Dan Forman
02-27-2008, 6:53 AM
This is a bit of a different way of dealing with lathe tools with tangs, such as skews, or in this case, scrapers. Rather than try to put a square peg in a round hole, I came up with this method.
I make a laminated handle, with the center lam the thickness of the tang of the tool. This one is padauk with a cherry center. Before gluing together, cut a slot in the center lam the size of the tang, centered as pictured here. I used a bandsaw, and used the fence to make sure the slot was centered. Best to do this on a test piece first, until you have the fence settings just right, then go to the real thing.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010717.jpg
Next, cut another piece of wood to fill the slot, but slightly longer. This will help keep glue from squeezing into the slot, which might make it hard to insert the tang later on. Now glue and clamp the blank together, pulling out the peg, wiping off any glue, then reinsert and wipe a couple more times to clean out as much glue as possible, leaving the peg out of the blank as it dries. If you sand the peg just a bit, it will make it a little easier to get out of the blank once it's glued and clamped. I didn't think of that until later, I just loosened the clamps on that part of the blank. Be sure to do this part in a timely manner, you don't want that peg stuck in the blank!
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010718.jpg
Once the glue is dry, re-insert the peg, and trim it off even with the front of the blank. This will give something for your live center to seat itself in. Now go ahead and turn the handle to your desired shape. I applied a few coats of wipe on poly for a finish. once turned, in order to remove the peg, drill and install a small screw in the end of the peg, and pull it out with a pair of pliers. I used a short length of copper coupler for the ferrule, and polished it up while the blank was turning.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010719.jpg
The only thing left is to insert the tool into the handle. These fit well enough that no glue was needed. If loose, just a bit of epoxy will hold everything in place, but chances are there will be enough dried glue squeeze out that the tang will fit snugly.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010722.jpg
The only tricky part in the process is to get the peg out before the glue sets, and keep that cavity reasonably free of glue. There are probably better ways of doing that part, so feel free to apply another solution. You will need a peg though for the live center though.
I suppose this method is a little more work, but I like the idea of the tang being firmly captured, and it looks a lot more tidy.
Dan
I make a laminated handle, with the center lam the thickness of the tang of the tool. This one is padauk with a cherry center. Before gluing together, cut a slot in the center lam the size of the tang, centered as pictured here. I used a bandsaw, and used the fence to make sure the slot was centered. Best to do this on a test piece first, until you have the fence settings just right, then go to the real thing.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010717.jpg
Next, cut another piece of wood to fill the slot, but slightly longer. This will help keep glue from squeezing into the slot, which might make it hard to insert the tang later on. Now glue and clamp the blank together, pulling out the peg, wiping off any glue, then reinsert and wipe a couple more times to clean out as much glue as possible, leaving the peg out of the blank as it dries. If you sand the peg just a bit, it will make it a little easier to get out of the blank once it's glued and clamped. I didn't think of that until later, I just loosened the clamps on that part of the blank. Be sure to do this part in a timely manner, you don't want that peg stuck in the blank!
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010718.jpg
Once the glue is dry, re-insert the peg, and trim it off even with the front of the blank. This will give something for your live center to seat itself in. Now go ahead and turn the handle to your desired shape. I applied a few coats of wipe on poly for a finish. once turned, in order to remove the peg, drill and install a small screw in the end of the peg, and pull it out with a pair of pliers. I used a short length of copper coupler for the ferrule, and polished it up while the blank was turning.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010719.jpg
The only thing left is to insert the tool into the handle. These fit well enough that no glue was needed. If loose, just a bit of epoxy will hold everything in place, but chances are there will be enough dried glue squeeze out that the tang will fit snugly.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010722.jpg
The only tricky part in the process is to get the peg out before the glue sets, and keep that cavity reasonably free of glue. There are probably better ways of doing that part, so feel free to apply another solution. You will need a peg though for the live center though.
I suppose this method is a little more work, but I like the idea of the tang being firmly captured, and it looks a lot more tidy.
Dan