The $1 chisel

New chisel - sharpened with a new handle
New chisel – sharpened with a new handle

I took today easy. It was warm enough to work in the shop, but sometimes it is nice to take it easy.

This morning I headed to the Griswold Flea Market. I had time between the boys leaving to go to their mother’s house and when I had to be at Ben’s soccer game (which they lost 5-0, so they are getting better).

I found a 3/8″ socket chisel for $1. It was in good shape, just missing a handle. I also picked up another 1/2″ socket chisel (with handle) for $5.

This afternoon I broke out the waterstones and had a sharpening session.  It took no more than 10-minutes to flatten the back and sharpen the new chisels. I also took the opportunity to grind one of my previous flea market finds (a 1/2″ chisel) into a dovetail chisel. I ground a bevel on the sides of the chisel to allow me to clean out dovetails.

This evening I turned a handle for the socket chisel. I cut a small piece of red oak, and turned it on the lathe. I need to take a class on turning. I suck. However, sandpaper can correct a lot of things. I applied paste wax and hammered the handle into the socket. A perfect fit.

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