first socket slick

[cracker72]

My first go at one of these. Made from OCS. Heat treated three times, water quenched the bevel only at a dark straw. Noticed a few hairline cracks in the socket, any ideas what could have caused this?

[DennisG]

gotta ask.....

What is a socket slick?

[cracker72]

gotta ask.....

What is a socket slick?

It's a big chisel used for finishing large joints in timber framing.

[Fosterob]

What size is it? Looks to be about 3/4 to 1" wide and 6-8" long in the pics but there is nothing to reference off of. Looks nice though, too bad about the cracks.
Rob

[cracker72]

It's 2" wide.
I've just had a look at the cracks under a bright lamp and I think it's actually scale that I've managed to hammer into the steel.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Hi,Cracker,i'm glad that the "cracks" turned out to be illusory!However,(almost not worth mentioning),OCS is OCS,and with the best possible metalworking skill one can never tell,simply cannot be responsible for that pot-hole that ye olde S-10 hit back in '89...
Also,not sure if the socket is welded or not,but welding leaf-spring with all that good Cr in it is not easy,and one can often reach temps while trying that will damage it in way many an sundry!
Great job,though.I especially like the volume at the base of socket,as it allows the handle not to be sharpened pencil-like,loosing much usable strength.
And,just for the record,the difference between a chisel and a slick is that the latter has a rocker,a fore-and-aft curve.Not much,but visible when viewed end-on.(Hard to tell in that photo where it's against the table if it's there or not).
Anyhoo,great job,and a great tool!

[freeman]

If I didn't know it was forged I would have thought this was machine fabricated. Excellent craftsmanship and a very neat tool!

[pkrankow]

Very nice looking. Is the hole in the blade an artifact of the material's previous life?

Phil

[Steve Sells]

High carbon and/or Chrome based steels are safer oil quenched, the cracks could be stress fractures from the water.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

What's OCS? Old Chevy Spring?

[cracker72]

High carbon and/or Chrome based steels are safer oil quenched, the cracks could be stress fractures from the water.

Hmmm...I only quenched the tip. As I said, I now think it's scale I've hammered in as the socket was heating that much quicker while forming. We'll see. I'm making another today.

[cracker72]

Very nice looking. Is the hole in the blade an artifact of the material's previous life?

Phil

Ha! Yes. When I started I didn't think I'd get very far. If I'd know I would have used a nicer piece of steel. It's good to hang on a nail though!

[cracker72]

Hi,Cracker,i'm glad that the "cracks" turned out to be illusory!However,(almost not worth mentioning),OCS is OCS,and with the best possible metalworking skill one can never tell,simply cannot be responsible for that pot-hole that ye olde S-10 hit back in '89...
Also,not sure if the socket is welded or not,but welding leaf-spring with all that good Cr in it is not easy,and one can often reach temps while trying that will damage it in way many an sundry!
Great job,though.I especially like the volume at the base of socket,as it allows the handle not to be sharpened pencil-like,loosing much usable strength.
And,just for the record,the difference between a chisel and a slick is that the latter has a rocker,a fore-and-aft curve.Not much,but visible when viewed end-on.(Hard to tell in that photo where it's against the table if it's there or not).
Anyhoo,great job,and a great tool!

Hey, that's interesting. So when the blade is flat on the table there should be a curve away toward the middle of the blade?

[jake pogrebinsky]

Sorry,i'll try to put it in a different way:When you put it against the table,the edge and the opposite,the handle end,should rise a small distance,relative the middle of the blade.Where you can rock it back and forth(thus the term-rocker).
The reason for that is that a slick is a tool used for the rougher,more preliminary stages of finishing,before there's a clear flat reference.The rocker allows the tool to ride over the irregularities.
Conversely,the chisel(being the hand-held plane,in effect),has a strict flat/level reference plane for it's sole.To finish-plane the surface absolutely flat.
(Hope that makes sense... )

[cracker72]

Sorry,i'll try to put it in a different way:When you put it against the table,the edge and the opposite,the handle end,should rise a small distance,relative the middle of the blade.Where you can rock it back and forth(thus the term-rocker).
The reason for that is that a slick is a tool used for the rougher,more preliminary stages of finishing,before there's a clear flat reference.The rocker allows the tool to ride over the irregularities.
Conversely,the chisel(being the hand-held plane,in effect),has a strict flat/level reference plane for it's sole.To finish-plane the surface absolutely flat.
(Hope that makes sense... )

I can see now how that would be of benefit. I was using the tool yesterday, removing the waste from half lapped joints and found that very gentle leverage when working 90 degrees to the grain removed the waste much easier. Thanks for the info. I'll include that feature in my next slick.

[bigfootnampa]

As a regular chisel user though... I rarely cut with my chisel riding on the flat of the blade... nearly all the work is done with my bevel against the wood. In this way the relatively short distance between the cutting edge and the bevel back gives me a HUGE amount of leverage to control my cut depth. There are occasions when I do need the longer reference of the flat side of the blade though... times when I am unable to SEE how deep I need to cut and must resort to measuring (using the flat chisel back for reference). The sensitivity of working by eye and hand (feel) is most often far superior to working to measure in the fine finish stages. I will show you my personal version of the giant chisel (I guess a slick, as I have ground a slight rocker into the flat side). I flared the cutting edge so that I can make a clean gouge cut even on wide surfaces and because when I saw ancient Irish chisels in one of my books, I was struck by the beauty of their flared cutting edges. This chisel is just a bit overdone on the length but works okay anyway. It is 2 7/8" wide at the edge and 3/8" thick X 26” long.

