So, you want to try installing an inlay or doing some relief carving but the only chisel you own has a dull blade about an inch wide. You know that thing isn't going to do the job so what do you do? Do what I did and make your own.
What do you need to make little chisels? Well, go to your hardware store (or hobby shop) and buy some "music wire". They may not call it that but this is the shiny straight steel rods which are about 36 inches long and come in sizes from 1/32 up to about 3/16 inch diameter. It is pre hardened and tempered so it will not bend without springing back.
I recommend buying a 5/64 (.078) and a 1/8 (.125) diameter piece. (By the way, if you ever try building a rifle, the 5/64 dia makes the best underlug pins I have ever found).
You will also want to buy a 1/2 inch diameter wood dowel, some 600 grit Silicon Carbide wet/dry sandpaper, a good Arkansas Oil stone and some polishing compound (unless you already have the stuff on hand).
As I said, the music wire is already hardened when you get it and it's tougher than owl manure! It will ruin your side cutters or plyers if you try to cut it so a heat source (flame) to anneal (soften) it will be needed so that you can file thru it to cut a piece off. (The better way is if you have a high speed hand tool (like Dremel) with a "cut off" blade or a bench grinder you can use them to grind thru the wire with out annealing it.
So what do you do with this stuff?
1. Cut off a length of rod about 2 1/2 inches long.
2. ANNEALING: Holding the piece in some pliers and using a propane torch (or gas kitchen stove) Heat one end of it until it is BRIGHT yellow/red colored and keep it at that temperature for at least 15 seconds. Then SLOWLY back it out of the flame so it gradually changes to bright red, then red, then black. Even at this temperature (1200 F) you do not want it to cool rapidly so keep moving it slowly away from the heat source. When it is (in your best guess) about as hot as a soldering iron (600 F) you can let it AIR cool to room temperature. YOU HAVE NOW ANNEALED (SOFTENED) THE MATERIAL.
3. Put on a pair of glasses. If you dont have regular glasses use sun glasses. You MUST have eye protection for the next step.
4. FORGING: Holding the rod with pliers lay the annealed end of the rod on the flat part of a vise (or a steel plate) and hit the rod with a hammer, directing the blow to the last 1/4 inch of the end. This will widen and flaten the rod. Keep in mind we want a chisel shape so pound at a slight angle to form a wedge. You will only have 4 to 7 hits before the steel "work hardens" making further pounding futile without re-annealing. If you worked with conviction you shouldn't need to hammer it more. (I also don't recommend you Hot Forge this material because the rapid air cooling from the fire to the vise will harden it faster than the pounding does.)
5. SHAPING: When you have a flat wedge about 1/8 inch wide (for the 5/64 rod) it's time to smooth out the surfaces. If you have a bench or hand grinder remove just enough material to make one side flat and the other (wedged) side flat but at about a 30 degree angle from the first side. Go slowly, you don't want to overheat and "burn" the material. At this stage you could also use your Arkansas stone to do this but that is a slow method. If you don't have a grinder you will have to re-anneal the end so you can File the flat and wedge side. This is also the time to true up the "sides" of the chisel. (For the 5/64 wire the end should end up about 3/32 wide and the 1/8 wire should be about 3/16 wide).
6. HARDENING: When you like the size and shape of your chisel it's time to harden it. You will need some cool motor oil in a bowl or tin can and your Propane torch or gas stove.
Reheat the chisel end like you did when annealing it but this time plunge the red/yellow hot end into the oil as fast as you can get it there. After the smoke clears you now have a unsharpened chisel which is harder than hell. It is also black and crusty looking.
7. TEMPERING: A chisel this hard is good but too brittle so you need to soften and toughen the material a little. Sand off the crust (it will gum up your Arkansas stone) with the wet/dry sandpaper until the surfaces are bright and shiny. If you have never tempered steel the safest way to do this is to place a cookie sheet in your (your wifes?) oven and set it to between 420 to 450 degrees. When it is up to temperature place your chisel(s) on the sheet and bake it for 15 minutes or longer. When you remove the chisel it will be a light yellow to straw yellow color. This is exactly what you want so let it air cool. If you overheat it into the brown or purple range get a new oven! That's why it burned the cake and pizza. (These steel colors are in the 500 degree range.) KEEP the chisel though. It will still work well. It will just require sharpening more often than it should.
7. HANDLE: Cut off a 2 1/2 to 3 inch piece of dowel and drill a hole the same size as the rod you've been working on in the center of the end of it. This should be 1/2 to 3/4 deep. Epoxy the chisel into the hole driving it to the bottom.
(As it cures, I suggest you file a small flat on the handle on the same side as the flat (not the wedge) side of the chisel. This gives a quick reference to which side is up when you use this tool. When you are removing wood from the bottom of a inlay pocket you will want the wedge side down against the bottom of the pocket so it doesn't dig in.)
8. FINISHING: Using your Arkansas stone sharpen the chisel by working on the wedge side only. You will want the cutting edge to be straight where it meets the flat side and to be as sharp as your sharpest knife.
If you have access to polishing compounds use them. You will want the finished edge to be as sharp as a razor blade so that no real pressure is required to make it cut "with" or "across" the woods grain.
9. YOUR DONE: There's no reason to finish the handle further but if you want to stain it or whatever what the hell, it's your chisel.
I have found the 3/32 wide chisel to be the one I use the most. It will get down in little corners but also will remove a lot of wood from the flat areas.
In using this chisel, you should never use more than light hand pressure. If more pressure is needed, it indicates it's time to resharpen the end.
