Thread: attaching socket chisel handles

The short answer is just put the handles in the sockets and give them a whack with a mallet.



The "cone" on the end of handle obviously needs to match the profile of the inside of the socket (Picture 1) and after the handle is "whacked" home there needs to be a small gap of a few millimetres between the top of the socket and the shoulder on the handle (Picture 2).

Friction holds the handles in place but even after you've whacked them home they can become loose again due to seasonal movement of the wooden handle. This is where the gap between the socket and the shoulder comes in. If the moisture content of the handle drops, causing the wood to shrink, then the handle will loosen in its socket and you need the gap so that the cone on the end of the handle can be whacked further into the socket to tighten it again.

I have read on another forum of people putting a small dob of epoxy in the socket before whacking home the handle so that the handles don't ever come loose but I haven't gone down this path with mine.

Thanks Ian,

I'll give it a try.
cheers
Moray