Anyone make a handle with pipe?

[Burt Alcantara]

I have Kelton steel handles. They are my favorite handles mostly because of the heft. I'd like their Ultimate handle but it's a bit spendy. I read somewhere about making a handle out of galvanized pipe, the kind used for pipe clamps.

Anybody either use them or know anything about them?

Thanks,
Burt

[Jim Kountz]

I made one using 3/4" pipe, same stuff you use for clamps. The gouge I made it for was a 5/8" V bowl gouge from Doug Thompson. The end is turned to 5/8" so it fits perfectly into a 5/8" brass compression fitting. So you need a 5/8" compression to a 3/4" pipe fitting. Screw the fitting on the pipe and slip the gouge in the compression end and tighten. I then wrapped the pipe with tape used for Tennis rackets, a cushioned wrap. Works great and you can fill the pipe with lead shot for even more balast although mine is plenty heavy without it. Pics to follow soon.

[Don Carter]

Burt:
I don't have any pics but I have made several Oland type tools using galvanized pipe with tool bits in the end. I have done many different "styles". Some have the bits held in the end of the pipe with two set screws that I drilled and tapped. Some have smaller pipes inside larger pipes held the same way. I have bored holes in cold roll steel with bits in the end held in pipes. I also have Dave Peebles handle that I got for Christmas but the galvanized pipes work well. Take a look at Darrel Feltmate's website, I think it is "Around the Woods". Sorry I don't have a link.

All the best.

Don

[Mitchell Cholewinski]

I made several Oland tools using galvanized pipe for handles, then used slit pipe wrap to cover the pipe. Mitch

[Richard Madison]

Burt,
Have a number of home made tools using 1/2" galvanized steel pipe. The galvanizing is not important, just what I happened to have. In most of mine the pipe is the shaft of the tool, but not the handle. Got tired of the pipe handles and added wood handles over the pipe ends for a slightly more comfortable grip.

[Burt Alcantara]

Went to the Darrel Feltmate site here (http://www.aroundthewoods.com/oland.shtml)and found enough ideas to start with. Never did any drill & tap work so recommendations for a tap & die set are welcomed.

This appears to be a lot easier then I thought. Looks like I can make my own hollowing tools as well. I like that idea a lot.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Burt

[Don Carter]

Burt:
You can buy a cheap set at Sears or even Harbor Freight Tools. Just decide what size and thread set screws that you want to use and make sure the set has it. Or, some places sell a single tap with drill bit that will work with it. You will also need a tap handle or something to drive the tap. Just go slow and make sure it is perpendicular. Nothing to it.
BTW, I use a tap on bottle stopper blanks to fit a homemade mandrel. Works great!

All the best.

Don

[Jeff Nicol]

Lots of pipe in my tool collection! I use pipe a lot but I cover the handle with some thick rubber electrical tape to give them grip and not be so cold to the touch. I found out that a 3/4" boring bar fits very nice in a 3/4" pipe. This gives me a double ended tool to put 1/4" tool bits into. One end is 90 degree and one end is 45 degrees. I just use set screws to hold the boring bar or round stock in the pipe. I use the round stock to make goose necks and straight or bent end tool holders. So the sky is the limit with pipe handles, and cheap too!!

Jeff

[Paul Atkins]

Here is my version of pipe handles. 1/2" i.d. steel pipe. I split 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 blank and routed the wood with core box bit and epoxied it back together. Then I turned and put brass on. One is mahogany and the other cherry. 1/2" bits fit very snug and I can remove with a 3/8" rod if I need to.

[Burt Alcantara]

Paul,
What is the tool that looks like a modified spindle gouge and how do you use it?

Burt

[Allen Neighbors]

Ditto, Don Carter and Mitchell Cholewinski posts for me. Same song. Same verse. Same music.
One of them is a harpoon ala Darrell Feltmate.... Capped 1" Pipe 24" long, Half full of BBs, to 3/4" Pipe 12" long, to 3/4" hot-rolled steel shaft 18" long, with a 3/16" and/or 1./8" cutter.
It'll reach about 14" across the toolrest with the 1/8" cutter, but you don't take heavy cuts that far out. :)

[Paul Atkins]

Burt, I knew someone would catch me on that one. I had no tool in that handle and grabbed the one off my carriage that I have on my big lathe for roughing and making cylinders. Here is a video on what that tool is used for. Not as clear as the original video -this is my first Youtube thing and I'll have to refine the quality etc. for future ones. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEE9aywM1g8

[Burt Alcantara]

Paul,
I watched your video but had no idea what you were doing. Couldn't tell if the lathe was turning or not or if the "banjo" you were pulling was cutting a flute or cutting while turning.

Burt

[Ron McKinley]

Download and read through this and you'll see how to make a handle from a black pipe or galvanized nipple that Paul Engle came up with.

http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/images/extra/TurningToolHandles.pdf

Ron

[Don Carter]

Ron:
After Burt asked about this, I went over to Paul's website and made some tools from his tutorial. I have made several with the set screws but I really do like the compression fittings. Paul's instructions are very easy to follow and the tools work great.

All the best.

Don

[Ron McKinley]

Paul is always up to something. He's a mechanical genius! I've learned a lot from him and some things he comes up with are just way over my head. I use his type handle with the compression fitting with my half-inch Thompson bowl gouge. Makes it nice when you don't need a tool to install or remove the blade. When I first saw it I had to call him on the phone because I had never seen that kind of fitting before. As you can tell I'm not mechanical at all and don't do plumbing except with PVC......Ron

[Burt Alcantara]

Forgive my ignorance. What is a compression fitting and how does it work? I'm guessing that by using this fitting drilling and tapping is not needed. Yes?

Great thread!
Burt

[Don Carter]

Burt:
The compression fittings are plumbing fittings made for use with copper pipe. Mine are made from brass. They do eliminate the need to drill and tap. For me, they make it easier to remove the round stock for sharpening the cutting tips. You will need to drill the "shoulder" out of the brass fitting to allow the round stock to slide through it. Paul's website has a great tutorial. It is linked from Doug Thompson's handle page. Email Paul, he is a wealth of information.

I have attached a pic of my fittings on my tool.

All the best.

Don

[Paul Engle]

Anyone intrested in making one of these , send me a PM and I will walk you thru it. I use the brass pipe to tube converter , but the cast item works very well, the neat part is the compression ring and adjustability for weight/ balance and depth of the gouge in the handle it gives you and the ease of removal to grind the edge. My only complaint is driving the polyester cover/tube over the 5/8 x 1 od pipe ( 1 inch od pipe, same size as the ID for the poly tube , but "Mr. Dead blow "works ok.... :D )

[Richard Madison]

Couple of small "pipe" tools, sometimes handy for finials and other small stuff or small places. The HSS tool bits are 1/8", to 1/8" pipe nipple, to 1/2" pipe, to wood handle. The longer tool is 15" overall. Not pretty, but cost only a few dollars to make and they work well.