Thomas Bennett
08-26-2010, 7:38 PM
I had a "commission" from a friend to reproduce two white oak spindles for his house. I immediately glued up some stock as I did not have any 8/4 WO. I played around with the shoulder cuts with a skew and lost interest…in June. This WO chatters around and is difficult, for me, to detail. I procrastinated the rest of the summer until I happened upon one of the “Easy Tool” detail cutters at the local Woodcraft. The shape of the cutter reminds me of the duplicating jig cutters I have seen. I liked the handle as soon as I saw it. It even has a little curl in it. I have not seen a handle similar to this before, although I do not get out much! The Easy tool is not cheap. I decided to buy it, anyway. It works great. I borrowed a One Way steady rest from one of my turning mentors and turned the spindles quickly. One thing about WO I noticed is it sands really well. The Easy tool does not leave a “skew finish” but sanded quickly.
My turning mentor buddy gave me a homemade version of the Easy Tool for roughing, without handle, of course. I bought the appropriate cutter at Woodcraft. It works really great. He makes bathces of 8 or 10 and gives them away to his friends.
I had 4 Thompson tools I was switching around in a Sorby handle. At first I thought I liked having one handle for several tools but I changed my mind. Besides, I kind of like making the handles.
About the handles, I take some full 1” stock and put a ¼ x 1/8 deep groove down the middle, then glue the pieces together. This helps prevent the drifting in the drilling. I used the homemade Appalachian Easy Rougher to round the blanks. It really works well and is faster than any of the gouges or skews I have for this rounding. I then drilled a 5/8 inch hole about 4 or 5 inches deep in the bottom of the handle and drilled the tool size hole in the top. I made ferrules out of the usual copper plumbing unions and a piece of old TV antenna, and fastened them on with epoxy. Next I turned the shape and sanded. I decided to play around with my own version of the easy tool , which I call a double handle. I wanted my tools a little longer as I am tall with long arms. I do not know if there is actually any reason for the double handle, I just like the form and kind of hope it will be comfortable. If anyone has seen or tried these “double handles” on the Easy Tool, or anywhere else, please comment.
Back to the handles, I glue in the tool with epoxy. I fill the bottom with lead shot and glue a plug in the bottom. Then I return to the lathe and finish the bottom and do a final sanding.
I have one Glaser tool with shot in it. I was thinking, besides the added weight It might absorb some vibration. Again, anyone have an opinion on this?
I read on the net differing opinions on finishing, or not finishing , lathe tool handles. I have a few older tools with some of the finish rubbed off a little, but mostly any commercial tool I have still has the finish intact, although banged up a little. I do not notice my tools slipping in my handes due to the finish. I’m a cabinetmaker and have trouble NOT finishing any woodwork. So I sprayed the handles with poly.
By the way, the Thompson tools are the Bill Grumbine big gouge, a standard ½ bowl gouge, the Jimmy Clewes gouge and a detail gouge. I like all of them.
Like I said above, I really like making the handles. They are quick little project. Any and all comments are welcome.
My turning mentor buddy gave me a homemade version of the Easy Tool for roughing, without handle, of course. I bought the appropriate cutter at Woodcraft. It works really great. He makes bathces of 8 or 10 and gives them away to his friends.
I had 4 Thompson tools I was switching around in a Sorby handle. At first I thought I liked having one handle for several tools but I changed my mind. Besides, I kind of like making the handles.
About the handles, I take some full 1” stock and put a ¼ x 1/8 deep groove down the middle, then glue the pieces together. This helps prevent the drifting in the drilling. I used the homemade Appalachian Easy Rougher to round the blanks. It really works well and is faster than any of the gouges or skews I have for this rounding. I then drilled a 5/8 inch hole about 4 or 5 inches deep in the bottom of the handle and drilled the tool size hole in the top. I made ferrules out of the usual copper plumbing unions and a piece of old TV antenna, and fastened them on with epoxy. Next I turned the shape and sanded. I decided to play around with my own version of the easy tool , which I call a double handle. I wanted my tools a little longer as I am tall with long arms. I do not know if there is actually any reason for the double handle, I just like the form and kind of hope it will be comfortable. If anyone has seen or tried these “double handles” on the Easy Tool, or anywhere else, please comment.
Back to the handles, I glue in the tool with epoxy. I fill the bottom with lead shot and glue a plug in the bottom. Then I return to the lathe and finish the bottom and do a final sanding.
I have one Glaser tool with shot in it. I was thinking, besides the added weight It might absorb some vibration. Again, anyone have an opinion on this?
I read on the net differing opinions on finishing, or not finishing , lathe tool handles. I have a few older tools with some of the finish rubbed off a little, but mostly any commercial tool I have still has the finish intact, although banged up a little. I do not notice my tools slipping in my handes due to the finish. I’m a cabinetmaker and have trouble NOT finishing any woodwork. So I sprayed the handles with poly.
By the way, the Thompson tools are the Bill Grumbine big gouge, a standard ½ bowl gouge, the Jimmy Clewes gouge and a detail gouge. I like all of them.
Like I said above, I really like making the handles. They are quick little project. Any and all comments are welcome.