Oh, don't forget to get the new oven. You may need it for other projects.
What do you need to make little chisels? Well, go to your hardware store (or hobby shop) and buy some "music wire". They may not call it that but this is the shiny straight steel rods which are about 36 inches long and come in sizes from 1/32 up to about 3/16 inch diameter. It is pre hardened and tempered so it will not bend without springing back.
I recommend buying a 5/64 (.078) and a 1/8 (.125) diameter piece. (By the way, if you ever try building a rifle, the 5/64 dia makes the best underlug pins I have ever found).
You will also want to buy a 1/2 inch diameter wood dowel, some 600 grit Silicon Carbide wet/dry sandpaper, a good Arkansas Oil stone and some polishing compound (unless you already have the stuff on hand).
As I said, the music wire is already hardened when you get it and it's tougher than owl manure! It will ruin your side cutters or plyers if you try to cut it so a heat source (flame) to anneal (soften) it will be needed so that you can file thru it to cut a piece off. (The better way is if you have a high speed hand tool (like Dremel) with a "cut off" blade or a bench grinder you can use them to grind thru the wire with out annealing it.
So what do you do with this stuff?
1. Cut off a length of rod about 2 1/2 inches long.
2. ANNEALING: Holding the piece in some pliers and using a propane torch (or gas kitchen stove) Heat one end of it until it is BRIGHT yellow/red colored and keep it at that temperature for at least 15 seconds. Then SLOWLY back it out of the flame so it gradually changes to bright red, then red, then black. Even at this temperature (1200 F) you do not want it to cool rapidly so keep moving it slowly away from the heat source. When it is (in your best guess) about as hot as a soldering iron (600 F) you can let it AIR cool to room temperature. YOU HAVE NOW ANNEALED (SOFTENED) THE MATERIAL.
3. Put on a pair of glasses. If you dont have regular glasses use sun glasses. You MUST have eye protection for the next step.
4. FORGING: Holding the rod with pliers lay the annealed end of the rod on the flat part of a vise (or a steel plate) and hit the rod with a hammer, directing the blow to the last 1/4 inch of the end. This will widen and flaten the rod. Keep in mind we want a chisel shape so pound at a slight angle to form a wedge. You will only have 4 to 7 hits before the steel "work hardens" making further pounding futile without re-annealing. If you worked with conviction you shouldn't need to hammer it more. (I also don't recommend you Hot Forge this material because the rapid air cooling from the fire to the vise will harden it faster than the pounding does.)
5. SHAPING: When you have a flat wedge about 1/8 inch wide (for the 5/64 rod) it's time to smooth out the surfaces. If you have a bench or hand grinder remove just enough material to make one side flat and the other (wedged) side flat but at about a 30 degree angle from the first side. Go slowly, you don't want to overheat and "burn" the material. At this stage you could also use your Arkansas stone to do this but that is a slow method. If you don't have a grinder you will have to re-anneal the end so you can File the flat and wedge side. This is also the time to true up the "sides" of the chisel. (For the 5/64 wire the end should end up about 3/32 wide and the 1/8 wire should be about 3/16 wide).
6. HARDENING: When you like the size and shape of your chisel it's time to harden it. You will need some cool motor oil in a bowl or tin can and your Propane torch or gas stove.
Reheat the chisel end like you did when annealing it but this time plunge the red/yellow hot end into the oil as fast as you can get it there. After the smoke clears you now have a unsharpened chisel which is harder than hell. It is also black and crusty looking.
7. TEMPERING: A chisel this hard is good but too brittle so you need to soften and toughen the material a little. Sand off the crust (it will gum up your Arkansas stone) with the wet/dry sandpaper until the surfaces are bright and shiny. If you have never tempered steel the safest way to do this is to place a cookie sheet in your (your wifes?) oven and set it to between 420 to 450 degrees. When it is up to temperature place your chisel(s) on the sheet and bake it for 15 minutes or longer. When you remove the chisel it will be a light yellow to straw yellow color. This is exactly what you want so let it air cool. If you overheat it into the brown or purple range get a new oven! That's why it burned the cake and pizza. (These steel colors are in the 500 degree range.) KEEP the chisel though. It will still work well. It will just require sharpening more often than it should.
7. HANDLE: Cut off a 2 1/2 to 3 inch piece of dowel and drill a hole the same size as the rod you've been working on in the center of the end of it. This should be 1/2 to 3/4 deep. Epoxy the chisel into the hole driving it to the bottom.
(As it cures, I suggest you file a small flat on the handle on the same side as the flat (not the wedge) side of the chisel. This gives a quick reference to which side is up when you use this tool. When you are removing wood from the bottom of a inlay pocket you will want the wedge side down against the bottom of the pocket so it doesn't dig in.)
8. FINISHING: Using your Arkansas stone sharpen the chisel by working on the wedge side only. You will want the cutting edge to be straight where it meets the flat side and to be as sharp as your sharpest knife.
If you have access to polishing compounds use them. You will want the finished edge to be as sharp as a razor blade so that no real pressure is required to make it cut "with" or "across" the woods grain.
9. YOUR DONE: There's no reason to finish the handle further but if you want to stain it or whatever what the hell, it's your chisel.
I have found the 3/32 wide chisel to be the one I use the most. It will get down in little corners but also will remove a lot of wood from the flat areas.
In using this chisel, you should never use more than light hand pressure. If more pressure is needed, it indicates it's time to resharpen the end.
Oh, don't forget to get the new oven. You may need it for other projects.
