Thread: How To Put Handles on a Rolling Pin ?

For me, solid pin and handles are the best ie one piece. Less to go wrong all round.

Best idea I've seen yet is get drilled out handles and put a coach bolt through them into a drilled out hole each end of the pin and epoxy it in there.

One better would be to tap a thread for the coach bolts, rather than using epoxy. That way you can replace the handles if so needed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

If you have no lathe I assume you have another way of getting it cylindrical.

In that case, cut the wood you are going to use into 4 long segments, plane or cut, or rout off the common edge and glue them all back together leaving a hole down the middle.
You could use 4 different types of woods and make a feature of it.

this method will also work if you are turning something on a lathe and need a hole through the centre.



But, my mum had a rolling pin with handles -- which I think originally belonged to my great grandmother, so was most likely purchased around when she (great grandmother) married in the late 1890s.
Having used both mum's and rolling pins with rotating handles, I much prefer fixed handles.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

One better would be to tap a thread for the coach bolts, rather than using epoxy. That way you can replace the handles if so needed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Well I'd drill a pilot hole, I wouldn't led the coach bolt drive itself in there. But tap a thread? Can you do that? I didn't know. I thought only bolt threads were tappable. And a coach bolt is a screw thread isn't it?

For me, solid pin and handles are the best ie one piece. Less to go wrong all round.

oh... forgot the post about cutting and joining the wood etc...

Not necessary, just buy and use a pole or rod, whatever you call it. 2" dia is easy to get. I think 3" not too hard. Even maybe 4".



Mate, you're a woodworker, not a pastrycook or such. Well in fact most of them these days seem satisfied without rotating handles. But let me tell you when you've got good stiff dough - like for pasta - and lots of it then you need to lean into the job.

And you can't lean well with your palms down on a rod.

Not like you can lean onto a couple of rotating handles.

And that kinda, what is it, 'physical truth', 'ergonomic truth' ? , holds good of course for all the work you do, making more usual dough rolling so much easier....

they wouldn't know who haven't tried it...

p.s. forgot about the 'cutting and joining' suggestion.

not necessary. the idea is to use off the shelf rod or pole, whatever you call it. at 3" dia or may 3.5" - 4", whatever is available.

Originally Posted by abrogard

Mate, you're a woodworker, not a pastrycook or such. Well in fact most of them these days seem satisfied without rotating handles. But let me tell you when you've got good stiff dough - like for pasta - and lots of it then you need to lean into the job. .

Most European nonnas don't use rotating handle rolling pins for their pasta dough anyway, instead they use something like this.
Even the quite elderly ones still have pretty amazing arm strength.
TuartRollingPin.jpg

I can believe it. All over China - and that's a lot of people isn't it - they just use a pole. All over the internet they're selling 'rolling pins' which are just cylinders.

I think it's like the difference between the old days of British and American motor cycles before the Japs came along. Total 'paradigm shift' as they say nowadays..

It's a simple question of leverage. And tradition. And inertia.

Rolling pins are normally made on a lathe, where you can drill a hole right through with a long boring kit.

If that is not available then it would be cheaper and simpler to buy a pasta rolling machine as they are less then $ 50.00

Peter.

Thanks for the suggestions regarding making this that or the other.. might do it one day...

Meanwhile - any ideas how to fix a rotating handle onto a rolling pin - no, let's say 'pole' , eh, and leave the whole 'rolling pin' thing out ?

Try the coach bolt approach.

Use stainless steel coach bolts drilled through the handles and into a recessed devil nut on the inside of the rolling pin body. Either epoxy it all together, or leave it moderately secured to allow for dismantling when required for cleaning.

Woodturning Rolling Pin • WoodArchivist

Originally Posted by cava

Try the coach bolt approach.

Use stainless steel coach bolts drilled through the handles and into a recessed devil nut on the inside of the rolling pin body. Either epoxy it all together, or leave it moderately secured to allow for dismantling when required for cleaning.

Guess that's what I'll do. What's a 'devil nut' ? I just looked up coach bolts and I had the wrong idea. They're not what I thought they were.

We have a table with great big coarse threaded screws holding the legs on and that's what I thought they were.

Screws. With a very large thread.

But they're bolts, real bolts. So my apologies for being so thick to that earlier poster who suggested I thread the hole for the bolt. He was quite right.

Or I guess a 'devil nut' could be used in place of the threading - that's the point of it? So how does that work?

I just had another thought today, too. I've got a vague memory of somewhere selling drilled lengths of dowel. If you can still call it dowel when it gets to about 3" diam. If I can find some ready drilled I could then run a rod right through. Maybe even put bearings on it ?

It's known by different names, devil nut is one, but following is a Bunnings link.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/prestige-m6-x-13mm-zinc-plated-type-e-screw-in-insert-nut-4-pack_p4011833

I have two 3/8" drill bits that would work just fine. One (14") is called an "aircraft" bit, the 18" long one is an "installer's" bit. Don't care where the names came from.

Personally, I think that handles are a dang nuisance. My SIL gave me a beautiful 3" x 13" rolling pin.
The handle axel was a wooden dowel and I broke it. Now I can stand the pin up in a corner, out of the way.
I am never going to try to fix it.