50 Cent Chisels
I found both of these chisels at separate garage sales. Paid 50 cents for each. The larger one, 1 1/2″ Lakeside, had remnants of its old handle. The edge had a big gash, looked like it had been used to chip concrete. I cleaned it up, ground and honed it, and made its new handle out of dogwood from my yard that had seasoned for several years.The smaller chisel, 1 1/4″ Stanley, had no handle and had been used without it, which mushroomed the socket. I filed the socket back to shape, cleaned and honed the chisel; and made a new handle out of some Drake Elm, also cut from my yard a couple years before.Both chisels are made of very good steel. They sharpen and hold their edge as nicely as (if not better than) any of my Japanese or LN chisels.Both woods used for the handles are excellent for this purpose: They are hard, heavy, tough, highly resistant to splitting. Matter of fact, the Dogwood is quite a pleasure to turn. It has a very nice, smooth feel, with very, very tight grain. The handle shape is simple, but fits perfectly in my hand.
Comments
The mallet looks like dogwood too. Nice job. It makes you feel good to salvage a nice quality older tool, instead of buying new and not as good.
These are beautiful chisils and probable better than most new chisels for sell. I am just as impressed with your ability to turn yard waste into fantastic functioning handles. Dog wood and Drake Elm - you must live in the northern U.S.?
You have made a real discovery with these chisels. Nice work!
Nice job with the salvage of the metals and the crafting of the handles. Good inspiration!
I'm a real fan of before and after pictures. I'm impressed with the after just wished I'd seen the before. Quite nice. Great find too.
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