# Turning safety - chisel broke.



## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

I'm a novice at woodturning, in the process of teaching myself with basic assistance from my sons who learnt turning in school. Today I had a scare. I was turning some file handles from ash, roughing out the cylinders with a large gouge, smoothing with a skew chisel and doing final shaping and detailing with a very small gouge. All was going well, when suddenly the small gouge broke with a bang about four inches from the top, and broke in two places actually, ie two loose pieces. Luckily nothing hit me - one piece went forward and away from me, I haven't yet been able to find the other piece.

Why would the gouge have broken? It is a Record tool made in England.


----------



## adot45 (Feb 6, 2013)

Wow John, I'll let the experts ask you about angles and distances, etc. but I'm glad you weren't hurt!


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

JCJCJC said:


> Why would the gouge have broken? It is a Record tool made in England.


Sorry to hear about your problem, John. Have you taken a look at the break, yet? I'd look for signs of two distinct colours (dark and light) indicating an existing flaw and the new fracture or for an inclusion of some type (different coloured grain or even a bubble). I'm sure that Record would be interested in the failure, after all that sort of thing just shouldn't happen. BTW are you sure it's "Made in England"? After Rubbermaid (Irwin) took Record over they shut down tool making in the UK and went offshore - that's probably a good 10 years or more ago now.

Regards

Phil


----------



## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Thanks Dave and Phil. I'll photograph the remains tomorrow and post the pic. I have the tip and the handle with a bit of blade, I'm certain there's an intermediate piece gone into low-earth orbit somewhere. It has been one of those days - I stepped on my glasses as well. I think I must have had the tool rest back too far from the workpiece, maybe I should have adjusted it inwards once the corners were knocked off the wood.


----------



## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

OK - here's a pic of the broken chisel. Before the break it was the same length as the others in the set, so there's a bit missing, where the arrow indicates. I reground the tip before taking this picture. All advice welcome.


----------



## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

My one thought is that you had the tool rest too far away from the work piece, while taking a large bite out of the material. Always keep the tool rest as close to the work piece as possible. This will include stopping the lathe to reposition the banjo and rest as you turn away more of the material. When you are spinning a piece of wood, there is a lot more force then you realize on the tool while it is making its cut.

For what its worth, the tool isn't dead yet. Regrind and sharpen the edge that is left, and it is still a useable tool.


----------



## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Thanks Mike, I've come to more-or-less the same conclusion. It stands to reason that the point where it broke would have been on the toolrest, and the leverage exerted by the spinning wood as you say was sufficient to snap it.

I've already reground it, I'll have to be careful with it since it's now so short.


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Sounds like Mike has it. 

At one point in time I turned handles for all my files. Then discovered a better way. Golf balls. Yep, true. Get some cheap golf balls, they're solid inside with a plastic cover. Drill a hole, just large enough to get the end of the particular file tang started, drill no more than half way thru. Then whack the end of the file with a wooden mallet or such, no metal, until the tang is firmy in place. The golf ball will fit nicely in the pocket of your hand, allowing much better push and control than any file handle I've seen. If I remember it later, I'll try to get a decent picture of one or two.

Ah, I do have a picture. This will give you an idea. You don't need to hold hard, just grasp and push.


----------



## Sawdust Don (Nov 1, 2012)

Thanks for the golf ball tip!
There is a golf driving range near me, unlimited supply!


----------



## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Theo and Don - thanks, but I'll stick with risking life and limb making wooden ones ;-)


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

JCJCJC said:


> Theo and Don - thanks, but I'll stick with risking life and limb making wooden ones ;-)


I don't figure it's a risk turning handles, just that the golf balls are so much better.


----------

