Turned Tool Handles

Rick Rich makes wooden handles for two small turning tools

Wood chisels on wooden surface
Spoon handle dimensions diagram with measurements

Recently at my woodturning club, SW Washington Woodturners, Kathleen Duncan demonstrated the making of two small woodturning tools. One was a skew, made with a 200mm long by 6 x 6mm square HSS blank and the other a point tool using a 6mm round by 200mm long HSS blank.

The HSS tool blanks were purchased in bulk by the club and sold to members for quite reasonable prices. I got one of each and decided to make the tools because sometimes a smaller tool can be useful for getting into a restricted space. I scaled down a handle design aiming for finished handles just 190mm long. Small handles for the small tools, especially since these would be used for detailing and not rough stock removal.

The skew is more easily made by alternating the grinding back and forth until a cutting edge is created between equal-sized bevels on both sides. An abundance of excitement to make the tools resulted in grinding the skew before turning the handle. I then realised that hammering the handle on to the tool shank with the sharp edge cutting into a sacrificial board was probably not one of my best ideas. I refrained from grinding the point tool just yet. The point tool, which uses the round bar stock, is shaped to three facets on the grinding wheel using a flat platform.

Preparing the materials

Woodworking tools with measuring guide and rings.
1. I assembled the needed material and parts, which simply consisted of two maple handle blanks, each 215mm long by 32mm square. The two tool blanks, of course, and two 12mm copper pipe pieces cut to 10mm in length and one side de-burred. I also created a story stick so that both handles could be turned to look identical
Drill creating hole in wooden block on lathe.
2. First the handle blanks were drilled. After a bit of checking the tool blanks against a fractional drill bit chart, I used an 8mm drill bit for the square shanked 6mm skew blank and a 6mm drill bit for the round 6mm point tool blank. After locating centres, each handle blank was drilled on the lathe. I used the square blank against the toolrest to prevent rotation and drilled both 63mm deep

Turning

Person shaping wood on a lathe machine.
3. The drilled end of the handle blank was placed at the tailstock allowing the revolving centre cone to centre in the drilled hole. The blank was then turned round with a spindle roughing gouge
Woodturning on a lathe with chisel
4. Once the blank was round, the drilled end was parted to the inner diameter of the copper ferrule. I parted it slightly oversized and tapered towards the end so that I could rotate the de-burred side of the ferrule on the small taper, leaving a mark where the perfect fit would be
Carpenter using a hammer on wooden dowel.
5. When the ferrule is placed on the tenon, the de-burred side is used. The fit should be snug halfway on the tenon and should not be able to completely fit on the whole way, ensuring a lasting tight fit. It may then be persuaded to seat fully against the squared end by use of a mallet and longer piece of copper pipe
Person measuring wood on lathe with ruler.
6. Next, I marked where the sizing parts would be made, along with marks for the two thickest parts of the handle, the bead behind the ferrule and the largest diameter of the handle. I also marked where the end of the handle would be so that a V-cut can be made there allowing room to turn down, bead-like, the end of the handle.

Materials:

  • Two maple blanks, each 215mm long by 32mm square
  • Two HSS tool blanks, one 200mm long by 6 x 6mm square and one 200mm long by 6mm round
  • Two copper ferrules made from 12mm plumbing pipe, cut 10mm long and one side de-burred

Tools:

  • 12mm skew
  • 3mm parting tool
  • Outside callipers with rounded tips
  • Jacobs chuck and drill bits to fit tool shanks (I used 6mm and 8mm drill bits)
  • Mallet and 100mm piece of copper pipe for hammering ferrule on
  • Pick tool for creating air escape grooves in drilled hole
  • Wire burner for adding burn lines

Person using wood lathe for crafting cylinder shape.
7. The bead behind the ferrule was parted to 22mm, the thinnest diameter was parted to 17mm thick and the largest to 25mm. These really would be small handles, and I wondered how well they would fit in my hand and feel while using the tool
Person woodturning on a lathe with chisel
8. I used my skew chisel to cut from the larger diameters to the middle smallest diameter and from the top of the bead to the ferrule. Because I wanted the handle finish to be ‘straight off the tool’, I cut as smooth and clean as I could
Woodturning on a lathe with tool.
9. The end was finished by making a V-cut for clearance and rounding the handle end towards the bottom of the V-cut with the skew leaving a small nub to be removed later with a saw

Adding scored lines

Woodturning chisel shaping handle on lathe.
10. The diagram I made was based on an old ‘turning chisel handle’ design that had incised lines on the bead and the largest diameter. I made the scoring marks with the long point of my skew, three centred on the top of the bead and four on the large diameter
Crafting wooden spindle on lathe machine
11. I used a commercial wire burner to accent the scoring marks with black burn lines. On the cream white-coloured maple, burn lines make a nice contrast

Finishing

Sanding wood spindle on a lathe machine.
12. I did not sand the handle, but I did add a bit of beeswax. The beeswax I have was mixed together with mineral oil by an old friend who had given me several jars of the mixture. I applied the beeswax mixture with a paper towel and was pleased to see it added a nice satin look.
Hand holding woodturning tool on lathe
13. Having tried to hammer home a round shank into a tight-fitting drilled hole before without an escape mechanism for the trapped air, I learned to provide the air a way out. I used a sharpened small pick tool and scraped several small grooves into the sides of the drilled hole. The grooves, while not deep, were enough to allow the air to escape while the tool shank was hammered home. Both tools were seated into their completed handles without problem by placing the tool point on to a sacrificial board and using a mallet to hammer the end of the handle until the tool blank was fully seated
Woodturning with a lathe and gouge tool.
14. Of course I had to try out the small skew first. Before using it, I eased the sharp edges with a light pass across the grinding wheel. In use, I was very happy with how it worked, cleanly cutting beads in a piece of construction-grade Douglas fir 2×2.
Woodturning chisels on wooden surface
15. This is what my two small tools looked like when finished

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK RICH

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