Turning handle

[John Torchick]

My grandson had a gift certificate to WC. He picked out the ratcheting screwdriver. Tried to talk him into the ice cream scoop so he could use it when I visit. Wife is taking one of the kids to the orthodontist and he is coming over to work on this project Thursday. The instructions are on the fold-over label. It needs one 3/4 inch hole drilled to 1 inch deep. Then it takes a second hole 3/8 inch to a depth of 1-1/4 inch deep, giving a hole of 2-1/4 inches deep. I have some wood that could be used- cherry, purple heart, dogwood, Bradford pear (If I can figure out which one it is in the stack; need to label wood!). Here's what I'm thinking- round off the 2x2x6 stock and drill on the lathe. I have a pen chuck that would fit. Drill first carefully with a Forstner bit, change bits and carefully drill with a second Forstner bit? Since this could be used a lot.,. what finish would you recommend? Have BOL, CA, WOP. Thanks.
Link- https://www.woodcraft.com/products/7-function-ratcheting-screwdriver-turning-kit

 

[hockenbery]

I have a couple of purple heart handles on turning tools.
One is over 20 years in use.
No finish they are holding up well

 

[Gary Beasley]

I would go with the purpleheart also. Bradford pear is very hard when dry but Ive had it shatter when dropped. Not so good for tool handles. The other two woods are a bit softer but would probably work.

 

[Jason Van Duyn]

I kinda prefer domestics personally... well free over domestics. The last handle I made I put on a new trowel. Ive been quartersawing dogwood and persimmon when I come across it, mostly for threadchasing but handles too. If you can get a piece of boxwood large enough that works really well. They used to make driving woods from dogwood and persimmon so thats the thought I was working off when I started to collect them.

 

[John King]

What's "BOL"?

 

[John Torchick]

Boiled linseed oil. Will show him this thread about PH. Thanks. Have lot of it!
Any comments on the drilling sequence, please?
hockenbery, you had the tools when you were three years old?

 

[hockenbery]

It needs one 3/4 inch hole drilled to 1 inch deep. Then it takes a second hole 3/8 inch to a depth of 1-1/4 inch deep, giving a hole of 2-1/4 inches deep.

Any comments on the drilling sequence, please?

Drilling on the lathe is fine.
I would use a Forster for the 3/4 inch hole drill it first then a brad point for the 3/8 hole.

I like to drill with a drill press when it is convenient. If I’m doing multiples it is more convenient. One it’s a toss up. Clamp the work in place drill both the holes. On the drill press. I probably drill the 3/8 hole first. Then mount on the lathe using a wooden 3/4” pin in the headstock to drive it.
I have these on wooden Morse tapers but a chunk of wood in a chuck can be turned down to a pin in a few minutes.

 

[John Torchick]

Not sure of your explanation with the wood pin. If I understand the directions, the 3/4 hole is drilled first and then the 3/8 hole is in the same place to another depth. Sort of like a step drill.

 

[hockenbery]

Not sure of your explanation with the wood pin. If I understand the directions, the 3/4 hole is drilled first and then the 3/8 hole is in the same place to another depth. Sort of like a step drill.

Sorry about that This is confusing if you haven’t done it
Its a common way to turn pepper mills

Turn a 3/4” pin on a block of wood in the headstock. Slide the work over the pin. The drive contact can be the rim of the hole or the top of the pin. Here is my doodle showing the chuck, wood drive pin, handle to be turned.

The nice aspect of the wood drive for your grandson is he can turn close to the wood drive with no fear of hurting anything and even redesign the drive wood if there is a slip. You probably need to turn close to the 3/4” hole to fit a collet.


Alternatively you can turn a pin on a wooden Morse taper. I use this for box part of small birdhouse ornaments.

 

[Bill Boehme]

What's "BOL"?

He's from Tennessee. The rest of us call it BLO (boiled linseed oil).

I have some in-laws (and outlaws) in Tennessee.

 

[John Torchick]

hb, thanks. That's what I thought. Wish he had picked a Slimline pen kit. I'm gong to do the preliminaries today then all he has to do is turn it.
BOL- computer error! Hit makz a lut of misteakes.
Edit- Probably go with the chuck and the drive pin.
Have I left out anything?

