How to turn and fit a chisel handle

[justonething]

My wife gave me a chisel she picked up from a rubbish bin when she saw a guy throwing it out.
477883

I am a complete novice when it comes to turning a handle and fitting it to a chisel. So I found two videos from Paul Sellers
Turning a handle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGAthmy0FXA
Fitting a chisel to the handle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xocuzBlViEo

Any sage comments and advice?

[Pat]

Drill the hole when the blank is square, turn round, fit the ferrule(s) and then turn the rest of the handle.

Do not sharpen the chisel until you have the new handle on, DAMIKT!:doh:

[derekcohen]

Rob Cosman does a nice one here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEYE8_522jU

Regards from Perth

Derek

[clear out]

Ferrule can usually sit on the tailstock centre.
Saves moving centre in and out whilst fitting.
Do not use spring calipers, slip joint are safer.
H.

[orraloon]

I usually dont find any issue with how Mr Sellers does things but why not drill out the hole first. Either like Pat said or drill on the lathe. Much easier than messing about with a shaped and finished handle. Apart for the drilling the rest of the process is good for a tanged chisel. Another tip is reuse the ferrule as it is the right size for that chisel and it will polish up like new on the lathe.
Regards
John

[D.W.]

several years later now, but I fit handles often. But I fit handles having fit hundreds, so I'm not going to say my method is what beginners do. To address the hole issue, most people who haven't made handles will probably have limited turning options and having a drive that fits in a hole of enough size for the bit to be rigid isn't a gimme.

I fit the handles by turning the stock round, then profiling the handle near to size, then adding the ferrule which is a friction fit (important to get right if you want clean work) and cutting the ferrule off (think long tube of brass) flush with the handle. The brass ferrule is marked off of the tenon made for it before press fitting the handle in.

that leaves a slightly ragged edge on the ferrule to be turned off later.

Finish turning handle with ferrule fitted and then I drill the finished handle by allowing the handle to rotate in my hand as the holes are being drilled. One long hole narrow for the tang on my chisels (I'm making the chisels) and one almost the size of the tang - just undersized for an inch or fraction of an inch.

As the handle rotates in my hand if it is not rotating true. I will stop for a second and lever the bit. This eliminates issues of bits wandering and feeling helpless.

the chisel goes into a vise with aluminum soft jaws (generally finished and already sharp by then) and the handle is rotated around the tang until it can be tapped into place. you never know how the opening will create irregularities in straightness, so the last position or adjustment is made at this point so everything is straight to the eye, and then the assembly is tapped on and then struck with a hard hammer to drive the chisel the rest of the way in - edge buried in sacrificial very hard wood if needed.

Everything from turning to fitting and making sure everything is visually straight is only about 20 minutes with woods that are intolerant of rushing turning.

I would guess a "foolproof process" for a lot of folks will lead to handles that aren't straight and head scratching later. If getting handles straight is too hard, getting a slightly loose handle fit and then seating in epoxy is perfectly fine. Nothing in handles is really permanent - if you saw or sand or split the handle off, if epoxy remains behind, it's not like you can't sand/grind or trim it off.

I've messed up something like 3 out of the last 200 handles with the process mentioned above. before that in trying to figure out how to take "me" out of the process, I had a couple of handles fail or fly at some point in the process. Long drillbit on the lathe resulted in at least one flying that I can remember.