Best wood candidate for new chisel handles

[Steve Turner]

Seems like modern day chisel makers are using as many different types of wood for their handles as there are makers of chisels, but is there really any great advantage to using Hornbeam, Boxwood, and Rosewood versus good ol' Hickory or Ash? I want to make some new handles for a couple of my old general purpose socket chisels, and I'm trying to decide what kind of wood to use. Looking through my stacks of suitable cutoffs, I have (among many others, but I'm not really considering things like Cherry, Mahogany, Maple, or even Oak):

Shagbark Hickory Honey Locust Mesquite Pecan Persimmon Purpleheart Padauk

What would you choose (or specifically NOT choose) and why? Just curious. :-)

[basilisk]

Neither of these are on your list, but I make handles out of dogwood and mock orange(bowdock) both of these are almost indestructable.

Of the ones on your list, hickory/pecan or persimmon, both are tough and take an excellent finish.

[Scott Lurndal]

For the last two handles I made for some flea market socket chisels I laminated some tapered offcuts (mahogany and oak) from tapered table legs and turned them. Look nice, and particularly for paring chisels, work well.

scott

[Phisherman]

Most handles are best made from strong dense wood. Taking a look at my pile of scraps for a decent handle I see... dogwood (amazingly beautiful wood) apple ash hickory pallet wood (walnut, cherry, and several unknown)

Being somewhat frugal, I'd probably pick the size/shape needed rather than what kind of (dense) wood used. I have made handles intentionally containing knots that have held up well over the years, although I am careful about dead/loose knots.

[Jay Pique]

I'd use maple. I wouldn't use balsa, because it's too soft.

JP

[Sonny]

Maybe mock orange is bowdock, but Osage Orange is bois d'arc (bodock).

Sonny

[basilisk]

Same wood, goes by many names even in my area of the southeast. Particularly useful for cooking utensils that are going to be put in the dishwasher.

cheers

[Steve Turner]

Most of us here in Texas call it "bodark". Back in Missouri we called them "hedge apple trees".

Interesting. I've found the same thing to be true of Honey Locust.

[Sonny]

being rude. My frame of mind, at the time, was meant to be informative (bois d'arc) and light hearted. I am aware osage orange has many other names. Mock orange, however, is a particular flowering shrub many folks have on their lawns as lawn decor, not the tree, as osage orange is. That difference could have been confusing, for some. I had assumed the post was in reference to osage orange. I apologize, basilisk, if I sounded rude.

Sonny

[basilisk]

being rude. My frame of mind, at the time, was meant to be informative (bois d'arc) and light hearted. I am aware osage orange has many other names. Mock orange, however, is a particular flowering shrub many folks have on their lawns as lawn decor, not the tree, as osage orange is. That difference could have been confusing, for some. I had assumed the post was in reference to osage orange. I apologize, basilisk, if I sounded rude.

Sonny

Same for me if I sounded defensive, but no offense was taken.

Basilisk

[RM MS]

As a professional woodworker, I rarely have the time to get paid for making pretty new chisel handles with shiny little ferrules. In most cases, I go to the bin on the wall and grab a proper size file handle, tap my trusty rusty into it with a little glue, and BACK TO WORK!