Handle adapters

[Larry Copas]

A lot of choices. The designs all seem similar but some are steel and others aluminum. The sellers of aluminum say lightweight is the advantage. I've heard some say steel adds weight which promotes stability along with added strength. Which do you prefer?

If you don't like any adapter, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

[John Keeton]

Love aluminum, particularly those sold by D-Way. Dave's handles are well made, with cleanly machined adapters, and I like the rubber/plastic sleeve he uses on them. They are easy to grip and comfortable in the winter. They are hollow, so one could easily add weight if desired.

[John K Jordan]

A lot of choices. The designs all seem similar but some are steel and others aluminum. The sellers of aluminum say lightweight is the advantage. I've heard some say steel adds weight which promotes stability along with added strength. Which do you prefer?


Larry,

I love the adapters both for small tools and large. They are especially good with long-handled tools at sharpening time. They save a lot of storage space too: for example, I keep 3 or 4 identical Thompson spindle gouges and sharpen them all at once. When one gets dull, I swap it in the handle for a sharp one and keep turning.

I bought a few adapters some years ago but now I make my own. I mostly use them with Hunter carbide and Thompson spindle gouges plus a few custom tools. Here are some I've made shown with some of my smaller Hunter tools.

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It may be different now, but when I bought some they were all the same diameter but with different size holes for the tools. The "standard" size is the second from the top in this photo.

The reason I make my own, besides cost? - to make them smaller than what I could buy. For smaller tools the standard size feels way too big in the hand for me. With a smaller adapter, I can hold the tool easier and control it better, especially for delicate work.

I've made them out of aluminum and steel.

The aluminum is certainly lighter for the larger sizes. When made small, however, there is no problem with the weight. However, there is a strength issue with a small adapter made from aluminum which might not be the exact strength issue you refer to: the smaller diameter leaves less metal for set screw threads and I worry about stripping them. With fewer threads I prefer the much stronger steel.

One big advantage of using aluminum - you can make one on the wood lathe with standard turning tools. I used Thompson spindle gouges and skew chisel for this one:

339721 339722

It is slow to make but pretty easy. I can write up some notes if interested. The ribs on the finished adapter to give the epoxy a little something to grip when attaching to the handle.

Another option is brass. I've turned several things made from brass on the wood lathe. The right type of brass cuts very cleanly although slower than aluminum. When polished it looks almost like gold!

BTW, I do have a metal-cutting lathe I use when making the steel adapters.

JKJ

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Personally, I like the feel and lightness of wood. One handle per tool.
But, my rougher, I use the Kelton handle, steel I think. Very heavy. I like the Thompson handle for aluminum. No adapters for me.

[Wade Holloway]

That would be cool if you wrote something up. I love to make some out of brass. Not sure if brass would be any stronger than Aluminum though but it would a lot prettier. :)

Larry,


It is slow to make but pretty easy. I can write up some notes if interested. The ribs on the finished adapter to give the epoxy a little something to grip when attaching to the handle.

Another option is brass. I've turned several things made from brass on the wood lathe. The right type of brass cuts very cleanly although slower than aluminum. When polished it looks almost like gold!

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

Brass is fun to work with and turns well. But I find it very expensive. Aluminum is affordable, but brass is not. Check prices before you decide.

[John K Jordan]

Brass is fun to work with and turns well. But I find it very expensive. Aluminum is affordable, but brass is not. Check prices before you decide.
Brass is in fact more expensive. When I can find it I get it from the local metal recycling place by the pound for scrap prices. However, with scrap you don't know if you are getting 360 free machining brass (with the metal lathe/mill it's not that important).

But even buying new 360 brass a 3/4" rod might be $1.5 per inch - probably 3-4x the cost of aluminum. Some of the the aluminum adapters I've seen online were about $20.

BTW, I like to make little finials and feet from brass on the wood lathe. The rod I start with is much smaller and a lot cheaper, very little cost considering the work and result!

