Idea: Making your own wood carving chisels

[andremajic]

Hey guys.

I was reading the book "Modern Gunsmithing" and was in the section about making your own hand tools. The problem with most wood chisels found today is they don't hold an edge worth a damn. The antique ones that were made of good steel are now "collectors items" and unavailable for me, due to the price. The modern ones, like the two cherries brand are out of my price range too.

I do have a lot of free time on my hands though.

I have bought a couple 8" long replacement plane blades and plan on cutting them into strips, using a hacksaw or dremel cutting wheels and files, cooling them every couple seconds, so they don't lose their temper, and making them into chisels. Like I said earlier, I have a lot of time, and with files, you can shape any metal into whatever shape you need. The key has to be to keep the metal cool and take my time while the material is being taken off.

The reason for using them is that they hold a razors edge like nobody's business, and they are relatively cheap at about 8 bucks apiece. If I did my calculations right, I should have enough material in each plane blade for a whole set of straight edge chisels. I plan on making the curved gouges out of round drill stock, with the inside profile ground out. When I get home, I'll use the lathe to turn a bunch of hardwood handles to sink the shanks into.

Remember, wood carving chisels are meant to be pushed by hand, not pounded with a mallet like someone who uses one to carve out a door for hinges.

I will post pics as I do this project.

What do you guys think?

Andy.

[kywoodwrkr]

Andy,
I collect any old wood chisel etc that I find at flea markets and etc.
You will probably have to anneal them to be able to rework them and then have to retemper.
I'm currently reading a book, for school, about mettalurgy and the different steels and which ones do what.
Quite enlightening I should say.
I'm hoping to make my own reamers and etc for chambering and making my own reloading dies.
Fioles are a source of really good steel.
Old saw blades, from saw mill etc also.
Also make good knife stock!
Dave

[shunka]

If you wish to produce your own carving tools, I would highly recommend the old books by Alexander Weygers, "The Modern Blacksmith", "The Making of Tools", and "The Recycling, Use, and Repair of Tools", they have been compiled into a single book , "The Complete Modern Blacksmith".

Weyger is (was) an amazing renaissance man, trained as a ships engineer during the time when the engineer was expected to be able to bring a "dead in the water" steamship into port using only handtools and manpower available.

"The Making of Tools" will teach you everything you need to know to make good carving tools, as this is what Weyger was doing in order to produce his own carvings. You will learn what cheap (or free) metals to use, how to forge & file or grind it to shape, and how to heat treat it, including how to build a simple forge from almost nothing.

With this book, over 30 years ago I built my first simple brick kiln/forge, fired it with a common hardware store MAPP gas torch, and began making and heat treating carving chisels and knife blades from common square high carbon "key stock" .

Nowadays I scrounge automotive coil springs, leaf springs and old coil springs from torsion-style garage doors - all for free. This spring stock is ideal for all uses. One can make knife blades of all sizes, any sort of carving tool, and any sort of chisel from a wood chisel to a cold chisel to a hardee or "hot cut" (a chisel specifically made to cut red-hot steel). The only difference is in the hardening and tempering - which Weyger will teach you in this book.

File stock (old files) is good for many things, but it is best for files - it has a very high carbon content in order to remain hard in it's intended use. As a result *while it will work* it is "generally considered" too brittle for purposes that require a durable flexible edge.

I very highly recommend Weyger's books! But until you find them, to get started with a small forge that is large enough to heat treat you can google "bean can forge"
"backyard blacksmithing" or start here
http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/blacksmithing.html

good luck - shunka

[Reverend Recoil]

I have made most all of my gunstock inletting tools from automotive valve springs. Heat the spring with a propane torch to unwind the spring. Cut off a 6" length, forge and grind to length. Heat the cutting edge red hot and quench in water. Some epoxy and 4" of broom stick will complete the handle. Another source of material is the coil spring in the hood hinge of older model cars and trucks.

I made a 1" wood carving gouge from a truck piston wrist pin. I annealed it by heating it in a small pile of charcoal briquettes. When the fire went out I was able to cut it length wise with a hacksaw. One half was then welded to the end of a 3/8" rod. After grinding and honing the cutting edge I heated it red hot with a torch and quenched it in automatic transmission fluid. It works well.

I have also made small screw drivers and punches from concrete nails.

The possibilities are endless.

[RayinNH]

Cutting, grinding and filing is going to get old real fast. Forging is by far the simplest way of doing this, of course that is after you teach yourself smithing . You say modern chisels don't hold an edge. I believe that is from heat treating and not the steel. It may be easier to take an existing chisel and re-heat treat it. Heat it and draw the temper at a lower temperature. This will make it harder and also harder to sharpen when it dulls The plastic handle will have to go though. Yard sales should yield chisels to rework.

