Turning a gavel?

Re: Turning a gavel?

Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA

>Hi Jeremy

I have made a couple of gavels in the past. I don't know if Larry Hancock still reads here, but he has made hundreds, maybe even more, and he would have some good advice for you.

You can pretty much eyeball the thing, or you can use one of the following methods. If you start with a piece of stock that is dead on square, you can drill the hole for the handle ahead of time. Or, you can measure and put an accent line right where you need to drill after the fact, just like chairmakers do. As long as the thing is uniform on both ends, you can get it into a vee groove jig for a drill press. If it is off a hair, most people will not notice unless you point it out.

Good luck with it.

Bill

Re: Turning a gavel?

floyd knapp

>If you are finicky about getting it exactly in the center you can make a jam chuck consisting of a6" D x 1-1/2" soft wood disc secured to a face plate.On the lathe scoop out a hollow so you can insert the gavel head in it.Secure it with strapping tape or hot melt glue.Now you can mount yor correct size bit in the tail stock and drill away. Good luck.

Floyd

Re: Turning a gavel?

Jeremy Osner

>Thanks, Bill -- what does it mean to "put an accent line right where you need to drill after the fact"? This sounds promising but I cannot quite visualize what it would mean.

Re: Turning a gavel?

John Lucas

>I use a V block on my drill press. I clamp the V block down so the drill is exactly in the center of the block. Then it's just a simple matter of measuring the center point from each end of the Gavel.

Re: Turning a gavel?

William Duffield on the Cohansey

>The trick to using a V-block on the drill press is to make sure that the largest diameter of the head is NOT in the center where you are going to drill the hole for the handle. You do not want the head to rock in the slot. Once that principle is clear in your mind, the procedure is as follows:

Turn the head.

Make a V-block. The best way I know to make one is to four-square a block of wood longer than the mallet head, set your TS at 45�, set the height about 2/3 the thickness of the block and rip the V out of the block, one V-cut from each end. This will get you a V that is centered on the block, with matched, symetrically opposing kerfs that you will use later. For the stock for the V-block, even a seasoned 2x4 will do.

Securely clamp the V-block onto your drill press table. Chuck a very small diameter bit (or even the shaft of an ice pick) and align the tip of the bit with the bottom of the V, roughly in the center, longitudinally, of the V-block. Centering can be done by loosening the clamp holding the block in place and tapping it with a mallet, or by loosening the table and rotating it on the column.

Once everything is aligned, without moving the V-block or the DP table, replace the ice pick (center indicator) with the Forstner bit that you will use to drill the mortise in the head.

Clamp the head onto the V-block, and drill the mortise. Stop before you go all the way through. A through-tenon is not compatible with this procedure. (If you want a wedged through-tenon, you should drill the mortise before you turn the head, and temporarily fill it with a plug (dowel) while you do the turning.

Turn the handle, with a CONSTANT and CONSISTENT diameter tenon on one end that fits the drill bit that you will use to drill the mortise in the head.

A hint: When turning the handle, turn the tenon first, using a gauge block to check the diameter. If you get it too small and aesthetic problems with using epoxy, throw it in the scrap bin, now, before you start on the fancy parts, and start over. To make the gauge block, use the Forstner bit that you used to drill the hole in the head, drill a hole in a piece of scrap, and cut it in two, right through a diameter, with a handsaw or Neanderbuddy (bandsaw).

BTW, if you plan to let Matt use it, you'd better make the head and the handle out of tempered tool steel. I always thought the CJWA membership was more than civilized and any emphatic "calling to order" would be superfluous. However, a fine ceremonial hardwood gavel is always appreciated, even if it were never called upon to discipline an unruly membership.

If any of this is not clear, e-mail me or call me. I'll talk you through it.

Re: Turning a gavel?

Ric Erkes

>William, lots of nice tips in your comments.

Thanks, Ric

Re: Turning a gavel?

Larry Hancock; Ardmore, OK

>Jeremy,

I have turned lots of gavels and used to have the process on the internet. I am in the process of rebuilding my site with another host and the gavel article is one I was working on pictures for this week. I will work on getting it uploaded by tonight or in the morning and post a link here. Maybe it will be of some help to you.

Larry

Re: Turning a gavel?

Jeremy Osner

>Thanks everyone for the tips -- I ended up turning it this afternoon (from mahogany) and it came out pretty well if quite simple in form -- it does not have all the points of inflection that are on Larry's beautiful gavels -- the head is a simple barrel with a bead at the ends. I used a wedged through-tenon joint. Here is how I ensured that the mortise was straight and on center:

I got the blank close to square in dimensions, with three sides true. (I don't have a tablesaw or jointer so squaring things up is a bit of effort -- I like to avoid it when it's not necessary.) Then I set my marking gauge for half the width of the side, and marked along the top (using as a reference the side which had two true right-angles). I also marked from top to bottom of both ends, and across both ends using the top side as my reference. At this point a hole drilled with its center on the marked line is guaranteed to pass through the center of the cylinder that you turn using the marked centers on each end.

The finished gavel feels very well balanced. I did the whole thing freehand so the proportions are all guesswork but I think it came out pretty well. Unfortunately I got a little impatient while sanding the handle so there is some roughness there. I have no idea how vigorous of pounding it will stand up to, but hey -- it's my first effort. If it ends up breaking in use, the next one will probably come out a lot nicer anyway.