CStanford
Member
Registered: 07/28/05
Posts: 1108
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Those things are anathema to guys with a tool rack on their bench. Inevitably, you'll walk into the shop one day with the working part on the floor and the handle left in the rack.
On the other hand, gluing them in seems a shame. I thought it was that slight amount of slack that helped them hold up when you gave 'em some stick.
I don't care for them. The handle seemed to separate themselves from the rest of the unit even when sitting in a drawer. Obviously humidity swings are the cause but not always easily remedied at any given moment without a large expenditure of cash.
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Sawdustd
Member
Registered: 06/21/08
Posts: 849
Loc: Burke, VA
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Thanks Timberwolf. My grandson just busted my axe handle while spitting wood and I was wondering how best to remove the epoxied head.
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Steve Hamlin
Member
Registered: 07/02/07
Posts: 329
Loc: Warwickshire, UK
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First check with his parents that they're happy for you to perform the operation...
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Make your wood sing!
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MichaelMouse
Member
Registered: 05/17/05
Posts: 8121
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Fifty plus years of stability on the boxwood-handled Sears set I inherited from dad. As others have mentioned, long tapers help, but the nature of wood can get in the way. It swells with high humidity, then shrinks as it lowers, but may not return completely to original contour. There's a bit of fiber set from the squeeze. Tap the handle with the nose in the air and it's re-wedged. You use the same techniques to move the iron in your woodies, right? Wedge in one direction, loosen in the other.
Pa's were pretty much always in the basement - his or mine - until I passed them to my eldest. He keeps them in the garage, but in New Orleans, that's always pretty humid. Moving to Texas in a year. That'll tell.
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Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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Humanbackhoe
Neoanderthal
Registered: 04/06/07
Posts: 3662
Loc: Savage, Md.
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Steve Hamlin said:
First check with his parents that they're happy for you to perform the operation...
 Very Chas Addams.
Andrew
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"That's like getting a running start and diving headfirst into the vortex."
Steve Freidman 4/21/2013
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RokJok
Member
Registered: 09/11/05
Posts: 3800
Loc: Rainy side of the Cascade Mtns
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Gene, One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is to seat the handle *lightly*, then remove the handle and look for shiny spots (compressed wood) on the taper. I've tweeked handle fittings by removing tiny bits of wood at the shiny spot(s) with sandpaper or, more typically, very light and judicious paring with a chisel.
Timberwolf said:
The socket chisels I intend to keep are all glued in with epoxy such as JB Weld, and they never fall out...If the wood splits and the handles need to be replaced, just heat the socket to about 140 degrees and they will come right out.
Allow me to ask if you are talking about two separate epoxies -- JB Weld and something like the hardware store variety 5- or 30-minute epoxy. Reason I ask is that JB Weld (the gray 2-part cold weld compound) is supposedly good up to 500*. At temps above 500* F I'd worry about possibly affecting the temper (not the hardening) of the steel, since tempering, in knives anyway, can be done at temps well below that.
From their website.
Quote:
Mechanics -- you can use J-B WELD with confidence. It is designed for safe, reliable, permanent repairs in engine compartments and heated environments up to 500° F.
FWIW, I'm an avid JB Weld metal epoxy (the gray stuff) fan and it is on my "God's gifts to humanity" list. When I have very dissimilar materials to bond and I want the highest probability of them sticking together, JB Weld is what I reach for.
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"For true creativity, we have to think beyond our tools." - MsNomer -
"Measuring is the enemy of precision." - Chris Schwarz on story sticks -
"only one opinion counts, the one that pays." - daveferg -
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Bill_Houghton
Member
Registered: 08/01/09
Posts: 1383
Loc: Sebastopol, CA
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Bibliophile 13 said:
Sockets aren't always exactly symmetrical all the way around, so a well-shaped handle might not be making full contact inside the socket. Nothing a sharp file won't take care of.
Put the handle in the socket and wiggle it around to see if there's a point at which it feels like it's settling into a seated position; if the handle's been shaped to the socket once, you should be able to feel when it's returned to that position.
