Unhandled Gouges = Custom Turning Tools

[Chris Barton]

This Christmas my wife gave me a set of the unhandled turning gouges from PSI as a present. They have been back ordered for some time now and finally arrived. I made a prototype drawing of how I thought I would like the handles to look and took some scrap curly maple and glued up a blank to make the first handle from. Below are the pictures of the process. I used epoxy to secure the tang in the handle and the brass ring to the wood. Finish is Trans Tint "honey amber" dye in DNA followed by water-based poly and a little time on the buffer. A little different than the run of the mill skew... Of course, all comments and critiques welcome!

[David Walser]

It's beautiful! As long as it's not too beautiful to use (it fits your hands and you don't mind it getting scratched), I think you've got a winner.

[Pete Jordan]

Those turned out great!

I really like your design.

[Curt Fuller]

They look great. But I'm not sure how comfortable they will be hold and turn with. I've never made a handle that ornate simply for that reason. Let us know how they work.

[Darrell Feltmate]

I like it. A bit fancy for my taste, but I like it.

[Mark Pruitt]

That's a great looking profile! I haven't been turning long enough to have a great awareness of how and where I hold various tools--I'm paying most of my attention to the business end of the tool. With more experience I may eventually get a "grasp" on what profiles would best enhance my ability to manipulate various tools. Your profile provides great suggestions.

[Chris Barton]

David & Curt,

I designed the shape of the handle specifically with my hand size and prefered grip in mind. These are midi sized tools but, the metal section is a little longer than I would normally select. I also made a very deliberate effort to use good design rules in layout. The handles are about 9" long and all of the transitions are on 1/3rds. Here is a picture of how I grip the tool and the fit of the handle in hand.

PS: yet another completed...

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful job Chris. I sure do like the design. Definately turned out great.

[Corey Hallagan]

Way to go Chris! Those look nice and I have considered getting that same set!

Corey

[Curt Fuller]

David & Curt,

I designed the shape of the handle specifically with my hand size and prefered grip in mind. These are midi sized tools but, the metal section is a little longer than I would normally select. I also made a very deliberate effort to use good design rules in layout. The handles are about 9" long and all of the transitions are on 1/3rds. Here is a picture of how I grip the tool and the fit of the handle in hand.

PS: yet another completed...
Well that makes perfect sense now. And they're still great looking handles.

[George Conklin]

Those are beautiful (and functional), Chris. I always look forward to seeing what you create .

Thanks for sharing.:)

[Chris Barton]

Thanks George! I got a few more made this morning. I have found that getting the chisel into the handle is a big chore and not to be taken lightly. Here are a couple of pictures...

[Claude Arragon]

Chris
that is sure a beautiful handle, and you must feel quite comfortable with it as you designed for your hand as well as for your grip style.
Beware that for the bowl gouge (I guess I have seen one in the first picture) I’m afraid your hand is to close to the blade if you make some deep hollowing. You will not be able to smoothly balance the leverage.

[Chris Barton]

Hi Claude,

I know the picture is less than adequate and it would be very hard to tell but, that's actually a roughing gouge and a spindle gouge. I haven't gotten to the bowl gouge yet. Between the Airshield breaking this morning and running out of epoxy I have not been able to get to the last 4 chisels in the set. Roadtrip...

[Seth Poorman]

Vary nice Chris, Im impressed...
I s the steel from psi alot better than most other turning tools??
Im new to turning for the most part and am in the process of buying a older PM model 90 lathe, so I will need to buy some turning tools and this looks like a fun way to get started...
Ive been looking for a good lathe now for a couple of years ,and I think I found the one im looking for, its a later model PM 90 ,1987 gold one , VS 330-2100 rpms. Looks like brand new, it will cost me about $1500 to get it to my shop door....What you think??
Seth..

[mike fuson]

Great looking handles, I did something like this a few years ago and stained each one a different color to distinguish which was which in the shavings.

[Chris Barton]

Vary nice Chris, Im impressed...
I s the steel from psi alot better than most other turning tools??
Im new to turning for the most part and am in the process of buying a older PM model 90 lathe, so I will need to buy some turning tools and this looks like a fun way to get started...
Ive been looking for a good lathe now for a couple of years ,and I think I found the one im looking for, its a later model PM 90 ,1987 gold one , VS 330-2100 rpms. Looks like brand new, it will cost me about $1500 to get it to my shop door....What you think??
Seth..

Hi Seth,

I can't really tell a difference in the steel for the most part but, would say the bowl gouge that is included in this set would not be my first choice, it a little on the short side and a bit awkardly shaped. PSI sells un-handled chisels in shorter lengths and I would chose those if you wanted to give this a try. For about $50 it's a hard deal to beat.

I haven't turned on a PM90 but, have known those that have and they liked the machine. I will say that $1500 for a 20 year old lathe seems a bit steep. In the $1500 range there are several very good lathes and the one that I hear the greatest praise of is probably the Jet 1642. I have the PM3520a and last I heard they could be had for around $2300 new.

[Paul Engle]

Nice job Chris,did you use the skew to make the rest of them?

[Chris Barton]

Hi Paul,

In fact, yes I did and it's a sweet little skew at that, very easy to control. I really like skews, I have about 9 of them now...

[Keith Burns]

Chris those are some great looking handles. I would be afraid to use them, just to dang nice:) :)

[John Chandler]

Congrats on the nice work on those handles.