So good friend of mine who is a high end cabinet maker here on the Cape asked me if I could make some handles for him.
The chisels were found at a flea market/tool sale and were not much money.
They are a mixture of Swan 720 and 750's (I think).
I was only working on the handles. The steel will be worked by a different friend of his.
We do a lot of projects together and each time we up the ante on each other.
I'm not much of a spindle turner (more of a bowl guy) but I said I would take it on as a personal challenge.
To make matters worse he handed me a 3"x4"x5' long length of Ebony and said "Make them from this"
The timber was probably worth ~$800 alone before I hacked into it.
Needless to say I made the first couple of practice handles from some cherry I had left over.
One interesting thing to note about these socket chisels is that they are hand made. Meaning the sockets are not all the same.
They differ slightly and a pattern could not be made to fit the socket. Each handle had to be "fitted".
I made the first one and brought it over for him to evaluate. He said to go ahead with the rest. However he threw in a curve ball.
He wanted leather end caps on them. Having never worked with leather I was game to try it.
I used an old Bob Smashler article to give me some direction. Big thank you to Bob for posting that article.
Initially I was going to use some contact adhesive I use at work called pliobond to join the leather veneers and attach the caps. But it proved too soft. I ended up using medium CA glue to stiffen the leather and bond it.
He also requested of me that he was more interested in function than form. He will be using these daily and wanted them to "feel" good. I hope I got there for him.
I must say now that they are done I really don't like Ebony for turning. It powders off the blank rather than shavings so cuts are more of a scraping action. And my entire shop/house/skin/dog/etc. are black. I think I need a fire hose to clean the shop. Almost as bad as mahogany dust.
They are sanded to 400# followed buy 4 different Scotch-Brite type pads. And then waxed with Myland's finishing wax. To brighten them up I buffed them for a final look.
He does many favors for me so they will be a Christmas gift for him. I hope to deliver them this afternoon.
Thanks For Looking,
---Nailer---
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No regrets, just some interesting results.
email:
nailed_nailer@yahoo.com