Home made chisels

**JTonks** · 15th April 2005, 12:36 AM

Hi everyone

I have just joined the forum and a have spent most of the night perusing the threads in hand tools and machinery forum.

My main interest at the moment is making wood working tools ( 3 planes thus far, a small wooden smoother, a rabbet plane design that was published in Wooden Boat mag. and a Chute plane ofmy own design inspired by the Stanley 51).

Next project I am thinking about is making my own chisels. The chisels I currently own don't hold an edge so I thought , why not make my own.

I have a piece of O1 tool steel to make some plane blades from so I figured I might use that.

Has any one else had a go at making their own chisels. I would be interested in your experiences if you have

Thanks

John

**DanP** · 15th April 2005, 12:58 AM

Don't go telling us all about your hand made hand tools without giving us a pic. Bluddy teaser.

Dan

BTW Welcome, I will watch your posts with interest.

**Schtoo** · 15th April 2005, 01:06 AM

Does that mean I have to show pics of my jointer and scraper planes too?

**DanP** · 15th April 2005, 01:14 AM

Shyte yeah. The more tool the better.

Dan

**fourkids** · 15th April 2005, 02:07 AM

I have done it...in the process of helping the local scout troup put together some 1/2" chisels.

Biggest problem I had was forming the tang. I assume you know how to harden and have a forge, etc.

Can you describe your process?

**MathewA** · 15th April 2005, 05:14 AM

Made these last year. I found the process easy but very time consuming - cause I made them by hand.
They're made from 1/2 thick O1 tool steel hardened and tempered back to about 61rc. I wanted a set that would take anything I dished out so I went with the 1/2 thick O1 to keep the tangs as heavy as possible.

They hold an edge better than my Ashley Ilses when pounded straight into white oak. Even though they're very heavily build I find them easy to use in light work.

I cut the tangs with a skill saw and steel cutting blade then cleaned up with an angle grinder. Brass ferrules were turned on my wood lathe. The chisels taper so I drilled out as much steel as possible then cleaned up with an angle grinder and very coarse wheel. Finish sanding was done after hardening and tempering on a 12" disk sander with a fine disk to flatten and give a nice finish

The 1 1/2 inch is too large to harden with an open flame - I had to use the forge to get it up to temp. I only hardened the first 5 inches of blade length - kept the shoulders and tangs "soft" so they would bend instead of break. Tempering was done in the kitchen oven at 400F for an hour

**gnu52** · 15th April 2005, 07:39 AM

Matthew, those chisels look great.

Trouble is now I'll have to attempt a set to see if I can do it. Bill.

**Woodlice** · 15th April 2005, 01:22 PM

'scuse the ignorance, but where do you get tool grade steel from? I wanna have a go too.

J!

**echnidna** · 15th April 2005, 03:40 PM

Old car leaf spring also makes good chisels

**JTonks** · 15th April 2005, 11:50 PM

Matthew
Nice looking chisels. Thanks for your advice, the comment about the edge was just what I wanted to hear.

BTW
I bought my tool steel from Bohler Uddeholm Steel in Launceston. They would have a branch in most capital cities I would expect.

A piece 50 X 5 X 600 O1 cost about $55 if memory serves.

PS I have posted a message in the Home made tool forum with some pics of the planes I have made

John

Thread: Home made chisels

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Home made chisels

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions