I gotta show you something check this out this is a Stanley sweetheart chisel they're nice chisels it's a chrome manganese steel hardened to about Rockwell 59 so it's good quality stuff this chisel is not a Stanley sweetheart but it also has Chrome manganese steel with a rock wall hardness of about 59. basically the same steel from what I can tell but it's also thicker and more robust and notice how the bevels are better ground this is a sign of a good chisel because it's actually harder to make chisels with really fine edges like this because of the way that the machine holds the tool as it's being ground yet that feature is important because it makes the Chisel more useful for getting into tight spaces but this is what's going to blow your mind same steel from what I can tell as I said this one is a superior shape in my opinion but the Stanley was 40 bucks for one chisel while this one was thirteen dollars why the big difference because this one didn't come with a handle I had to make the handle myself it wasn't difficult I didn't even need a lathe but that saved me about 70 percent over the cost of a similarly priced high quality chisel now this isn't a new idea in the old timey days many Edge tools like chisels came without handles you would get just the forged steel blank Woodworkers used to make their own handles because why not you're a woodworker a homemade handle can be sized to fit your hand it can be made from whatever scraps you have available even something really nice that you've been saving and it could save you a lot of money I only recently discovered that you can still do this you can buy chisels without handles I get these blanks from a small family owned company for about 10 bucks a piece I'm going to link to it below you really should get one and try it out I mean for 10 bucks what do you got to lose make your own handle once you do though I can almost guarantee you're going to want to do it on a full set because they're of exceptional quality for what I think is a ridiculously low price and there is just something to be said about using a homemade tool even if it's just the handle now making the handle was actually a lot of fun there's several ways that you can do it but today I want to show you one way that doesn't require a lathe instead I use this simple homemade bandsaw jig now what the way that this works is really clever I've notched a wooden fence so it will fit around the base of my bandsaw blade now that allows me to follow a template with the bandsaw just like I might with a router bit The Jig has a template attached to the bottom that gives my handle a nice subtle curve so it fits my hand notice how I can slide it against the fence without the blade cutting into the template itself a wood blank fits into the jig and is held between the points of two screws so it can rotate while an angled stop holds it at indexed positions so that I can cut an eight-sided beveled handle now the stick was not my design I saw it in the past makes Channel he has a free set of plans which I'm going to link to on his website so you got to go to him to figure out how to build the jig but it was really easy only took me about a half hour to make and it can be used to create as many chisel handles as you want let's check it out in action it is really quick and simple to use I'm cutting one facet at a time then I'm rotating the blank and I'm using the indexer to find and lock in the next position if you're curious my blank is about an inch and a half square and it's a little more than four inches long it is really amazing how I can just batch these handles out and I love the multifaceted look so the next step is drilling the holes for the chisel's Tang I have a clamp that I've cut a notch into so I can hold a handle blank perpendicular at the drill press I'm drilling a 3 8 inch hole you can do this by hand with a power drill there are some tricks that'll help you get it straight but a drill press is much easier here I'm measuring the thickness of the brass collar and the leather washer that's in my chisel kit the washer is a nice touch that absorbs some of the shock when you strike the Chisel with the Mallet so it's less likely to bounce out of position I marked this measurement on the end of my handlebank and then I Center the collar by eye so I can mark the inside of it with a pencil now I have to remove all this waste so the collar will fit onto the end of the handle first I saw about 3 8 of an inch deep all the way around it's okay if I go a little too deep nobody's going to be able to see it once the collar is installed from the end grain I can now carefully begin splitting away the waist I do just a little bit at a time I don't remove too much this is easier if it's nice and straight grain but even if the grain is angled a little bit it can be managed if you just take little bites once I'm close to the line I can use a rasp or a file to round the rest of the waist off again I don't want to take too much off I want the fit to be tight if it's tight I won't need epoxy in my case the collar went on with some tapping and that is exactly what I wanted then I covered it with several layers of tape to protect the brass during the next step I'm drawing a line about a half inch for my saw cut shoulder then I begin pairing from that line angling the end grain toward the collar a large wood screw clamp is a great way to hold the blank while I'm working I'm trying to carry the same eight facets forward if my chisel is sharp and I pair just a little bit away at a time there's no problem working my way all the way around I'm not worried about perfection I really want this to have a handmade look now it's time to clean up the bandsaw marks a scraper is an Ideal tool for this I just work on it one facet at a time sandpaper works well too in fact I do want to soften the edges with some paper to make the handle a bit more comfortable in my hand I also round over the end but again I'm not looking for Perfection I want a handmade look in fact I don't care about that dimple on the end from The Jig I don't know if you're supposed to use epoxy when you insert the Tang but I don't think you need it because the Tang fits tightly into that hole and frankly I'm glad I didn't use any glue because halfway in I noticed I'd forgotten to put on the leather washer it was a pain prying that thing back out of the handle but I managed and with the washer in place I was able to fully seed it on the Chisel I don't like a lot of finish on a chisel handle I want a good grip so one coat of poly was enough I could have used some tongue oil or some boiled linseed oil as well and there you have it I love the look it feels great in my hand and it saved a bundle and I don't know I feel a little extra Pride when I use it be sure to check out the link to the Chisel kits below this video they're going to sell fast I know they will that price so don't dilly dally see you next time
