your hammer if you want to avoid dinging the wood as you drive nails (especially if you’ve changed the handle). A proper hammer for setting nails has a slightly belled head, and you should be hitting the nail with the apex of the bell, which, depending on your swing, may not be the exact center of the face. To test this, put a piece of sandpaper on your bench, and swing your hammer down to hit it as if you were driving a nail (when the hammer head hits the sandpaper, the handle should be parallel to the floor). Now look at the face – you’ll be able to tell where your hammer hit the sandpaper (and you might want to do this a few times to make sure your swing is consistent). Use sandpaper to adjust the hammer head as necessary.
Chisels When you strike a chisel, you should have a secure grip on it with your hand wrapped fully around the handle, but you shouldn’t have to squeeze too hard to get that. And I don’t think the handle should be much wider than the top of the steel – that way, the energy transfer is straight when you hit the handle with a mallet. If the handle is too wide, it diffuses the blow by absorbing some of that strike, so it’s more work in the end to complete the operation. That’s only one of my complaints about stock handles on socket chisels. Not only are they usually too big, there’s
Chest height. With the grinder located at my chest height, I can get good downward pressure on the tool I’m grinding, and I can see what’s going on. Everyone else in the shop has to stand on an apple box or stool to use this machine.
no contour to them, and that makes them hard to grip. That’s why I turn my own handles, in a shape that works for me both in a paring and chopping grip. The swelling at the socket-opening end gives me a place to rest my thumb, and it makes it easier for my arthritic hands to get a good grip on the tool. Try turning a couple different handles to see what’s comfortable for you to grip for most of your typical operations. The butt of the handle should rest comfortably in the palm of your hand. When you find a shape you like and that fits you, make a story stick and hang onto it. (Keep in mind though that the handle transfers the energy of the strike into the steel, and should be no more than 30 percent larger than the socket.)
About Planes & Benches I know some people suggest making new handles and totes for handplanes for a custom fit. I don’t do this unless I have to. Typically, I find that if you buy good tools (vintage or new), the stock handles are fine. And I’m not going to write about benches. Surely, you’ve gotten enough of that already. PWM Ron is a master housewright, and owner of Antiquity Builders of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.
u Go Online FOR MORE … For links to all these online extras, go to: u popularwoodworking.com/aug11 SLIDE SHOW: Take a tour of Ron’s shop.
Custom fit. I turn my own handles for socket chisels, with a swelling near the socket that allows me to more easily get a good grip on the tool. Also, notice that the butt of the handle fits into the pad of fat in my palm, for comfortable paring.
Grinding You probably don’t use your grinder every day, so it might not occur to you to fit this tool to your body. But, if you can see what’s going on, you’ll do a better job of grinding. I like the grinder to be chest height – because that’s where my “point of push” is located – and not more than 18" from my face. If it’s much below that, I can’t see what I’m doing, so I can’t grind an accurate edge.
BLOG: If you have questions about the proper size of a bench, read Editor Chris Schwarz’s blog. TO BUY: Ron has sharpened thousands of hand saws. And you can learn how he does it with a new DVD: “Sharpen Your Handsaws with Ron Herman.” IN OUR STORE: Get “The Joinery Challenge with Ron Herman” DVD.
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