Thread: Chisel box design

Hi Jill

Stay away from magnets and any material that absorbs and holds moisture. Magnets will magnetise the steel and this will make it harder to wipe of filings when you hone. Moisture will, of course, lead to rust. Some leathers are cured in corrosive chemicals and are not suitable for metal, and foams, wood, etc will hold moisture. Go for plain wood - pine is fine - but the box must seal.

Here is one I made:



The chisels are secured by individual places (indents under the handle and slots for the blade) and a brace ...





Here is another (now owned by a forum member) ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

I agree with Derek that materials that retain moisture are not good for storing fine tools & I have also had problems with corrosion caused by leather.

This box I made from scraps of : marine ply, Tassy oak. Australian Cedar, & NSW Rosewood.

The ply has a face veneer of Coachwood and was used for the top & bottom of the box. The Tas Oak was used for the box, The two latches to hold the box closed and the Centre portion of the laminated handle. The two sides of the handle are four pieces of book matched Australian Cedar. The hinges were made from NSW rosewood with 1/8" brass rod.

The chisels are held in place in a strip of notched wood by the strips of NSW Rosewood that can be seen on the underside of the lid. The blades of the chisels sit on a strip of wood lined with green baize. I did initially suspect that the baize may cause some corrosion, but this has not occurred in the past 25 years or so since I made the box.

Regards

Jill

Following Derek’s post regarding the use of magnets to retain chisels I was rather afraid that I had sent you down a wrong path. However, when I thought about it there had been little in the way of complaint from my son and, as is the way with younger people, he is not shy about voicing the shortcomings of my good intentions. Nor is he particularly mindful of my sensitive side.

However he is not around to ask at the moment, but has left his chisels with me. So I revisited them to see if there was a problem created by residual magnetism. As these chisels are used with wood (my knack of stating the obvious) the only real likelihood of attracting metal particles would be during the sharpening process as identified.

I use water stones and with one of the chisels, which had obviously been used a lot, I proceeded to sharpen it. I used 1000, 4500, 6000 and 8000grits. I would have started with my 300grit stone as there was significant damage, but I have only just purchased it and had not soaked it in water. I was already short of time so I spent a little longer with the 1000grit instead.

I am explaining this to identify a range of metal particles that might be produced during sharpening. I use the Veritas sharpening jig and between each stone wipe the blade and the roller with a cloth; the blade so I can see what is happening and the roller so coarse filings are not carried to the next finer stone.

There was no evidence of metal pick up on the chisel: None at all.

This did surprise me a little as from Derek’s comments it sounded quite a feasible scenario. I was really expecting to see some adhesion and it was just a question of how severe it was.

The chisels sat in the box during the four years of the son’s apprenticeship and a further two years since so it is a fair chance that if problematical magnetism was going to occur it would have done so by now.

What was interesting to note was the very slight surface rust that has picked up on the chisels that still have never been used. The box is made from pine and plywood. The box is probably not air-tight, but if moisture is a concern I would suggest throwing in a couple of those silica gel moisture-absorbent packets or the brown paper with which metal products are often wrapped.

In N QLD where you have more than your share of the rainfall this may well be an issue. However, if rusting wasn’t a problem when you used the tool roll, it may be that you don’t need to worry. Although we had exceptional rainfall at the beginning of the year in this region, 200km inland, we are back to being as dry as a vultures armpit, which is the norm.


I think each location would have to be taken on its merits.

If I had a set of chisels as good as Derek’s I would make the best container I could for them. My solution was a low-cost , quick effort. It somehow suited the origins of tools that started out life holding up a large vehicle!

I particularly like Basilg’s chisel box. The timbers compliment each other superbly, it is beautifully made and the method of retaining them is simple, but made possible by the handle style and uniformity. It might not be so easy to do that with a mix and match situation.

Regards
Paul

Many thanks to Derek and Basilg for posting the pics of those magnificent chisel boxes. In BasilG's case, I would not be game to use it in a workshop in case it got scratched or dented, but sit it on a sideboard as a work of art.

As usual, Derek's insights are really valuable, and his comment about the magnetic chisel is quite feasible, as Bushmiller points out. Makes a lot of sense.

Thanks to Bushmiller for exploring the possibility of magnetising the chisels, and looking for filings, on his own collection ( or more correctly, those of his lucky son). I am wondering about the steel you used from the truck spring, Bushmiller, and if it is much less prone to magnetisation than the steel used in commercial chisels.

My problem is a mismatch of handles for my chisel collection, unlike the beautiful handles you guys have, which makes the box a lot easier to design and build.

Many thanks for the comment on rust and needing to make the box air tight. I have just been through that problem with my latest sawblade holder, and have been helped a lot here with the forum on silica gel. Who would have thought Kitty Litter was the answer?

My solution is to put a sachet of silica gel in to every box I make, and to polish the tools with wax where feasible. Rust is a really big problem here - there is no way I could put a chisel rack on a wall board without it rusting over a couple of months in summer here, with 75% - 95% humidity the norm

Paul

Thank you for the compliment, and your findings on the magnetisation of chisels.

Jill

Thank you for the compliment. Don't be concerned about making workshop items to a high standard. I find that aiming for a high standard gives greater satisfaction, & pleasure when using things like this, the knocks and scratches add character. However, probably my primary reason for doing something like this is the exercise provided in using different techniques, and trialing ideas

I would not let the difference in handles dissuade you from making a box to whatever design you choose, I have carving chisels stored in trays, in drawers, which have a strip of wood notched to fit the different sizes of handles. The strip of wood is held in with small brass screws, so they can easily be changed when the need arises, ( chisels stored in drawers seem to breed )

Regards

Originally Posted by JillB

I am wondering about the steel you used from the truck spring, Bushmiller, and if it is much less prone to magnetisation than the steel used in commercial chisels.

Jill

I can't really answer that one. All I can say is that vehicle leaf springs are made from high carbon steel. Modern chisels are made from a variety of different steels with the best being made from variants of HSS.

Others including Derek C (he did a post on special steels a short while ago) can provide more information on the typical steels now used.

Regards
Paul

Hi Paul

Good result on the waterstones. It would be interesting to see if you could repeat this if using sandpaper. I suspect that that will show up the magnetism.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Hi Paul

Good result on the waterstones. It would be interesting to see if you could repeat this if using sandpaper. I suspect that that will show up the magnetism.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek

As I started the test I had it in the back of my mind that the water would act as a flushing medium, but I was not sure as to what extent it would be effective. It seemed that it was very effective.

I then considered if I could repeat the test using another chisel that had been thrown in my "cast-off kitchen container", but I could not see a way to do the accelerated magnetism aspect.

For me, as I now use the waterstones, there is no issue, but I take your point regarding snadpaper and I believe you also use some grits sprinkled on glass. Both these systems may be more prone to pick up.

I have some sheets of 3M microfinishing paper for use with the scary sharp method, but they are still in the packet never used and I have not even set them up on glass. I cannot promise I will get to set it up in the immediate future, but if and when I do, I will post the results.

Regards
Paul