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JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

John I really like the accent that the brass makes to the chalice and the bowl. How did you inlay the brass on the chalice? Was it round rod or did you make or use it flat before inserting it?

[John K Jordan]

John I really like the accent that the brass makes to the chalice and the bowl. How did you inlay the brass on the chalice? Was it round rod or did you make or use it flat before inserting it?

Thanks! The brass on the goblet was done with powdered brass: cut a groove, put some brass powder in the groove, add CA glue, rotate the goblet and repeat till all the way around. Turn it down flush, sand and polish.

I really liked the look of the little brass feet and things on the lidded bowl. I need to do some more like that.

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

Thanks for the feedback, John. I'll need to pick up some high quality brass powder. As an experiment, I got a small bag of (mostly) fine brass chips from the key machine at Home Depot. But it also has some silver-colored plating mixed in. So it doesn't look nearly as spectacular as yours does.

[Marvin Hasenak]

Thanks for the feedback, John. I'll need to pick up some high quality brass powder. As an experiment, I got a small bag of (mostly) fine brass chips from the key machine at Home Depot. But it also has some silver-colored plating mixed in. So it doesn't look nearly as spectacular as yours does.

The key powder is a mix and very little brass in it. Test it on a scrap before you use it. The stuff I got looked like mud when I mixed it with CA or epoxy. I threw it away.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for the feedback, John. I'll need to pick up some high quality brass powder. As an experiment, I got a small bag of (mostly) fine brass chips from the key machine at Home Depot. But it also has some silver-colored plating mixed in. So it doesn't look nearly as spectacular as yours does.


Brice,

Others have also discovered the key chips didn't work so well.

I got on a brass inlay kick a while back and experimented with a number of different commercial powders. The finest, Mona Lisa, purchased from Amazon, was like talcum powder and would actually float it the air. It was worthless for inlays since the CA glue would not soak into it.

I bought some powders from Ted Sokolowski, his sampler pack. I also got his DVD which was helpful.
http://www.sokolowskistudios.com/NewFiles/misupply.htm
This powder worked much better but I was still not happy with the final look - it left tiny voids between the grains which prevented a perfect, highly polished look. (It looked to me like even the pieces in his video had these tiny voids.)

Then I bought some different powder from Amazon and this is better although still not perfect. I can't even tell you what it was since it appears to be no longer available from Amazon. The goblet used this powder but the picture is not very good. (I was packing it up to ship overseas and didn't have the time for a better photo.)

I am still looking for the ultimate inlay powder. My thinking is the Sokolwski powders would be improved if they had just a bit more very fine particles to fill between the spaces, a bit like sand fills the voids in gravel. I acquired some super fine screens made for sorting particulates and want to try filtering the powders I have to try to extract the fines and add them back in to an unfiltered sample. I also wondered if a mix of the Mona Lisa and the Sokolwski powders would work.

Or maybe I'm being too picky. Everyone else oohs and aahs over the brass inlays I've done even though I'm not entirely satisfied.

JKJ

[Grant Wilkinson]

I have the aluminum cam lock holders from Doug Thompson. They are excellent! I first saw them in a Jimmy Clewes video.

[Greg McClurg]

+1 on the Jimmy Clewes cam lock holders.

[Dave Mueller]

I also have a Jimmy Clews adapter and like it. However, it only has a shallow hole for the tool and is a bit pricey. I made my own using some flare nut fittings that work just as well and only costs about $8 (picture below). It was published as a Tip in the June 2015 issue of The American Woodturner on page 18. You can download a more detailed PDF at http://www.aggieturner.com/good%20stuff.htm. It is the last item on the list.

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[John K Jordan]

I also have a Jimmy Clews adapter and like it. However, it only has a shallow hole for the tool and is a bit pricey.


That's a good point. I make my handles for gouges with a deep hole inside the handle so I can control exactly how much tool is exposed. Many times, especially for detail work, I want just a short length extending from the handle for more control.

JKJ