Handle for Skew Chisel

[Dave Bunge]

Looking for advice on making a handle for a 3/4" skew that I got from Dway Tools.

The tang is just over 1/4" thick by 1/2" wide. The corners of the tang are rounded over, with corner to corner dimension of 33/64". I have one of John Jordan's handles with insert for 1/2" round shafts, but the Dway skew is too big to fit.

My current plan is to glue up 3 pieces of wood to make the handle blank. The middle piece will be the same thickness as the skew, and I'll cut a notch in the end to match the shape of the tang. Glue them up, turn them round, and use epoxy to hold the skew in the handle.

Since I mostly don't do flat work anymore, this sounds like a big hassle. I'm wondering what others use for handles for skews and scrapers and other thngs that don't have round ends on them. Do you just drill as normal, put the square peg in the round hole and fill the gaps with epoxy or shims? Are there aftermarket handles that are designed for flat tangs?

I'd appreciate hearing your ideas on better ways to do this.

Dave

 

[hockenbery]

Your plan is excellent and will work quite well.

I’m a lot less willing to dedicate that much time to a handle.
I turn the handle between center using the spur drive on the butt end of the handle..
Fit the ferrule ( brass or copper pipe or pipe couplers)
I leave the end of the handle near the spur drive at least a 1/2 thick.

then something I learned from David Ellsworth- I put a Jacobs chuck in the head stock, put the spur drive in the tailstock. Use a brad point bit that will center in the tail center hole.
Put a piece of tape on the bit for depth.
For your tang I would drill a hole 3/8 or 7/16 to depth. This sort of takes three hands but I have done it often solo. Turn on the lathe while holding the handle steady. Then advance the handwheel. If you need to clear chips push the handle firmly against the tail as you back it off a bit then continue to depth when the tape hits the wood.

then I put the tang in the hole and bang the handle on the floor seating the tang into the wood.
Then cut the spur drive waste off with a handsaw.
I don’t glue the handles on. If it’s a good tight fit they stay tight. If the handle gets loose I will add a few drops of thick CA and hit the end of the handle with a mallet to reseat it.

 

[Clifton C]

Even though I like my turned handles, I'm partial to removable ones. Since you have a handle that almost fits, I think I would grind a bit off the tang. If it's too big by 1/64th across the diagonals, it wouldn't take much...

 

[Jim Woods]

I drill a 1/4" hole to depth, turn the handle round using the hole for Live center, turn a tenon for a ferrule, then work a 1/4 bit on hand drill side to side to approach the 1/2" wide. Hamner the ferrel on, hammer in the tool. I usually use a dried branch.

 

[robo hippy]

Dave, I have a video up on You Tube about making handles for square tanged tools. Basically it is what you described. I prefer it to putting a square peg in a round hole, and you can make the handles look nice with the sandwich method. Other than that, I have seen some who use the round hole, and then cut off sections of a dowel to go down the sides to keep the tool in place. They do work fine in the tool handles with the set screws as well. Dave Schweitzer would put the screws on the side of the tang. I think Jimmy Allen puts them on the flat of the tang. Both methods work.

robo hippy

 

[Dave Bunge]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I ended up drilling a 9/32" hole (actual thickness of the skew) in the center and enlarging it side to side with the same drill bit. The hole ended up being slightly too big so the skew wasn't snug. But I filled the gap with epoxy, so hopefully it will be secure.

Here's the proof:

 

[Bob Sheppard]

On Doug Thompson's site, he shows installing a skew into a handle by drilling a hole the width of the shank, then cutting an appropriate diameter dowel into sections to fill along the sides of the skew. Another way is to drill a hole in your handle the thickness of then skew, then heat up the shank, and while its hot, shove it into the handle until its seated. It might take several heatins to fully embed the shank.
Or, if you have a set of plane makers floats, you could drill the hole, then enlarge and taper the hole using them. That's how I set my Thompson's skew in the handle.
If you go to Thompson's site here http://thompsonlathetools.com/, go to "Handles" under "Product List" and you'll see a link to a PDF article on making handles

 

[john lucas]

Use the blacksmith's method. Drill a hole the size of the sides but too small for the corners. Then heat the end of the tang almost red hot ( what I do is heat just the tip red hot and then let it cool a little until it's lost the red) Then simply drive it in the handle. It burns the shape it needs and stays put even without glue. I've done that many times for rectangular shaped tangs. If your really in doubt you can always drive it back out and apply some epoxy.