New P&N bowl gouges

[Steve Hayes]

Since I have to make handles now any suggestions. Length, type of wood. I have a ton of oak, would that be suitable, do you have to use the brass ferrels (sp)?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

1" copper water pipe is what Richard Raffan says he uses in his videos. You could also probably use some brass gas fittings found at most good hardware stores.

[Andy Hoyt]

How tall are you?
How long are your arms?
What's the swing of the lathe?
Do you intend to take full advantage of that swing?

The larger and more emphatic your answers, the long and stouter the handles should be.

At minimum, 50% longer than the wooden handles that come with a $40 gouge, and wee bit thicker.

I've had good luck with maple, ash, cherry, and hickory. I don't do oak. Complete the turning of them with 60 grit paper and call it good. No finish. Ferrules are essential. Make 'em from copper pipe.

[Raymond Overman]

The copper pipe or pipe connectors work well. I have used hickory and walnut for handles. I don't see any problem using oak as well. Just make sure it's clear of knots and cracks and I would put a coat of sanding sealer on it since the pores in oak are fairly open. Make them long enough to fit comfortably against your turning muscle while you're standing at the lathe.

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

I have been told that oak, and some other woods contain tannic acids, and can cause damage to your tools. I would choose ash. I turned a buch of carving mallets using old wooden baseball bats I bought for pennies each at garage sales. I think an old wooden bat would turn down to a very nice gouge handle. Just my two gigabytes worth!!

Good luck with your new gouges. I have been looking at these as well. Let me know how you like them.

Thanks,
Dan Heine
:rolleyes:

[Mike Vickery]

On the few tools I have made I used Ash for the handles and copper water pipe for the ferrels and both have worked well. handle length is a personal choice.

[Jeff Horton]

I turned a handle out of locus for mine but drilled the hole cockeyed. I made the second on out of a tubafour and I like it. I really didn't have anything else at the time large enough and just thought I would do a temporary handle. Still using it and happy with it (to my surprise) No ferrel since I didn't have anything but one of the handles is starting to split. I will probably make the new one(s) out of tubafours too and with ferrels.

[Glenn Hodges]

I have used all of the above except 2X4's. Persimmon makes really great handles plus cherry and dogwood. I wish I had made mine longer instead of copying my store bought ones like Andy says.

[Michael Stafford]

Lee Valley sells some very fine brass ferrules up to 1 1/2". They are reasonably priced and don't turn your palm green if you sweat on them like the copper pipe does....:o But the copper pipe will work.

[Dennis Peacock]

Cut you a piece of copper pipe the size you want and glue it on with epoxy. you want a snug fit so it's doing it's real job of keeping the wood from splitting out during heavy pressure use.

handle length can be from 12" to 24". Depends a lot on personal choice, preference, size of lathe, size of blocks of wood you'll be dealing with and such as that. Turn the handles out of any hardwood. Even Oak will work fine. You'll eventually sharpen away the tool before you'll be replacing the handle. Turn your handles to what it "feels" good to you and heavy enough to provide some mass to help absorb shock while turning.

Confused? Well....honestly....turning tool handles are a very personal thing, just like a grind on a bowl gouge.:D

[Gilbert Vega]

I've made various tool handles and ended up using 1" brass pipe nipples from HD or Lowes. I buy the longest size available (normally 6") and cut them on the lathe. More expensive than using copper by in my opinion, they look nicer.