making handles

Re: making handles *LINK*

Don Henthorn

>For mounting handles I just bore a hole that the tang fits in and secure it with epoxy. I use copper pipe from HD for the ferules. You can lay up the handles any way you like as long as you make good glue joints. It is nice to make each handle a little different so a particular tool is easy to find among the others and the sawdust. Hope this helps.


http://ujsers2.ev1.net/~henthorn

Re: making handles

nate

>Thank you for the advice and your time,but I can't get the link to work,any advice?Thank you again and hope to her from more of you(need all the extra knowledge I can recieve)any other preference of stock,hickory is very hard to come by here and I wanted something different than maple.

Re: making handles

Ed in No.VA

>nate

I made some great handles from Osage Orange and some extra long for Ellsworth style boring tools from Sycamore.

Re: making handles

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Nate,

You have already been given some good advice here, but I will through in my 2 cents worth.

Any good, fairly straight grained hard wood will work. I have used White Oak from pallets, and the matched my Sorby handles just right. I normally drill a hole the same size and the gouge, but wobble the drill a touch to make the hole a touch bigger diameter. Then a shot of CA glue and you are set. As Don suggested, some 1" copper pipe from the plumbing dept of a hardware store works great for the ferrals.

Mark

Re: making handles

Barry Irby

>You got it. As usual, Wood Central has come through. Not to put to fine a point on it, you can make handles out of most any hardwood you like and even softwood might work for some light duty tools. Yes you can glue up several pieces. Many people save a piece of some exotic wood or some piece of sentimental value for the project. My son has handles of cocobolo and apple. Some need to be long and heavy to be sturdy and balance the weight of the blade and other can be small and light, like for a detail gouge. Make a few and see what you like. Grab some scraps from pallets or whatever and try a few. Then you can mix and match.

I use pipe caps for ferrules. You can drill the holes on a drill press by setting the end in the hole on the table after lining it up carefully under the center of the bit or you can chuck a bit in a drill chuck in the head stock of the lathe and put the end of the handle against the tail stock and crank it in, using the lathe as a horizontal boring machine. Sometime I leave the button on the end of the handle with the center mark still on it and put that back in place on the tail stock. Then coat the hole with CA or Epoxy and put the tool against a block of wood and drive the handle onto it. Then cut the button off the handle and touch up sand the end.

Re: Handles-new no glue ferrals

Big Mike (In SW Indiana)

>You have received some great information from some of the best� but let me through a little something in for consideration

After you finish you handle turn a small tenon or shoulder about � inch long on the tool end of the handle�

Not sure how to word it but� the tenon should taper slightly from the handle end (about 7/8 down to about 5/8 at the end,)

Using your band saw or other then blade saw to cut slits from the length of the tenon from 12-6 and from 3-9 (roughly crossed)

From any hardware store buy compression fittings (like for copper tubing) � fitting should do in most cases (for the measurements above� assuming a � tang on your blade)

*Place the copper compression nut over the tang of the tool,

*place tang into � drilled whole in the tool handle and give it a sharp rap on the workbench to seat the blade in the handle

slide the compression nut onto the end of the tenon you turned and tighten with a wrench. (the compression nut will cut its own threads on the tool handle)tighten all the way down to the sholder of the tenon) The compression nut will squeeze the tenon tight on your blade� The blade will never move untill you losen the nut!

o Looks good,

o Will never come lose

o when you finally sharpen your tool down to the point its no longer usable� Its easy to put a new blade in your old comfortable handle� just loosen the nut� pull out the blade and put in a new one� retighten the nut�

o You can get different size compression nuts if your blade is larger than 1/2

This sounds like a lot of work but, but honestly� its easy� and no messy glue to deal with� and as I said� the handle is re-usable

I hope this makes since� If not� let me know and I will make it clearer

Mike

Re: making handles

Karl in IA

>Just watch for old tools that are thrown away. Many tools (shovels, spades, etc.) use ash or hickory for handles. Rescue them and turn them into tool handles.

Mike, Great Instructions and Method. Thanks.

Clem Wixted, Jonesboro, AR

>

thanks to all

nate

>thank you all very much for all your help and encouragement.I learn more every time I look on here and just can't seem to get enough of it.

Re: making handles

nate

>Thank you all,I seem to learn more each time I look on here and can't seem to get enough of it. I really appreciate all the help from all of you.Thank you again!!!

Re: making handles

Don Henthorn

>Sorry, Nate. I'm old fumble fingers. The link should read users2 not ujers2.

Re: Handles-new no glue ferrals

Patrick, Denham Springs, LA

>Mike,

If you get a second, could you post a pic of that setup. Thanks