Thread: Mucking about with chisels...

Quite a few years ago, I cobbled together a few butt chisels - Stanleys & Marples. I only use them occasionally, but sometimes, they are just the right tool for the job. These are a motly bunch. The 1 1/2" is a really good bit of steel, but they are all a bit coarse, with not very even bevels. Because I made the handles at different times, they are a bit uneven, but the Mulga I used is a beautiful handle wood - takes a nice finish & has a lovely silky feel to it. (pic. 1)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a batch of "butt" chisels . Most were in pretty rough shape, and they are genuine "butts", i.e. the leftovers of full-size chisels after many sharpenings. However, they are mostly of excelent pedigree, so worth a bit of mucking about with. The first job was to get rid of the handles which were of every conceivable shape, none of which was particularly appealing, & several were roughly-fitted ring-ins. I tried a couple of different woods, & went for a simple, compact shape. The first was Brigalow, but it didn't feel right - too coarse. So I tried some Gidgee - better, but didn't look very attractive, so then it was Bull-oak, which hit the Goldilocks point for me (pic 2). Because the sockets are all different tapers, I have made some handles shorter, or they won't fit in the tool chest (pic 3).

I have reground most of the bevels because they were too thick at the ends, and now for some serious flattening and polishing of those backs. Two were in good shape & are already ok, but the others are going to take a while. Something to do to use up a spare hour or two....

Cheers,