I've been getting a handle on things...

[Dan Forman]

...literally. Thanks to the good folks on this forum, I decided to go with Thompson gouges for my good tool set, to augment the more thrifty Harbor
Freight starter set. This has kept me busy, as the Thompsons are sold unhandled. I aslo acquired a P+N roughing gouge, also sans handle. As a new turner, it has been good practice to do these handles, becoming familiar with the lathe and some of the spindle tools.

In all fairness to the Harbor Freight's, in spite of being not much to look at, they perform quite well, though the handles are short and the gouge sizes are somewhat odd. I reshaped the larger of the skews to a curved profile (the bevel, not the bar), and find it valuable for cleaning up spindle gouge cuts.

Here are the first three handles: maple (roughing gouge) , ash (1/2" spindle), and purple heart (3/8" detail spindle)

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010710.jpg

These were done with stock on hand between 6/4 and 8/4. At some point along the way, I decided to make each one out of a different type of wood, so that I could tell them apart easily just by the handle. I only had so a few chunks of 8/4, so I decided to laminate some blanks. This led to the second group of three, all V bowl gouges: maple with purple heart (5/8") , maple with tigerwood (1/2"), and tigerwood with maple (3/8")...

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010711.jpg

In retrospect, I think I should have gone for walnut for the accents on the tigerwood/maple one, as dark on light looks better to me.

I have two more to go for scrapers, then I'll be done for a while anyway.

Dan

[Justin Bukoski]

Nice work Dan. My first turnings were tool handles too.

[Brian Weick]

Those are great handles Dan !- very nice job ! -:)
Brian

[Greg Just]

Dan - nice job. Handles are very much a personal thing with regards to length and diameter and making custom handles is the way to go.

[Alex Elias]

Wow. Nice looking handles. How can I order afew? ;)

[Dennis Peacock]

Nice work Dan.!!!!!!! The best part about making your own turning tool handles? Each one will fit "your" hand and will make the turning experience more relaxing because the tool will just fill "right" to your hand. :)

[Bill Wyko]

GREAT another thing I would like to do. Nice work. I really like all of them.

[Pete Jordan]

Those are out of this world!

[Jim Becker]

Very nice work, Dan!

[John Hart]

Impressive work Dan. Man! You're guilting me into re-handling everything.:o

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Excellent work Dan!

[Dan Forman]

Thanks guys. For reference, on the lams, the maple center section was 1 1/8". I forgot to send the tigerwood center through the last pass of the planer, so it's 1 3/16". If you decide to do one of these, you will want to consider the interaction of the center lam thickness and the diameter of the handle at various points, which determines the final shape the the outer lams take.

Dan

[Bernie Weishapl]

Excellent handles Dan. Well done.

[Tony Wheeler]

nice looking handles what size ID ferrel material did you use

[Bonnie Campbell]

Beautiful functional handles! :)

I like the idea of varying the woods like that so you can tell what chisel you've got by the color.

[Bill Blasic]

Nice job Dan, I'm willing to bet you'll be very happy with the Thompson tools.

[robert hainstock]

Silly me, I've been using colored tape. Beautiful handles , by the way. :)
Bob

[Steve Schlumpf]

Those are some really good looking handles Dan! Looking forward to hearing how well you like the Thompson tools!

[Dan Forman]

nice looking handles what size ID ferrel material did you use

The ferrels are 3/4" copper pipe couplers, which have a 7/8" inner diameter. You could easily use something smaller for most gouges, but I bought a bag of them, so used the same size for all. If you sand from 220 to 600, then hit them with some buffing compond on the lathe, they shine up very pretty. I didn't think about that in time with the first couple though. On the Thompson site http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/ there is an article on handle making that shows ome other options for ferrels as well.

Dan

[Dan Forman]

About the Doug Thompson tools---I'm probably not the best person to ask, as I have little experience with anything else, but I'm quite happy with them. They are really quite a bargain when you consider that with the longer lasting edge the tool itself will last longer, and they are priced less than the Sorby's. Service is fast and friendly, and you get whatever kind of handle you want.

Dan

[Walt Nollan]

Very nice. Work to be proud of! I'm sure you will treasure them.

Walt

[Mike A. Smith]

Very nice Dan! Getting

[Mike A. Smith]

Very nice Dan! Getting some Doug's tools is what caused me to turn my first handles also.

(How the heck did I manage to submit that twice?)

[Jon Lanier]

Can't tell if those are any good or not. You need to send them to me so I can try them out, and I'll let you know how they work out. :D

[Doug Thompson]

Dan, you did a fine job on the handles. Personally I like the shape of a wood handle but like the extra weight of a metal handle. The cool thing is the tools will last a long time if not a life time.

Thanks again,
Doug

[Dan Forman]

Jon---You're welcome to come out here and try them out!

Doug---I'll probably end up getting at least one metal handle so that I can use the last little nub of the tools in the event that they ever wear down to that point.

Love that detail spindle gouge, it's come in handy more than once.

Dan

[David Cramer]

Those are truly inspiring handles!!! Nice touch and great choice of wood, in my opinion. Very neat indeed Dan!!!

Dave

[Steve Mawson]

Really nice handles. Save one for the maple and walnut. I have made several letter openers with that lamination and like it very well. My lathe tools are about 50 years old so my handles are not near as nice.

[Tom Sherman]

Some pretty nice handle work there Dan.

[Eric Hartunian]

I just finished one for a P&N bowl gouge. I'll post a pic when the glue dries. I have a question for you guys...

THis was my first turning tool handle. How do you drill the hole for the shank? Drill first when the blank is square, or with some kind of jig after?
Lets just say that while my handle is usable, it isn't the straightest hole I've drilled.

Thanks,
Eric

[Dan Forman]

I found getting a straingt hole to be somewhat of a challenge. My blanks wouldn't fit under my drill press, so I did them on the lathe after roughing into a cylinder. The blank was held in a 4 jaw chuck, while the bit was held in a jacob's chuck in the tailstock, and pushed into the rotating wood. The problem is that you can't drill the hole all in one go, because the drill can't clear all of the chips, they tend to get jammed up.

[Dan Forman]

I found getting a straingt hole to be somewhat of a challenge. My blanks wouldn't fit under my drill press, so I did them on the lathe after roughing into a cylinder. The blank was held in a 4 jaw chuck, while the bit was held in a jacob's chuck in the tailstock, and pushed into the rotating wood. The problem is that you can't drill the hole all in one go, because the drill can't clear all of the chips, they tend to get jammed up.

I drilled the first hole undersized by 1/32", this could usually be done in a couple of passes. Then replace the undersized bit with the correct size, and take out the remainder. However, by this time the handle often doesn't line up perfectly anymore, so you might get a little slop. That may have been prevented with a brad point bit, most of my larger bits are twist bits. The only time I had a serious problem though, was when I tried to enlarge the hole with a hand held electric drill. That one went in the "try to make something useful with this later" bin.

Dan

[Rasmus Petersen]

i drilled into the square stock using my sanding thingy plate on the toolrest. with the drill in jacobs in the headstock. Next im thinking of doing a spacer on the drill and using the drill as a friction drive. then im shure that the hole is centeret..

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Lovely handles, Dan!