As you can see my socket comes down to a rather pointy tip... but I agree with Jake about leaving the tip of the cone larger (this lesson but recently learned... since this tool was made). Leaving the cone tip larger strengthens the tool structure at this critical juncture. I see this as more important than the extra strength that the handle will have by being left larger in diameter. In this case no problem though, as the tool is WAY over strong and not intended for any heavy prying work. For my future tools I have recently forged a cone hardy that has less taper and leaves me with about a 7/8” handle tip.

My socket is not welded but the material is such thick and strong steel that welding the socket would not add any useful strength, I'd have to consider it a “conceit” Like the small details that faux painters used to put into their rooms, kind of a calling card of skill. I am a humble man. (:-)

The rocker in my chisel is only near the cutting edge... I can't imagine what use it would be to me to continue it along the rest of the chisel length.

You can see a (humble) bit of my faux painting skill in the ash handle finish.

The blade is only rough finished but the edge is dangerously sharp... my old one cut a friend who tested the edge with his thumb very deeply before he realized that it was cutting him (maybe my screaming helped him to notice)!

my slickslick handleslick edge

[Stormcrow]

Looks good! I had a student get cracks in a socket handle because he persisted in working it too cold with the fuller end of a cross pein while spreading prior to rolling in spite of my warnings. I'd get busy with another student, look up, and he'd be hitting it cold and thin. Sure enough, rolled the socket and found some cracks.

You said it was likely scale, I know, but this is one way that you can get cracks when making a socket.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Yessir,everything that Clay brings up is very valid,indeed.I,too,more often use chisels bevel down.
(Primarily log-building,where it's all curved lines,and hogging-out of material.Alaskan White spruce does not lend itself well to timber-framing,plus the climate,necessitating SIPs,which make any framing redundant... ).
When briefly participating in a couple of frame-cutting episodes,i do remember how nicely the slick worked for that sweeping,radial motion,kinda diagonally oriented to the grain.That also made me think that the wider/shorter blade is handier(sorta Japanese-style,the look that the very worn old slicks aquire-makes it easier to see what's up,for one).
But,to continue with my (pointless) )semantics:ALL the rough-out tools are rockered:Adze,broad-axe,draw-knife,slick...The reason for it is that the rocker steers the tool out of the cut(exactly as the bevel-down useage does ).And,all these tools have their flat-soled counterparts,for finishing.
The reason that i indulge in such nit-picking particulars is that i'm a metalworker,primarily,and studying the shape/mechanics of blades is so ever complex...Once,someone wanted me to re-blade their worn-out broad-axe.It was not to be,but the photos of the tool blew my mind with the complexity of curves,almost seemed that it was bent in all 3 dimentions...What it has to do with,technically,is chip relief.I noticed that someone posted the Modern Blacksmith link.Weygers sure had explored that issue very deeply,what an interesting man he was!Anyway,whatever works is the right way!!! B)

[cracker72]

Yessir,everything that Clay brings up is very valid,indeed.I,too,more often use chisels bevel down.
(Primarily log-building,where it's all curved lines,and hogging-out of material.Alaskan White spruce does not lend itself well to timber-framing,plus the climate,necessitating SIPs,which make any framing redundant... ).
When briefly participating in a couple of frame-cutting episodes,i do remember how nicely the slick worked for that sweeping,radial motion,kinda diagonally oriented to the grain.That also made me think that the wider/shorter blade is handier(sorta Japanese-style,the look that the very worn old slicks aquire-makes it easier to see what's up,for one).
But,to continue with my (pointless) )semantics:ALL the rough-out tools are rockered:Adze,broad-axe,draw-knife,slick...The reason for it is that the rocker steers the tool out of the cut(exactly as the bevel-down useage does ).And,all these tools have their flat-soled counterparts,for finishing.
The reason that i indulge in such nit-picking particulars is that i'm a metalworker,primarily,and studying the shape/mechanics of blades is so ever complex...Once,someone wanted me to re-blade their worn-out broad-axe.It was not to be,but the photos of the tool blew my mind with the complexity of curves,almost seemed that it was bent in all 3 dimentions...What it has to do with,technically,is chip relief.I noticed that someone posted the Modern Blacksmith link.Weygers sure had explored that issue very deeply,what an interesting man he was!Anyway,whatever works is the right way!!!

Interesting stuff.
The drawknife I use frequently and all the others I've owned have not had rockers, but I can see how useful that would be. This is really making me think now!

[jake pogrebinsky]

Wonderful,Sir,all the best to ye on all projects,and post some nice TF joints,if you can!
That actually may be a good approach,something like "where the rubber hits the road" thread on the making,and thereafter using,woodworking tools in the context of a specific application.
Best regards,Jake

[ThomasPowers]

I have drawknives with both straight blades and curved blades---bellied not scorps---and the curve ones seem to work better when you are pulling the blade at an angle to the run of the grain.

[cracker72]

here's the other one I made.