Another excellent source of material is the shafts in shock absorbers and struts. Shock absorber shafts, about 3/8-7/16 diameter would be just right for wood chisels. Strut stock about 5/8 or so would be too large, but does make excellent cold chisels. This is oil hardening material.

I agree the Weygers book would be good for this. In terms of a good smithing book it's really lacking, but he does pretty well with chisel making...Ray

[andremajic]

Ok, you've convinced me to get that book. I will read up on the subject.

I'm still going to try my hand at grinding and filing until I get a chance to build a forge. Did I mention that I had lots of time?

I am currently in Afghanistan, and figure that the Army might frown on my forging stuff, but I can get away with hand tools and a grinder. I'll save the forge until I get home.

Andy.

[peter nap]

Old springs are made of 5160 steel. I always called it "The King of Steel". It moves well under the hammer, is very easy to heat treat and takes and holds a very good edge.

For my small inletting chisels, I use cut nails. If your careful, no need to heat treat and hold an excellent edge.

Modern car springs ate generally 10XXX series steel. They also hold a good edge but are a little harder to heat treat,

Stay away from planer plades. They are very hard to forge (D2 steel) although, they don'yt require heat treating.

[Bret4207]

X2 on Weygers books. I got mine at a used book store and all were marked $3.50. There are a number of other books along the same lines available too. Clydes book and most of the older 'smithing books give the basic instructions.

I've made a lot of tools, some worked fine, others were disasters. All part of the learning curve. If I ever get my shop set up like I want I'll have a small coal forge to use. As with so many other "old" methods of doing things a good forge is a real handy thing to have. Same for those old fashioned gasoline blowtorches I still make use of and the 3 old blacksmiths foot vices I have. People throw this stuff out! Same for the post drill I have, just fit a modern 3 jaw chuck in it and you can cut an 1.5" hole in heavy steel. You won't find a run of mill drill press that will do that. Yeah, it's slow, but it works fine.

Considering todays economic/political climate, learning to do for yourself is a darn good idea!

[Charlie Sometimes]

My Great Grandpa made kitchen knives from old cross cut saw blades. He would scribe the out line of the knife, and with a torch heat just out side the line to remove the temper and then chisel the blank out of the saw blade on an anvil. Then grind away to the scribe line on a hand grinder, and grind and file the taper on the blank, etc., etc. THAT is the hard way, as I have tried it. Now you can get bandsaws to cut out the blanks, and belt sanders to grind with, etc.

My Grandpa used to work at a drop forge for a factory that made axes, shovels, etc. The metal in them would not allow dirt to cling to the blades- new tools made in China are hard to dig with as the dirt will almost never completely clean off the blade. Not enough carbon in the steel?

John Deere invented the plow (IIRC), and that was the secret to keep the blade clean- high carbon steel in the plow (IIRC). The new stuff might not be heat-treated properly, but they also might be using cheap steel, too. That's my bet- the good stuff is going into their tanks, and armor.

[shunka]

Thank you for your service andremajic!

In the overseas scenario thus described, slicing pieces from your plane blades will be effective and there is no need to heat-treat. Field expedient handles can even be whittled from chunks of packing crate and glued on with anything available from elmers to epoxy to DIY hide glue, then wrapped tightly with string or duct tape.
You might be able do some trading with hercy-bird or huey ground crews, or riggers/loaders as they usually have access to epoxy & 60mph tape.

Stay away from planer blades. They are very hard to forge (D2 steel) although, they don't require heat treating.

Oh my yes, D2 is a real bi**h. The chromium content makes it difficult to work, the air hardening makes it a mystery to harden correctly for one used to oil hardening, and the double or triple temper required can lead to disaster. I forged *one* big bowie from D2, plumb tired me out hammering all day and moving little metal, and since it air cools so rapidly, it stayed hardened even after I thought I had it annealed. I'll stick to "old detroit spring stock" .

new tools made in China are hard to dig with as the dirt will almost never completely clean off the blade. Not enough carbon in the steel?

The new stuff might not be heat-treated properly, but they also might be using cheap steel, too. That's my bet- the good stuff is going into their tanks, and armor.

Therein is the difficulty- determining the carbon content of the cheap chinese chisels. If carbon content is good, proper heat treatment will fix it! However I have tried it and the stuff I am getting might as well be cold-rolled. Yes it is steel, but carbon content is pitiful. The only way to make use of the stuff is with massive frequent applications of casenite, which then proves costly.

The drill bits are far to brittle, the chisels far too soft, and metal content is completely unknown.

We use to joke that Chinese tools are made of old torn up British railway track.