Then tap it in and knock it out, looking for bright spots on the wood, where failure-to-fit has burnished the wood a little. Some people use marking techniques - chalk or pencil lead scribbled on the handle before the insertion - to identify these spots.
A file or, if you don't have one, sandpaper will help you knock off the high spots.
The advice to consider whether it's bottoming out in the socket is good advice; in addition, make sure that there's a little space, when the handle is seated, between the taper and the shoulder where the handle shape takes over (note that not all handles have this shoulder - some handles transition smoothly into the taper - but most older handles have a shoulder at the fat end of the taper, making the handle shape there the same dimensions as the outside of the socket). You want 1/8" or so between the socket and this shoulder, so that the taper of the handle can seat fully in the taper of the socket; otherwise, it's equivalent to the taper bottoming out in the socket.
Once you've got a good mating of handle to socket, hold the chisel with the handle down and bash it on the bench a few times (if you've got one of those chisels with sharp corners, wrap a towel or rag around the chisel; no need for emergency room visits here). This should seat the handle without any wear on the chisel edge.
If the chisel you used is an old one, it's always possible that the socket's gotten distorted (squashed) relative to the handle.
Humidity changes happen. It's always a good idea, when picking up a chisel, to pick it up by the body, not the handle alone. You don't want to test the sharpness of the edge on your concrete floor (the floor will win) or your toes (the chisel will win).
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Blaine
Yahoo
Registered: 10/29/03
Posts: 13347
Loc: Libertyville, Illinois
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Using a pencil or Sharpie marker on the taper before seating it can aid in determining the high spots. The markings will come off where it touches the socket.
As was said before, be sure the socket isn't hitting the bottom of the socket. But that's the easiest place to fix if it is touching. And you really have nothing to lose if you take 1/16 - 1/8" off the end of the handle.
Blaine
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All our boats are quite similar: leaky, hard to steer, and not really seaworthy. -Phydeaux 5/11
I'm one who prefers to be correct. Either that, or make up something that sounds really, really convincing. It's a little game I play. -spokeshave 2/13
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Timberwolf
Honored Veteran and lant something or other
Registered: 06/05/02
Posts: 59998
Loc: Sparkling Clearwater, Florida
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Quote:
Allow me to ask if you are talking about two separate epoxies -- JB Weld and something like the hardware store variety 5- or 30-minute epoxy. Reason I ask is that JB Weld (the gray 2-part cold weld compound) is supposedly good up to 500*. At temps above 500* F I'd worry about possibly affecting the temper (not the hardening) of the steel, since tempering, in knives anyway, can be done at temps well below that.
I use the gray JB Weld in lots of applications myself and have used heat to remove blades from knive handles I have made. Low heat from a propane torch was enough to soften the adhesive so the stub could be pulled out...it doesn't take anywhere near 500*, altho I have no way to gage the temperature myself..I dont believe it would remain hard {or bonded} at temps well below the temp needed to draw the temper of the steel...But actually, the chisel sockets are soft anyway. and heating them red hot would not affect the hardened and tempered portion of the shank..They are hardened well down the shank, and a damp cloth wrapped around the shank would keep them from overheating...When I use it in the socket, I just put a small dab of it inside the taper, and when the handle is driven, the glue spot is enough to keep the wood from coming out....But ordinary two part epoxy works as well in that application...I have some epoxy thickener {West Marine} that I sometimes used mix with it to increase the viscosity. A lot of wooden boat builders use epoxy to secure their socket chisel handles. It helps on tanged chisels also.
Here's a pic of some carving knives I made..You can see the gray color JB Weld holding the blade on the top knife.. I dont care for that color showing, so I mixed a little Lampblack with the JB to dye the adhesive jet black on all the other knives I have made. I am a big fan of JB Weld myself and always keep it on hand.
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"Remember, we are First Marines, and all the communist SOBs in the world cannot stop us from going where we intend to go".."Chesty" Puller Lt.Col. USMC..Chosin Reservoir, Korea 1950
Jack Edgar USMC.. Korea '51/'52
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tim_leo
Member
Registered: 07/30/04
Posts: 323
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The hairspray trick works well for me, but I have to wait until the wife and daughter are out of the house.
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