Thread: storing chisels

Originally Posted by TomH

Ian & Fletty,

That is truly inspirational. Mine are wrapped up in a rag in the drawer (I only have 5). Well done.

Cheers,

Tom

Don't worry Tom - it only took me about 35 years to get around to building the tool chest I always wanted.....

Cheers,

Ian nice set all sizes thanks for the tips on wood use

Fletty
With all that night time shennanigins(???) going on as a result of the sexy leather smell, it seems your very back chisel has lost his blade. Did he wear it out or did Mrs Chisel discover his infidelity and do what that Bobbit woman did to her hubby a few years ago.. Hell hath no fury like a chisel scorned.


Nice rack you've got there, by the way.

Jim,
I think the unbladed handle is still waiting for one of those infamous treatments available on the web!
Ian,
I am so impressed with your tailored hutch for each tool and the matching handles. I know that tools are supposed to 'do good' but it certainly doesn't hurt if they 'look good' too,
Fletty

A bar can often be demagnetized by holding it in an east-west direction and striking the end several times with a hammer.
Sounds crazy but it’s true; something to do with the earth’s magnetic field. You can even induce magnetism by tilting a metal rod down in a north south orientation and striking its end a few times. Might come in handy the next time you lose a metal object down a cavity.

Originally Posted by fletty

...I am so impressed with your tailored hutch for each tool and the matching handles. I know that tools are supposed to 'do good' but it certainly doesn't hurt if they 'look good' too,
Fletty

Hi Fletty - yep, there's no doubt at all in my mind that a tool that feels good in the hand encourages you to use it well.

The matching handles have a roundabout beginning. I started out modifying a few really big & ugly wood handles that didn't fit at all comfortably in my hands. Because they were already turned to an oval shape, I didn't have a lot of scope in forcing my own design on them, so went with a pattern that felt natural to hold. They are not meant to be fine examples of turnery! I had a very motley collection of of various breeds of chisels acquired over many years, some with wood, some with plastic handles, but each earned its place in the toolbox by being a decent bit of steel, so one day I decided to make them into a bit more of a set. The handles don't match exactly, as you can see, because they were done at different times & with different bits of raw material. The first ones were Ash (Fraxinus) so I had to find other white woods, which more or less meant using northern hemisphere woods as we don't have many white woods suitable for handles that have to tolerate bashing. So there is Hawthorn, Box & Pear as well as the ash original.

The 'set' of butt chisels is a collection of stubbs & short chisels with Mulga handles. Since I was starting from scratch, I could use my favoured design for chisels that are used mainly for hand-held tasks.

Re-handling gets to be a bit of a disease, so most of the tools I adopt now get a customised handle. There are so many woods that make excellent handle material (& it's a great way to use scraps you can't think of other uses for). I finish them off to 400 grit and/or fine steel wool, whack on a bit of U-Beaut Shellawax and they feel like they've been coated in silk. Somewhat to my surprise, it's a very durable finish despite being so easy to apply....

Cheers,

Hi Fletty,

Regarding the magnetizing, I have had a similar system for lathe chisels for some years, and have not found any negatives to note.

Sometimes get a few filings adhering off the grinder, but no issue. I don't hone to the extent that you would with a chisel, but do touch up edges with an oilstone, again no issue.

Some turners make an fuss about the tool "snapping down" onto the toolrest, but IMHO this is rubbish. Even if you concentrate, the effect is barely noticeable, and affects nothing. Also can't see where you would have a similar effect with hand chisels anyway.

Looks good to me.

My turning version below.

regards

You can still get screwdriver magnetizer/demagnetizers if you look around - usually about 50x50mm and 20mm thick, with a stepped hole through the square side - mine is covered in blue plastic. That should also work on chisels in de-magnetize mode.

You mean there are no negative effects of magnetic chisel racks?
I spent yestarday afternoon poorly making a chisel rack (just couldn't get my head around sizing and shaping the holes for some reason) and then took the old magnetic tool rack down as I didn't want stuff up my shiney new Christmas toys (5 LN chisels)!

Chris

Go with what bsrlee said - I picked up a similar magnetiser/de-magnetiser at McJings for $5 I think. Works a treat on chisels, screwdrivers, etc.

Only limitation is that the aperture (Stargate?) will only accept chisels up to about 1".

I had been avoiding any form of chisel storage that relied on magnets due to the swarf issue when sharpening, but since getting the magic gizmo from McJings I'll go ahead and make up a magnetic chisel storage rack. Just a quick de-magnetise before each sharpening session.

Useful info about the widget.

When I was young and drove a magnetic base drill in a steel truss factory, any tool that got accidentally magnetised was hit hard with a hammer ;-}

I would say though that some steels don't take well to a magnetic rack; there's something happening that encourages corrosion at the point of contact. Not found probs with HC steels, stainless or HSS.

Very nice Fletty