My recourse has been to buy "quality" or "old" where it *can* be found , buy current run of Chinese crap and consider it "disposable" or if all else fails make my own from known good stock.

rant over
shunka

[deltaenterprizes]

A lot of new "quality" name brands are just Chinese junk rebranded and at a higher price than Harbor Freight.

[shunka]

A lot of new "quality" name brands are just Chinese junk rebranded and at a higher price than Harbor Freight.

I understand entirely. I was able to get a set of Marples Chisels when they were still made in Scheffield, but apparently Irwin Industrial Tools has outsourced them to China now as well. Keep hunting, sometimes one can find "new old stock"

[andremajic]

Ok guys. Update!

I got the chisel blades from my wife in the mail with a care package. They were a little smaller than I thought, but plenty of metal.

I used a grinding disk with a cordless dewalt grinder and cut each one in half. After that, I clamped each piece in a vise, and started filing with a large rough bastard cut file.

Filing takes a looong time, but it gave me quite a bit of control over how I shaped it, and let me correct any imperfections as I went. Power tools are hard to control and will ruin the metal fast! A lot of the filing was getting rid of the gouges that the power tool took out when it "skipped" over the surface.

After rough filing, I switched to a finer cut file, sandpaper on a flat surface, and used sharpening stones to set the bevel and a fine arkansas stone to polish the bevel.

The first one I made is pretty danged sharp! I haven't attached a handle yet. I'm planning on making one eventually. The true test of how sharp it is was by cutting across the grain on a piece of scrap wood, using just pressure. Works like a charm! No tearing or splitting of the wood.

I held it at a 10 percent slant and was able to skim a paper-thin piece of wood that curled off, just like a planer blade does too! I'm pretty happy with what it can do so far.

I will post pics when I get a camera, or better yet, bring it home with me on leave, and upload the pics from my home computer.

Andy.

[andremajic]

Update: I have finished shaping, sharpening, and honing all of my blades!

It took some time, but I'm satisfied with my "sweat equity" that I've invested.

Each blade will shave the hair off the back of my hand.

I finished with two 11/16", two 9/16" and one 3/4" blades, with shanks for inserting into wood handles.

I spied a worn out broom that has a hardwood handle, which I'm thinking of putting on a lathe to make my handles.

Got some epoxy to glue the shanks into the holes that I plan on drilling.

I may actually finish this project before I go home on leave.

Andy.

[shunka]

Update: I have finished shaping, sharpening, and honing all of my blades!

It took some time, but I'm satisfied with my "sweat equity" that I've invested.

Each blade will shave the hair off the back of my hand.

I finished with two 11/16", two 9/16" and one 3/4" blades, with shanks for inserting into wood handles.

I spied a worn out broom that has a hardwood handle, which I'm thinking of putting on a lathe to make my handles.

Got some epoxy to glue the shanks into the holes that I plan on drilling.

I may actually finish this project before I go home on leave.

Andy.

Good work Andy, looking forward to pics -
stay safe & Godspeed.

yhs
shunka

[KCSO]

I still have some chisels from my great grandfather, the rest I have made over the years and a lot of them from old Stanley spade bits. I also use old rake teeth and files. If you can get the old stuff, at flea markets and such it is good 1095 spring steel and pretty easy to forge and temper. How the blade holds an edge kinda depends on what you are cutting. Walnut isn't too bad but tight curly maple or hard cherry needs a real sharp tool to cut cross grain. Somewhere I had a book on making and tempering knives and tools but it has been years since I looked for it.

[joatmon]

Sure wish this thread had pic's of some of the home made tools.
Hint,Hint Aaron

[andremajic]

I got some pics of the chisels and some of the blades that I made. Sorry it took so long to update. There's a lot of little projects going on at home

(Yes, that is blood on the 2nd chisel.) They're sharp!



This is a pic of cutting some hardwood for some 1911 grips using just hand pressure.



After using this chisel for a while, when it starts dragging a little with the cutting, I take it to a marble tile and use some 800 grit sandpaper to dress up the edge and it's good as new!

(fixed the images so you can see em.)

[waksupi]

I got some pics of the chisels and some of the blades that I made. Sorry it took so long to update. There's a lot of little projects going on at home



(Yes, that is blood on the 2nd chisel.) They're sharp!



This is a pic of cutting some hardwood for some 1911 grips using just hand pressure.

After using this chisel for a while, when it starts dragging a little with the cutting, I take it to a marble tile and use some 800 grit sandpaper to dress up the edge and it's good as new!

(Let me know if you can see the images. All I see is little white boxes with red X's in them.)

[Frank46]

There was a video I think on Y-tube once of a guy who made knives out of railroad spikes. Basically all he used was a hibatchi grill, belt sander and a hammer. Some of his stuff looked pretty good. Frank