Chisels broke

[Nick Huckaby]

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

[Edwin Pawlowski]

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

[Doug Miller]

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?

[Jim]

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

[aftershock]

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

[Bugs]

chiseled against

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

[Robert Swinney]

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

[J T]

Sat, Mar 5, 2005, 7:18am (EST-3) [e-mail] (Jim) says: 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.

He was probably whacking them way too hard too. I've got 7 mallets, different sizes, weights, types of wood, 6 if you don't include the pine one the dog chewed on. The lighter ones work great for more delicate chiseling, the big heavy ones are for whacking the Hell out of them.

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

[Guess who]

You never "whack the Hell" out of chisels. (i) you sharpen them, and (ii) the fact that the mallet is heavier should do ...Like my dear old daddy used to tell me, rest his soul, "Let the tool do the work."

[J T]

Sat, Mar 5, 2005, 5:10pm [e-mail] (Guess=A0who) erroneously claims: You never "whack the Hell" out of chisels.

LMAO Maybe in your world. My chisels "are" sharp, by the way. When I want delicate cuts, I use a light mallet, and tap, tap, tap, letting "the tool do the work".

However, in my world, on those times when I need (or want) to take a big chunk at one go, I use my biggest chisel, take my biggest, heaviest, mallet, and "whack the Hell out of it". Works quite well. Fun too. When my woodworking stops being fun, I'll stop woodworking.

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

[Andy Dingley]

My heaviest wooden mallet is around 18lbs.... 8-)

[J T]

Sun, Mar 6, 2005, 12:35am (EST+5) [e-mail] (Andy=A0Dingley) says: My heaviest wooden mallet is around 18lbs.... =A0 8-)

That definitely makes it a two-man job. OK, you hold the chisel, and I'll swing the mallet. Trust me.

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

[Martin H. Eastburn]

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

Martin

[Charlie Self]

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.

[Noons]

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

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 [e-mail]

[Jim]

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. 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.

Jim

[Andy Dingley]

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.

[Andy Dingley]

One man, _definitely_. No one even wants to stand near it when it's being swung. It's a timber-framing "commander" for putting big joints together.

[Phisherman]

I have a well-beaten rawhide mallet that came with a box of old tools I bought in an auction. This ugly mallet became my favorite mallet--just the right size, weight, and non-marring. For heavier stuff, I have a dead-blow shot-filled mallet. Most often I just use hand pressure with a chisel--if that doesn't work chances are it's time to do some sharpening.

[Lew Hartswick]

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