Hammer & chisel, handle material does make a difference

Flashmo

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Joined
Sep 17, 2015
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44
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Midway, UT
Just a random bit of info, for those interested.

When I started using a hammer and chisel, wood handles felt too "mushy" to me and I ended up falling in love with my standard 110*/ 45* face/ 20* parallel heel set in a metal handle. Wood handled 90* with standard heel for shading as it cut more shallow and fine.

I am demonstrating hammer and chisel this weekend at an event, and the organizer had concerns over the sound possibly disrupting something else. I said, no problem, I could use a wood handle.

So today I put one of my 110's in a wood handle to get a feel for it. After 5 hours of cutting, I can say that it gives a cleaner and brighter cut (for me) than the exact same chisel, sharpened the same way, in a metal handle.

The chisel does not advance as far per hit with the wood handle, which should explain some of the brighter cut. However, when I "get after it" and really drive the wood handle, it still looks "brighter" to me.

Looks like I will have to change from a 1200 sharpening finish to a 600 finish, just to get paint to stay in the cuts.

The other side of the coin...sometimes I cut very deep and bold, and the metal handle definitely does a better job of that.

I will make up some more wood handled chisels and continue...looks like each will have a place in the toolbox.
 

SamW

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Ray Viramontez used both wood and metal handles. On the metal handles he glued a tab of leather on the hammer end of the handle to absorb some of the shock for point longevity and I expect it also absorbed some of the noise.
 
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