Making gouge handles

[Matt Meadows]

I did well today, got a free hunk of cocobolo that's perfect for making a gouge handle out of-- actually I already did that, made a nice big one, planning on using it for a nice P&N bowl gouge. I eyeball matched it to the size of the ones I see at Woodcraft on the Robert Sorbey and Crown tools.

Anyhow, are there certain size handles that are more effective for certain tools, or is "the longer the better" the rule of thumb? I have plenty of iroko, walnut, ash, and oak laying around the cabinet shop to make a nice handle out of.


That, and how do you prefer to mount the tool into the handle? I'm guessing drill the appropriate sized hole, rough the metal up on the grinder, squirt in some Gorilla juice, insert, and cover the wood at the tip of the handle with a metal ring. Right?

 

[hockenbery]

Turning handles lets you make them whatever size you like for length and diameter.

I turn handles between centers using a spur drive at the butt end of the handle.

I fit a ferrel on the tailstock end where the tool will be inserted into the handle. I make mine from thick copper pipe. brass is nicer. I cut a length with a tubing cutter and get a tight fit over the handle and glue it in place with thick CA then sand the exposed edge while it is on the lathe.

To drill the hole I put the spur drive in the tailstock. Put a bradpoint drill headstock using a Jacobs chuck. then using a slow speed on the I advance the tool handle onto the bit by cranking the tailstock handle. This drills the hole quite true with little effort. You will have to back off every inch or so to clear the chips. This is a tip I learned many years ago.

Then I put the tool into the handle and bang the butt end on the floor untill the tool seats.
I then cut the waste end off where the spur drive was.

Most handles need no glue. However if one does loosen I'll put a few drops of CA to hold it tight.

3" of tool in the handle seem to work fine,
If the tool has a square or rectangluar tang I drill the hole a bit larger than the largest face to face dimension but less that the corner to corner dimension. When the tool is seated the corners bite into the wood.

happy turning,
Al

 

[Brian Hahn]

Check out the excellent article by Alan Lacer in the Winter 2004 issue of American Woodturner.

I just finished re-handling a bunch of my tools. I'm fairly tall, 6'2", and most of the commercial handles are too short and too skinny for me. I've found through experience that 1 3/4" is the optimum diameter for my hands, so my new handles are rather fat by most standards without much, if any, taper in the middle. The key is to make handles that are comfortable for your hands.

I made my handles out of hickory, a very hard and tough wood. It's the same wood used for hammer and axe handles. It's also fairly heavy which helps damp vibrations, and I'm still strong enough to appreciate the extra mass. Maybe 20 years from now I'll need to put lighter handles on, but for now they are just right.

To mount the tool in the handle I've had to use several different techniques. For round tang tools, drill a hole the same size as the tang and force the tool in. I used the vise on my woodworking bench to force the handles in -- it creaked and groaned a lot, but got the job done. A couple of tools nearly cut through the oak block I was using in front of the bench dog to protect the tool tip. A couple of drops of CA glue will guarantee that the tool won't come loose. For flat tang tools, a stepped hole works best so that the tang is gripped at the end as well as at the top.

I had problems with one roughing gouge, the tang started bending as I force it into the handle. (Hole probably wasn't quite big enough.) I took that one outside, heated the tang with a torch, and then drove it in. The hot tang burned and softened the wood enough to let it seat. I've found it best to hammer on the end of the handle... trying to hold a piece of wood on the end of the tool and hammering is hard on the hands. 🙄

One other thing that I found important was to have the handle rough enough to get a good grip. I sanded one of my first handles nice and smooth, then tested it before mounting the tool. The handle was very slippery. I used a small gouge to run a shallow spiral up the handle and that worked very well. I've also used a spear-point scraper to cut groves and then burned them with a wire.

One really nice side benefit of making your own handles is that it's easy to tell your tools apart from other peoples. 🙂

 

[john lucas]

redfish
e-mail me at home at johnclucas@charter.net and I'll send you an article I wrote for the club newsletter on making tool handles. I think bigger is better with 2 exceptions. Small tools need a small handle. For roughing big bowls I like a big handle to tame the torque, however this can make it hard to sharpen. I like Clay Foster's idea of using a hose clamp for the ferule. This way you can remove the tool from the handle to make it easier to sharpen.
When inserting tools in the handle many people just drill a hole and push it in. I've found that the hydraulic pressure of trapped air and glue will often push the tool right back out. I drill a 1/16" hole through the side of the handle near the bottom of the hole. When you push the tool in excess glue squirts out this hole, seals the hole and is easily removed from the handle.

 

[Matt Meadows]

John, you have mail, at least I hope. My email's been quite punky here lately.