Couple of recent projects

[scottg]

First is my new chisel rack. A buddy sent me a couple sizes I didn't have. Had ever been able to get. So I had to make a new rack
 
 



 Then I carved up a close quarters toolbox hammer.

 



 yours Scott

[Papaw]

There ya go again!

Showing us how far behind we are in woodworking skills!

Great stuff, Scott!

[Lewill2]

Great job on both accounts. Did you make the chisel handles too?

[scottg]

Did you make the chisel handles too?

 Of course.
I don't like hunting among chisels for the right size. I want to know at a glance.
So I hate matching handles.
 Matchy-match is for little girls anyway.
 And not the smart ones. heeheheheheeh
  yours Scott

[amertrac]

nice. I wish my hands didn't shake so much     bob w.

[OilyRascal]

Beautiful work, Scott!  You have some mad woodworking skills.  I like the hatchet handle on the hammer :)    My hat (tooltalk of course) is off to you.   It's not just the woodwork I'm drooling over!

If you ever have a need and care to have it -  I build custom cabinets (mostly hickory and hard/sugar maple) from time-to-time and it is common for me to have drops left.  Of course I can't throw them for scrap or use them to stay warm by a fire, and the wood continues to build in the attic space of the garage.  If you're interested a consideration for you is the 3/4" thickness x random width x less than 12" length.

I was also about to offer the next sizable piece of Pecan that fell from the grove on the property - but then I saw your hammer leaning on a pecan so I'm assuming you have at least one tree yourself.

Again, beautiful work.

[Branson]

Gorgeous chisel rack, Scott!  The hammer handle -- is that Madrone?  Kinda looks like it. 
So, different handles for different sizes of chisels.  That makes sense. 

But me, when I get around to it, I do matchy match.  I just like the feel of octagonal handles
and they're simple to make.  For sockets, I've recently started to use a simple barrel shaped
handle like the original that's on an 1860s framing gouge I found.

[scottg]

Hey Thanks Guys!
  Yup, the "toolbox" hammer handle is madrone. Outstanding eye!
 Originally I had carved a hatchet handle but it had a defect near the eye I couldn't see from the outside. grrrrrr
  So it was laying in the scrap box next to the woodstove.

 Then that hammer head came limping in. It was about to get tossed under my anvil stand in the corner, where project tools/parts lurk,
    And for an instant on the way they both just lined up in my sight perfect. 
  Hmmmmmmmmmm, hows about a pudgy little hammer??

   Octagonal chisel handles are great, and pretty easy to carve freehand. (cut a square, knock the corners off).   All my earliest ones were like that.
But pretty soon when you get too many chisels and you end up wasting minutes every time you need one, squinting at the blades, trying to tell the difference between 9/16 and 5/8............
 Now I just make them all different. I have enough confusion in my life.  heh

   I can always use hickory or pecan (nearest relative to hickory) tool handle stock!!
 Always semi desperate, really.  Neither grows within 1000 miles at all.
 Further down the Cal central valley they grow pecans, (dwarf orchard trees) but the nearest real pecan or hickory is about 1000 miles away. 

  If anyone is ever breaking up firewood and has the chance to cut 2 to 3' long rounds, from clear sections near the base?
  Man would I love a couple quarter sections of that!
   yours Scott

[OilyRascal]

  If anyone is ever breaking up firewood and has the chance to cut 2 to 3' long rounds, from clear sections near the base?
  Man would I love a couple quarter sections of that!
   yours Scott

Certainly no problem finding hickory here.  I cut down 20-25 saplings this winter (clearing) that were about 5" in diameter.  Had I been thinking clearly I would have saved them - I was not and used them in the wood burning stove in the garage to stay warm over the winter.  I still have a couple of smaller hickory trees that must go, as they are just to close to the house and I don't want to risk their getting larger. 

It is normal for me to find a hickory tree to cut each year around the first of June - to use as cooking/smoking stock through the year.  In the past I have tried to choose one that is either dead or not healthy - and if I can't one with ~18" diameter.  Last year's tree was a dead one, as was the year before.  I've not yet spotted one for this year, but suspect I will find one dead or unhealthy as our summer last year was brutal.  I've already spotted half dozen 125+ year old red oaks (and several dozen yellow pine which I don't really care about) dead walking the property.....makes me sick at my stomach to think about the oaks.

I suppose I said all that to say I could potentially help you with either a smaller or larger diameter piece - dead or alive.  However, I question if it would be cost effective for me to ship it being 2-3'.  I'm not aware of a flatrate box that a 3' piece would fit in.

[Branson]

I might be able to get some pecan.  There was one cut down at an old church in Sacto.

For handles for striking tools, pecan won't do.  Looks right, and is often sold as hickory  to cabinet makers, but it doesn't flex, and will blister your hands and make you work harder.

For these handles, you want the sap wood from hickory (also what you want for hickory splints for splint chair seats).  That's where the flex is.