 

[Bill Boehme]

Blame the poor defenseless computer.

Actually computers are the spawn of Lucifer himself and they take great pleasure in tormenting people.

 

[RichColvin]

Hang in there Tennessee.

(I was born in Memphis...)

 

[John Jordan]

Watch it.

John

 

[John Torchick]

My father worked at a place where the IT lady called her computer FRED- Frustrating Ridiculous Electronic Device.
Sign in office- To Err Is Human; To Really Screw It Up, You Need A Computer!
On to the topic- hb, I found a piece of cherry that I turned to the profile of your first photo. We finished the handle today. Looked good except for a couple tool marks even after sanding. My grandson did most of the tool work. I'll post a couple of photos shortly. Took a piece of square wood and made a piece of round wood! My wife asked- Why not start with a smaller piece of wood? Actually, the screwdriver handle could have taken a smaller piece, both length and diameter. BTW, why didn't anyone tell me the Janka hardness of purple heart? FWIW, I showed him the Janka scale. He asked about the wood we used for his father's pen- Arbor vita. I held the Janka scale and pointed about three inches off the bottom of the page.
To all, thanks for your help. Now to make four pens next week!

 

[hockenbery]

BTW, why didn't anyone tell me the Janka hardness of purple heart? FWIW, I showed him the Janka scale

Looking forward to seeing the screwdriver

The Purple Heart handle will last forever.
It is is hard - about the same as hickory - a common tool handle wood
It’s softer than the dogwood....

 

[John Torchick]

PH is about three steps down from pecan and hickory on the Janka scale. I explained to him that hickory has been used for centuries for axe handles and hammer handles, etc.
Some mentioned they didn't apply any finish, so no finish. He pulled off pieces of the penmaker's strips up to 600 grit for sanding.

 

[hockenbery]

I don’t use finish on my tool handles.

The Janka scale is determined by the force needed to imbed a .444” steel ball halfway in heartwood dried to 12%MC.

Purple Heart takes 1860 lbs pressure. Hickory takes 1820 pounds. 40 pounds - 2% difference.
I don’t think it is a difference I can feel turning.

This from the Wikipedia chart.

 

[John Torchick]

Here is a photo. Pondered the "white" color of the purple heart and thought I had turned end grain. Examining the slab showed it was turned with the grain parallel to the lathe bed. Used the air compressor and a towel to clean it between sanding grits. Took a lot of turning, checking his grip, carefully getting the contours, etc. Got some pens to turn next week.

 

[Gary Beasley]

You want a fast color change apply heat to the wood. It can go through various shades of purple to a purplish black depending on how hot and how long its heated. I tried waving a torch at some and it went very dark but uneven, recommend leaving it in an oven to bake, try 300f and watch it closely.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I think "end grain" usually is a shorthand way to say the grain is parallel to the spin axis. Nice hefty handle. Don't forget that sandpaper is a turning tool.

 

[John Torchick]

Will look at heating on any future turnings as I have a big slab of PH. Sanded down to 600 grit. I told him to use sandpaper like someone else is paying for it. Hey! That would be me!
I thought he did a good job with very little experience with turning.

 

[hockenbery]

I thought he did a good job with very little experience with turning.

It’s a fine looking screw driver! You should both be proud.

One thing we like to do in kids classes is to use a warm up block. Kids and instructors both need to be tricked into practicing. The warm up block is used to practice a few cuts they will use on the real project. For a spin top we have them turn a cove and keep turning the cove until the bottom of the cove is an inch long pencil thick piece of wood. The left side of the cove is the point of the top, the right side of the cove the top face, and the connecting cylinder the handle. So when they turn the top they have done all the parts just in a different arrangement.

 

[Gary Beasley]

Will look at heating on any future turnings as I have a big slab of PH. Sanded down to 600 grit. I told him to use sandpaper like someone else is paying for it. Hey! That would be me!
I thought he did a good job with very little experience with turning.

Try it out on scraps first so you can get a feel for it, just remember thicker pieces take longer to heat so times on a scrap may be different from a large chunk.

 

[John Torchick]

Thanks, Gary.
Thanks, hb.