,
install them and use a wooden, rawhide (my preference) ...

Your comment brought back memories of when you used to see a lot of rawhide
tools, and rawhide _in_ tools. Rawhide was a staple of the life on the
frontier and one of the handiest things to have around. It was used to write
on, as seats and backs for chairs, as "windows", as shopping bags, as
lariats and whips, as bridles, as glue when ground into a powder ... and,
because of its ability to stretch when wet and seriously contract when dry,
was used universally to fasten things together, much like nails today. The
plains Indians often wrapped prisoners in a fresh buffalo hide and left them
out in the sun for a few days ... constricted their options considerably. :)
Stranded folks were even know to survive by chewing on it.

I have a collection of J. Frank Dobie works, a Texas historian, folklorist,
and professor of English at the University of Texas in the early 1900's who
wrote extensively about rawhide and its uses in some of his early pieces.
Dobie was raised on a Texas cattle ranch and is well known for having
interviewed old timers about such things.

Fascinating, useful material.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/04

Laburnum is one of the nicest decorative trees for turning :) It has a very
dark center and a yellow outer layer. Wonderful close grained wood but hard
to find. Some of my best looking pieces came from the nastiest looking
scraps :) Amazing how the coloring in the grain changes from being wet and
dried multiple times under various types of junk. Madrone and manzanita
root can be very interesting too.
"Jim" wrote in message
oups.com...
Martin, you aren't kidding. I stopped by the saw mill & bought $102
worth of wood yesterday. I don't do it too often & the pile this time
was depressingly small. Locally, we get nice cherry, oak, poplar &
maple. Got a couple of boards of each just to put in the shop & let it
sit for when I need it.

Lately, I've mostly been turning green wood - found wood. I like that
price a LOT better. G We have some neat local woods that never make
the sawmill; osage orange, dogwood, beech & sycamore. There are also
some neat exotics like the japanese sampora that a woman had cut out of
her back yard last year. I'm starting to cut a few of my own boards.
I don't really have the room for even a portable sawmill & drying shed,
so I doubt I'll get into it too much, but besides being a lot of fun,
working with these other woods is very interesting. Also keeps my
wallet from hiding in a dark corner & whining. G

Jim

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 06:50:56 -0800, "Nick Huckaby"
wrote:

I bought four sets of chisels from a used place. The kind with a light green
see-thru handle and a black trim - no brand. It performed fine for a few
weeks until a pearl sized chip came off in sections from the tip of the green
handle which I did not notice earlier. I was chiseling against the grain of the
wood, not along the grain as instructed from a book. But, I've chiseled against
the grain with a 10-year old Stanley (with a non-see-thru plastic handle) without
problems.

The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

Thanks





some cheap chisels have decent steel, some don't. if yours don't,
treat them as disposable. if they do, make new wooden handles.

On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 12:20:52 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Charlie Self"
wrote:

use a wooden, rawhide (my preference) or plastic
mallet.

Rawhide ? really?

I have plenty of rawhide mallets that I use for coppersmithing, but
I've never heard of anyone using them to drive chisels before - always
wood.


I have a few rawhide mallets. every once in a while one or another of
them will be used to drive a chisel, like if the mallet happens to be
out at the time or is the right weight for the cut or whatever.
usually I do use a wood mallet, but I don't have a rule about it....

I bought four sets of chisels from a used place. The kind with a light green
see-thru handle and a black trim - no brand. It performed fine for a few
weeks until a pearl sized chip came off in sections from the tip of the green
handle which I did not notice earlier. I was chiseling against the grain of the
wood, not along the grain as instructed from a book. But, I've chiseled against
the grain with a 10-year old Stanley (with a non-see-thru plastic handle) without
problems.
The problem is that a few of the green see-thru chisels have 10-15 percent
chips gone from its plastic striking surface. Since that day I am more careful.
I'm not sure whether the cause is the a 12-oz. iron hammer or the way I pound
them. What's the best way to repair these tool?

Thanks


Get this set of chisels http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/html_p/C!00730.htm
And this 4-1/2" mallet: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...04&cat=1,41504
Or this type from anywhere else, and you'll be proper. I have some of
these chisels and they are an acceptable tool steel that does take a very
fine edge. When honing these Buck Bros., the edge does build up a
signifigant bur, but it is easliy lapped off perfectly clean, I was happy
with that, and got a glass edge from 1200 grit paper.

--
Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com
not my site: http://www.e-sword.net/

It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Glenn"
wrote:

Laburnum is one of the nicest decorative trees for turning

Have you ever seen "oyster veneering" - an 18th century decorative
technique ? Diagonal slices of laburnum are trimmed rectangular and
placed together as a decorative veneer. It's plug-ugly IMHO, but
certainly an interesting and impressive technique.

Andy Dingley responds:

Rawhide ? really?

I have plenty of rawhide mallets that I use for coppersmithing, but
I've never heard of anyone using them to drive chisels before - always
wood.

Yeah, rawhide. I've got a couple with cast iron holders that are
weighty enough--ye olde basic rawhide mallet is very light, but add 16
ounces of cast iron, and bingo. I've also got one that has a copper
head and a rawhide head...great for non-sparking needs, but I no longer
work around such substances when striking is needed, so it is also
handy for driving chisels. To me, the more compact heads are easier to
control than larger wood mallets, though I also like the various
deadblow Stanley hammers.

Andy Dingley wrote:

I have plenty of rawhide mallets that I use for coppersmithing, but
I've never heard of anyone using them to drive chisels before - always
wood.

I prefer them for framing chisels.

Kevin Gallimore

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

Glenn wrote:
Laburnum is one of the nicest decorative trees for turning :) It has a very
dark center and a yellow outer layer. Wonderful close grained wood but hard
to find. Some of my best looking pieces came from the nastiest looking
scraps :) Amazing how the coloring in the grain changes from being wet and
dried multiple times under various types of junk. Madrone and manzanita
root can be very interesting too.
"Jim" wrote in message
oups.com...

Martin, you aren't kidding. I stopped by the saw mill & bought $102
worth of wood yesterday. I don't do it too often & the pile this time
was depressingly small. Locally, we get nice cherry, oak, poplar &
maple. Got a couple of boards of each just to put in the shop & let it
sit for when I need it.

Lately, I've mostly been turning green wood - found wood. I like that
price a LOT better. G We have some neat local woods that never make
the sawmill; osage orange, dogwood, beech & sycamore. There are also
some neat exotics like the japanese sampora that a woman had cut out of
her back yard last year. I'm starting to cut a few of my own boards.
I don't really have the room for even a portable sawmill & drying shed,
so I doubt I'll get into it too much, but besides being a lot of fun,
working with these other woods is very interesting. Also keeps my
wallet from hiding in a dark corner & whining. G

Jim




As I pack, I have a spindle with ends still attached of Osage Orange curing
in my bottom dresser drawer. Been there 8 years and I think it might be dryish.
It has a beautiful color now, and will be turned a bit to true up internal stretches.

Speaking of the magical Madrone - I have some that are 100' or more high but are likely
150' in length! - One is larger than my belt size at 100' and is horizontal!
The trunks twist and turn. The color of the wood is so fine and the wood tight.

I have two limbs well seasoned for future projects. Larger bowls never made it as
the wood comes alive during turning as the stress grain is cut and a twist comes undone!
Now try to cut that with a hand skew! Exciting times.

In my new shop, I'll get the wood lathe out and have plenty of room. Hope to get my skill,
my Uncle - Uncle Dave - he is making Hats! - Yes western, and others! The pictures are
something else. I get one this summer. Can't wait to walk into a lumber yard or wood working
store of some sort with a wood hat!

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder