Popular Woodworking 2006-08 № 156, страница 22

At the Lathe

lengths with a hacksaw and sand or grind the ends smooth and square.

Choose any hardwood; dense, close-grained woods are best for tool handles as they will take a clean cut and are strong enough to withstand the forces they will sustain in use. Pieces should be about IV2" to 2" inches square and the desired length of the finished handle, plus a couple inches for waste.

Mounting Your Stock

I usually pre-drill the handle and use this hole to mount the handle on a screw chuck for turning (the tailstock is used for support for most of the turning). This method offers two advantages: The hole (and thus the tool) will align with the axis of the handle, and the end of the handle can be finished on the lathe (if

the machine has a sufficiently slow speed).

If the tool is milled from a bar of steel, drill a single hole of the correct diameter to fit on your screw chuck (I use a lag screw with the head cut off, mounted in a Jacobs-style chuck on the lathe), and the depth to which you wish to insert the tool. When the handle is finished, you can then re-drill the hole to the diameter of the tool itself. The depth is personal preference, but be sure you have enough steel inside the handle; this might be only an inch or so on a very small tool, or several inches on a long one. I start round spindle gouges mounted very deeply into their handles, so the protruding length isn't awkward. As the tool is used and becomes shorter, I remove it, insert a short length of dowel (to keep the shortened tool from being pushed back down into the

handle), and replace the tool. The dowel can be drilled out later for a new tool.

If the tool has a tapered tang, you will need to drill a stepped hole. This is largely a matter of trial and error; try it first in a waste piece (like a small length of 2 x 4) to be sure the tool will fit properly in the handle. For the one shown, I drilled a ^"-diameter hole ³/4" deep, then V4" diameter another ³/4" deep, and finally Vs" diameter another V4", for a total depth of 2¹/4". This is a little less than the length of the tang, as I want the tang to set securely just as the wider part of the gouge reaches the ferrule. If the hole is too deep, the ferrule may stop it from going deeper before it is secure. With the hole a bit shallow, driving the tool home will crush the wood inside the hole and set the tool firmly in the handle.

Here is a nice piece of goncalo alves, mounted and ready to turn into a handle for a new shallow spindle gouge (shown on the lathe bed) I have recently acquired. Note the ferrule, chosen for the size of the tang.

Using a wide, shallow spindle gouge (itself in need of a new handle!), I rough in the general shape. I prefer a handle that is wider near the ferrule than farther back, but also has a bulge on the end so I always know by feel exactly where to hold it for various types of cuts.

Having roughed out the handle, I begin fitting the ferrule by measuring the inside diameter with a caliper.

I hold the caliper and cut at the same time, but if you are not experienced, it is much better to cut, stop the lathe to check the diameter, and so on.

You'll want the fit of the ferrule to be snug, so check the diameter carefully. Leave it a bit large at this point; you will refine the fit later.

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Popular Woodworking August 2006