My mortising chisel handle receives its first review part 1: Sketching an idea

My second invention (available at stores) received its first review less then two weeks ago — and it was a five star review. After discovering this I grew quite giddy, like a proud father who reads his child's report card. It was a pleasure to learn that something I came up with more than two years ago now helps fellow woodworkers in their craft, making the work much easier, predictable, and reliable. Okay, now you probably want me to cut to the chase and explain what all the fuss is about, so here it goes:

I am sure that most of you know what a Mortiser, or a Hollow Chisel Mortising machine is: It is a woodworking machine installed with a square hollow chisel and mounted with a drill bit inside. When the operator turns on the motor and lowers the chisel pack onto the wood, the drill bit inside the hollow chisel begins boring to remove most of the waste while the square-shaped chisel follows suit and finishes the job by pairing off the remanning wood to form a square mortise. 

As an experienced woodworker, there were countless frustrating moments where I found myself asking, "would it be possible to use the chisel by itself and make perfectly square holes with out the machine?" You may wonder why would one need to do such a thing and there can be a few answers:

1. Making a square hole on long or wide parts farther away from the edge of the workpiece in a location that the mortiser can't access.

2. To help folks like me, who do not have a mortiser, make perfect square holes.

While we're on the subject,square holes are used for various purposes: from making a pocket for a Greene & Greene domed peg, making a square mortice for a square tenon, squaring out the edges of a rectangular mortise made on the drill press or using a router, or even making a square mortise in the head of a cutting gauge.

It is absolutely possible to use the hollow square chisel by hand and hit it with a mallet, driving it into the wood around a pre-drilled round hole. The problem is that extracting it out, using only your hands can be tricky. With my invention, a handle around the tung of the chisel will be much appreciated. 

When all these thoughts came rushing to my head, I started sketching a handle that includes a wood body and a steel/aluminum collar that is able to tighten over the shaft of the mortising chisel and securely affix it to the handle. 

… then I sketched another alternative. This time the handle was made out of hard plastic or aluminum.

Lastly, I made a third option where a ready-made shaft collar was installed around the partially flexible handle stem to act as an adjustable ferrule.

Next time I will show you the prototype that I made.