lathe handles...epoxy

[Dave Gallaher]

Got my lathe tools from Thompson. So far so good. Getting ready to turn some handles from some Ash I have been saving for this. Big question... What is a good epoxy to use to secure the tool in the handle? Help please.

[Rob Cunningham]

On the one handle I've made, I used thick CA glue. It seems to be holding tight. I think 5 minute epoxy should do the job also.

[Ron Bontz]

I use the general purpose 5 minute epoxy myself. Works very well. A little dab will do ya.:)

[John Keeton]

On mine, I just drilled the hole, it was tight, and I squeezed the tool shaft in with a Bessey clamp and sacrificial block of scrap on the business end of the gouge. No glue and it holds fine. Used the same method on the bowl gouge and the detail gouge.

[Mike Svoma]

+1 for what John said.

[Jerome Hanby]

Same here, fit was pretty tight, I also used some wood scraps and a K-Body to seat the tool in the handle.

On mine, I just drilled the hole, it was tight, and I squeezed the tool shaft in with a Bessey clamp and sacrificial block of scrap on the business end of the gouge. No glue and it holds fine. Used the same method on the bowl gouge and the detail gouge.

[Jim Slovik]

I'm with John on this too, no glue.
Jim

[Bob Haverstock]

On mine, I just drilled the hole, it was tight, and I squeezed the tool shaft in with a Bessey clamp and sacrificial block of scrap on the business end of the gouge. No glue and it holds fine. Used the same method on the bowl gouge and the detail gouge.

When I started making my own tools I epoxied the chisels into the handle, then I realized that would be the only chisel that would ever be in that handle.

Now, I taper the shanks and drive them into the handle, hoping if I need to I can remove them.

Bob

[David Walser]

When I started making my own tools I epoxied the chisels into the handle, then I realized that would be the only chisel that would ever be in that handle. ...


My understanding is the glue will soften with heat. Put the tool in the oven at, say, 450 degrees, and you should be able to pull the old tool out of the wooden handle. I don't know if this works with epoxy. I do know it works with CA.

[Donny Lawson]

Maybe you can post some pictures when you get it together.
Donny

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Epoxy supposed to melt with heat. It all depends on what you use. There are heat resistant epoxies, which, of course, will not soften with heat. Off hand I would say the 5 minute *mart epoxy should melt with heat. I use epoxy in my handles, but that's because I probably will want to change the handle by the time the tool wears out anyways. And I'm a little anal about tools falling out of the handle and landing on my foot. Or worse, hitting the concrete and damaging the tool. :D

I would refrain from putting a tool in 450 degree oven since the flashpoint of wood is generally accepted to be about 390.:eek:

[Bob Haverstock]

Epoxy supposed to melt with heat. It all depends on what you use. There are heat resistant epoxies, which, of course, will not soften with heat. Off hand I would say the 5 minute *mart epoxy should melt with heat. I use epoxy in my handles, but that's because I probably will want to change the handle by the time the tool wears out anyways. And I'm a little anal about tools falling out of the handle and landing on my foot. Or worse, hitting the concrete and damaging the tool. :D

I would refrain from putting a tool in 450 degree oven since the flashpoint of wood is generally accepted to be about 390.:eek:

Kyle,

Good point, I might mention that temperature much above 300 degrees F.may adversely draw my high carbon steel tools.

Bob

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wally World 5 minute epoxy.

[Chris Zeigler]

Has anyone tried bee's wax to hold a tool handle in? I learned this trick Wednesday at a club meeting and tried it last night. Basically you just liberally rub bee's wax on the shank and push it in. You can also wet the hole in the handle to make the wood swell for an even better grip. I haven't tried the gouge yet but we were told it would hold quite strongly. This method seems more reversible than any kind of glue.

Chris

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Has anyone tried bee's wax to hold a tool handle in? I learned this trick Wednesday at a club meeting and tried it last night. Basically you just liberally rub bee's wax on the shank and push it in. You can also wet the hole in the handle to make the wood swell for an even better grip. I haven't tried the gouge yet but we were told it would hold quite strongly. This method seems more reversible than any kind of glue.

Chris

Interesting! Do you need to heat either one to melt the wax into the wood?

[John Keeton]

You can also wet the hole in the handle to make the wood swell for an even better grip.Chris, wetting the wood to swell it is an old remedy often used for axe handles, but in the end it is self defeating. It does cause the wood to swell, but in the process it crushes the fibers. When the wood shrinks after drying, the tool is usually more loose than before.

[Chris Zeigler]

I just rubbed it straight on. It definitely stuck the shank in pretty well. I couldn't pull it out by hand where I could before the wax. I just hit the opposite end of the handle with a mallet to get the tool all the way in after I applied the wax.