Best Narex Lathes

Years ago, it was common practice to sell unhandled tools. Craftsmen bought chisel blades then fashioned their own handles to meet their specific needs. This made perfect sense as who better suited to make wood chisel handles than craftsman. Craftsman were able to make handles that better fit their hands, were designed for the task at hand and that used whatever wood was readily available. A custom handle can be turned on the lathe from your favorite wood in a few minutes. Even without a lathe, a handle can be quickly shaped using a rasp, chisel, drawknife or spokeshave. These unhandled chisel blades are manufactured by Narex in the Czech Republic and are of exceptional quality. Narex is regarded worldwide as a premier edge tool manufacturer. These blades are made from fine-grained chrome-manganese steel that is first drop forged and then hardened and tempered to a Rockwell hardness of 59. These blades are easily sharpened and hold an exceptional edge. The blades are accurately CNC ground with slimmer cross section sidewalls that are just 1.4 mm or .040" wide. These slimmer sideways allow reach into tight spaces, making them perfect for dovetailing. Bevels are ground to 25 degrees. For optimal performance the backs will need flattened and the bevels sharpened. Blanks come with square, untapered tangs. The tang hole must be properly sized to ensure a tight fit without splitting the handle. In general, a 3/8" pilot hole works well for most American hardwoods such as hickory, maple, ash and oak. This hole size may need to be reduced for softer woods or enlarged for harder exotics. Blanks come with a solid brass ferrule and a leather shock washer. Brass ferrules have an OD of 0.750, ID of 0.667" and height of 0.667". The ferrules have inside bevels for easy insertion and are properly annealed (hardened) to prevent splitting when tangs are driven into the handle.