H & C handles

[Sam]

I've have chisel handles from maple, rosewood, ebony, and some odd South American wood called palo santo. I see no difference in the performance in any of them. When I use them the cuts are all the same. Your mileage may vary.

 

[sanch]

Hi,

Do yourself a favor and go to a wood shop. Pick up some osay orange and try it. If you need to do deep, heavy cuts you can run a steel rod through the osay to the back of the graver for less flexibility. Google osay orange for the history of this wood..

AirAmp

Osage orange wood would be nice but in "keeping this endeavor low cost start up" I am going to use other hard wood that is readily available and FREE like the cherry wood or maple, even walnut...by the way I would like to see the Osage handle chisels. Also putting a"slug" in them is a mute point if you want a heavier handle "just saying"...

 

[airamp]

Sanch,

The metal rod is not to make the chisel heavy. It is to get a direct drive to the graver from the hammer and is going all the way through (like a pen to the point).
This mod is for heavy cutting only not light detail. the wood can be anything since you do not get the damping effect/flexability (smooth cuts) of the osay with a solid connection.

Handle is a Mckinsay/Bridges shape.

Notice most hammer handles are osay.
do what you like but have fun...

AirAmp

 

[zzcutter]

Here are the hammers and chisels I use for my work. They have severed me well over the years.

ZZ

 

[sanch]

Sanch,

The metal rod is not to make the chisel heavy. It is to get a direct drive to the graver from the hammer and is going all the way through (like a pen to the point).
This mod is for heavy cutting only not light detail. the wood can be anything since you do not get the damping effect/flexability (smooth cuts) of the osay with a solid connection.

Handle is a Mckinsay/Bridges shape.

Notice most hammer handles are osay.
do what you like but have fun...

AirAmp

Thanks, I am new to "engraving" and will listen and "do what I like" taking and giving as I do in most of any craft or art form I have researched and am still researching and have yet to even sharpen a graver BUT just so as to not ruffle any ones feathers so to say I would like to take a minute to thank you for the picture and any advise that you have offered. I will take it and any advise offered, glean from it what I feel applies to me, and roll out! equally so any advise I give can be taken or left be. From what little research I have done the "preferred" wood for chasing hammers is Pear and or Apple but who knows some one somewhere prefers a rock...I was looking for opinions and pix of chisel handles! mine are HUGE SS beasts and I may or may not like them!!!! I do understand the concept of using a "rod" in the handle to "connect" the hammer blow with the graver it is not a complex one my point was simply that a metal rod in a wood handle would (no pun intended) add to the weight.. also a side note/question are we talking about the same wood Osage orange=osay??

 

[sanch]

Here are the hammers and chisels I use for my work. They have severed me well over the years.

ZZ

very nice tools sir I love the handles on all of them thank you kindly for the pic!!!

 

[zzcutter]

I might add that the longer handle in the middle is the one I use with the hammer. The other two are pushed by hand. One is 95 degree graver and the other is 120 degree. This is just a few of the handles made up with gravers. I have a dozen made up that way so if I break a point I just grab a new one and keep going. When I run out of sharp gravers then I sharpen them all, just the way I like to do things.

The hammer handles are made out of english walnut and the graver handles maple, cherry and english walnut.
I like the wood handles over the metal, just like the feel,look and sound. ZZ

 

[sanch]

Mr Novak, Thank you for sharing, I was about to ask you if the shorties were push gravers!

 

[DKanger]

a side note/question are we talking about the same wood Osage orange=osay??

It's the most mispronounced wood there is.
Osage Orange
Hedgeapple in the north
Originally bois d'arc in French (wood of the bow)
Then the south got ahold of it and it became Bodark, but some don't pronounce the R so it became Bodoc.
Drives me nuts.

 

[sanch]

It's the most mispronounced wood there is.
Osage Orange
Hedgeapple in the north
Originally bois d'arc in French (wood of the bow)
Then the south got ahold of it and it became Bodark, but some don't pronounce the R so it became Bodoc.
Drives me nuts.

Ive seen some knife makers use "Osage Orange" for scales usually very nice knives!

 

[airamp]

Hi,

Thanks for the correction.

I personally like the the term monkey ball for it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

Brian Bridges being a master die maker/engraver had chisels with shafts through them that went from 1/4"momax carbide to 1/2 inch momax carbide gravers (more like die chisels at that point). And hammers from 1oz heads to a 1 pound hand sledge.


Airamp

 

[sanch]

hi,

thanks for the correction.

I personally like the the term monkey ball for it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maclura_pomifera

brian bridges being a master die maker/engraver had chisels with shafts through them that went from 1/4"momax carbide to 1/2 inch momax carbide gravers (more like die chisels at that point). And hammers from 1oz heads to a 1 pound hand sledge.


Airamp

WELL SEE THERE YOU GO NOW WE'RE TALKING ON TERMS WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND!!!!:biggrin: LOL!!! monkey ball wood yea now I KNOW what we're talking about !!!

 

[monk]

i use integrated chisel/handle. i anneal a 3 corner file. when cool i rough shape for the geometry i want. then i harden them. after the final hardening, they're as hard as before. so "draw tempering" comes into play. i usually take them to a straw color. after that
back to the grs dual angler. i can get any geometry wanted.. the length is 6-7". i only remove the file grooves about an inch or two back from the tip. further back, the grooves give a better grip. i brutalize the back end into a scroll. this increases the strike area a bit, which i like. this is not only economical to do, but is also effective. they cut very well.old , junked, rusty files work better than the files coming from who knows where that are brand new.

 

[sanch]

now that is a hand made chisel there!!

 

[monk]

i don't do much h&c. when i do, i always use ones such as shown. with the grs dual angle fixture, just about any geometry is obtainable. for h&c i don't use much in the way of fancy geometry. if i use a heel, it's usually a very shallow angle, but pretty long.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

i don't do much h&c. when i do, i always use ones such as shown. with the grs dual angle fixture, just about any geometry is obtainable. for h&c i don't use much in the way of fancy geometry. if i use a heel, it's usually a very shallow angle, but pretty long.

You need the pic..

 

[sanch]

You need the pic..

that had me in tears!!!!

 

[mitch]

that was awesome, Chris! well played, sir...

 

[sanch]

i use integrated chisel/handle. i anneal a 3 corner file. when cool i rough shape for the geometry i want. then i harden them. after the final hardening, they're as hard as before. so "draw tempering" comes into play. i usually take them to a straw color. after that
back to the grs dual angler. i can get any geometry wanted.. the length is 6-7". i only remove the file grooves about an inch or two back from the tip. further back, the grooves give a better grip. i brutalize the back end into a scroll. this increases the strike area a bit, which i like. this is not only economical to do, but is also effective. they cut very well.old , junked, rusty files work better than the files coming from who knows where that are brand new.

incidentally those old rusty files are more than likely 1095 steel high carbon content that it why you can harden them up to approx. 59-60ish Rockwell also if you are drawing them back out to straw color you are actually making them softer than just a straight oil quench. also if you get them to critical temp (red/yellow and non magnetic) and put them in some vermiculite you will make them the softest they can get then you can shape them easier then once shaped bring them back to critical and quench in oil again...super tough after don't bother with temper if you want a super hard tip....kinda like making a center punch out of an alllen wrench get it bright red/yellow then quench in some oil.

 

[monk]

sanch: that's the beauty of knowledge. i do this without knowledge of the technical aspects. i just do it and it usually works. i did a bit of smithing. my quench of choice was water. brine, oil, or racquefratzium sulphate were not even considered. i''ve found the greatest hindrance to getting it right, is overheating the part. even with care, easy to overheat a file tip and drive out the carbon.