tool handles

[Joe Melton]

This is really stupid. I need a way to drill handles for the tools. I made two handles out of ash and cherry, but my lathe bed is not long enough to set up the jacobs chuck in the tailstock and drill them that way. Obviously, I could drill them with a hand drill, but then the tool would probably not be aligned with the handle. Cosmetic issue, of course.
Also, do I drill slightly smaller than the shaft of the tool, or do I drill for a looser fit and then epoxy the tool in?
Thanks for any advice.
Joe

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe.....Richard Raffan in his videos puts the jacobs chuck in the headstock and just plunges the handle on to the bit. He makes the hole slightly smaller, inserts the tang of the tool and then raps on the back end of the handle with a mallet to get it to seat the tool into the hole. You might check Woodcraft's site...the education online FREE videos and see if that video is available online free.

[Dick Strauss]

Joe,
Most drill presses have a round hole in the center of the table. You may be able to clamp the handle vertically in the hole and use your press. If you clamp it perpendicular to the table, the travel of the drill should take care of the rest.

As far as the hole size goes, I'd drill them slightly oversize (add 1/32-1/16) to allow for room for the adhesive/epoxy to flow. This works well for round tools.

Some folks drill the holes smaller. They burn the tools into the handle by repeatedly heating the tool and pressing it into the handle. This works well for non-round tools.

I hope this helps,
Dick

[George Tokarev]

Obviously, I could drill them with a hand drill, but then the tool would probably not be aligned with the handle. Cosmetic issue, of course.
Also, do I drill slightly smaller than the shaft of the tool, or do I drill for a looser fit and then epoxy the tool in?
Thanks for any advice.
Joe

Not just a cosmetic issue. It's a presentation issue as well when the tactile feedback comes from an unfamiliar direction because the handle's 5 degrees off. Pays to get things as close as possible.

I'd rather bore the thing in the press, clamping to my vertical boring jig. If you don't have one, you'll find it's almost as handy as that fence you use all the time. That way I can chuck up a bit on the lathe and use it for a drive center.

Trying to put an oversize round piece in a round hole is a recipe for splitting. That's why nails are clipped and pegs are square. Make it as close or over and shim/set grab with tape on the cylindrical types. Flat tangs are tapered so they can be readjusted automatically. Tap the heel on the table to seat, then drive the ferrule to make the final grab. This time of year, if you're heating, you want to be careful on making handles, because they will tighten and might split as they gain moisture come spring. Wouldn't go a full 16th over because of it, but something to think about. Wouldn't glue, because you've got a lot of surface in contact, you want the readjustability, and it's not as if you're going to use the tool as a crowbar, right?

[Bill Boehme]

Joe,

What you need to do is drill through the tailstock using a hollow center and a lamp auger. (Ken, you may have missed an important bit of information in Joe's post).

You could use a live center with a removable point to pass the auger through, but I prefer a dead center with the point removed. I modified my dead center by drilling large cleaning holes on the sides so that at least some of the wood shavings can be cleared without completely removing the auger. I poke an awl through one of the holes to help clear the flutes as the auger is being drawn back. Once you have the hole drilled about a third of the distance, back the tailstock up a bit and continue drilling with the auger through the tailstock hole, but the handle unsupported by the center. The auger will provide all of the support needed at the tail end.

Bill

[Mike Vickery]

52924
This is what I cam up with for my mini lathe. Personally I prefer to drill before final turing and use a steel rod the same size as the tools tang to work as a jam chuck to turn the piece. That way the hole is always perfectly centered in the handle.

[Andy Hoyt]

I think Mike has just provided the answer. Nice!