Making own tools

[Mrbbcrafting]

After carefully planning things out and coming to realization the only way I can afford certain things in pen making is learning how to make them myself sort of speaking. Saved up enough to start purchasing equipment for casting. Will be placing orders this week for some alumilite and dyes and such. Will be making my own molds. Was flabbergasted at the prices of some of the carbide tools I wanted to get, then decided lets see if I can make some. So I did some research and going to try and make some this weekend possibly, (time permitting). Now question I have, handles.. I came across some really nice red cedar branches that were 3 to 5 inches thick and straight 12 inches long. I was thinking of turning some handles for the steel rods to be inserted. Would you recommend another type of wood to be used for handles? Is cedar to "weak" or "soft" per say. I have turned one handle for my segmented press and works just fine but not a lot of pressure is going on the handle.. I appreciate any information.

:biggrin:

 

[mecompco]

I'm currently working on a set of four carbide tools. I'm using 12" x .5" square steel stock and 12" x 2" Walnut blanks. I plan on having ~4" of steel inside the handles, with a ferrule to help keep the wood from splitting. I'm thinking Cedar might be a little soft for the purpose, but if you put enough steel inside it, I bet it would be fine. Hey, if it fails, you can always turn a new one. I'll have well under $100 into all four tools (square, radius, round, and diamond).

Regards,
Michael

 

[Edgar]

Cedar may be ok, but I generally prefer harder woods like walnut, oak or mesquite.

(Old oak shovel handles are a good, cheap source and already near the needed shape, so quick & easy to finish up.)

 

[Rounder]

I think cedar will work fine as long as you have enough steel in the handle as Michael stated. The one I made, I also ground grooves into the part of the shaft that went into the wood handle which helps the epoxy grip the shaft. I used a 3/4" copper cap for the ferrule. Just drilled the proper size hole in the center, turned the wood to fit in the cap, polished it to a shine with micromesh through 12,000 grit and clear painted it. I turned a part of a clothes hanger rod that I had left over for the handle. Not sure what type of wood it was.

 

[Hendu3270]

I used Red Oak for mine. Has worked well.

 

[Crayman]

Cannot remember who on here mentioned using Harbor Freight crow bars with the molded handles on them. I cut part of the tip off ground it to shape and tapped it and put a Captain Eddie cutter on them and they a great. They are not as beautiful as a wood handle but, made them in 20 minutes each. If i ever find some spare time I can cut off the plastic handle and put a wood handle on.

 

[Skie_M]

Cedar will be fine if you use a copper or brass ferrule to help prevent the handle from splitting up the middle when any lateral pressure is applied to the inside of the wood .... Someone already mentioned using a copper 3/4" end cap, which does a decent job after you drill an appropriately sized hole in it for the steel tool bar insert. I would suggest at least 4 inches deep into the handle for how far you should drill for the tool bar ... with 6 - 10 inches sticking out for you to work with. The handle itself should be comfortable to hold in one hand, while your other hand does the precision guiding of your tool, the hand on the handle does the precision calibration of the cutting action by increasing or decreasing your angle of presentation of the cutting edge...

A longer handle = greater precision and control, while a shorter handle gives you a decent amount of control in close quarters (such as end grain turning inside of a box or bowl). I think 12 - 16 inches is a good overall tool length to aim for.


You'll notice a lot of the "professional quality" tools out there have a VERY long handle ... sometimes an overall tool length in excess of 24 inches... there's no way to fit that inside a bowl on a mini lathe without hitting the tailstock! They do, however, give the user a massive amount of leverage for cutting control and control over the tip of the tool for precise cutting action...


In short ... make the tool length comfortable for you to use, long enough to give you good control over the tool, yet short enough that you can use it in most situations you plan to be using it in .... or you could just make a long and short version of each tool handle.

 

[Herb G]

Cannot remember who on here mentioned using Harbor Freight crow bars with the molded handles on them.

There is a Youtube video on this very subject. I watched it less than a month ago. It sure is one way to make your own tools.

 

[chartle]

Old oak shovel handles are a good, cheap source and already near the needed shape, so quick & easy to finish up.

Even a new shovel and other garden tool handles are probably going to be cheaper than buying turning stock.

I have a small cache of unused turned garden hand tools that my father found somewhere. Also some ~1.5" x 12" oak or maybe ash dowels that I think were parts of wire spools.