Thread: Best Timber for Turning Tool Handles

The answer is "It Depends"

It depends on what you have on hand, is it weight or looks, heavy duty or finesse.

Spotted Gum is a good balance for weight and heavy duty, having weight and flexibility. Some of the harder timbers are too brittle for use.

Most Pines are only good for practice centring and getting the shape right for you.


What ever you decide, make sure it is straight grained and clear of defects along the entire length.

Burls and interesting grains look pretty, but a decent catch may make the handle fail in your hands, not for the faint hearted.

Hi Beaver. I agree with Pat. It turns nicely, sands well and takes oil based finishes. I had some 90 x 45 lengths left over after a job and they ripped almost square. Some of the handles ended up a bit thin, and I would make them a bit longer now but I learnt a lot. Also Spotted Gum is what shovel handles are made of.

Beaver, I use the free local timber, Chinee Apple. I have been using it since 1988, never had a failure.
Rgds,
Crocy.

I have made turning chisel handles from Australia Oak, Tasmanian Blackwood, Spotted Gum, Oregon, Olive ( a bit heavy) Peach and pretty much any thing else that was within reach at the time

I have used Marri, Jarrah and Sheoak but then I'm in W.A.
It seems that what ever is in the rack is the right stuff

Rick

Thanks All for the replies and advice. I have some Spotted Gum on hand that I can use.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

Cheers

Beaver

I like heavy & dense to absorb vibration. I also split logs into quarters as that gives straight grain, as opposed to sawing. I have big hands and make bowls, so use bigger gouges with nice fat handles.

yeah heavy and a bit of length......far better then short ant light

I maybe less choosy than some but I have turned a lot of handles from a batch of pallet skids that I suspect are merbau. There are a few flaws, but also some nice grain, but I have had zero problems. But then I see all sorts of handles as utility rather than show pieces. I also usually finish with 50:50 BLO terps mix and a final buff with beeswax (from my own bees).

Originally Posted by Paul39

I also split logs into quarters as that gives straight grain, as opposed to sawing. I have big hands and make bowls, so use bigger gouges with nice fat handles.

That's very clever. I had to read it a couple of times to understand what you were saying. It's one of those things that are so obvious... once someone points it out. So thanks!

Originally Posted by Paul39

I like heavy & dense to absorb vibration. I also split logs into quarters as that gives straight grain, as opposed to sawing. I have big hands and make bowls, so use bigger gouges with nice fat handles.

That may ensure that the grain is aligned to the axis of the tool handle, however wood that splits easily is not ideal for turning tool handles. The interlocked grain in woods such as spotted gum is more preferable for high stress tool handles. The tool handle ferrule is also an important feature that prevents tool handle failure around the tool steel tang.

Hi Moby

Thanks for your reply, coincidentally we live in the same city.

I was planning to make some copper ferrules from some larger OD pipe from the big green shed. Would that work, or do I need some thicker walled material for the ferrules?

Cheers

Beaver

Originally Posted by Beaver

Hi Moby

Thanks for your reply, coincidentally we live in the same city.

I was planning to make some copper ferrules from some larger OD pipe from the big green shed. Would that work, or do I need some thicker walled material for the ferrules?

Cheers

Beaver

Copper Capillary Fittings make good tool ferrules and are much stronger than the supposedly "brass" ferrules on offer from some sources. They are easy to cut in half and to tidy up on a wood lathe to true up the cut edgs and to arris the corner. Its becoming difficult to find quality tool ferrules as most of the "brass" has a coarse grain structure and cracks quite easily IF the ferrule is "punched" to help retain it on the handle.

I have been using radiata pine for handles now for a long time, with 19mm hard drawn copper ferules. Haven't managed to break a handle yet after 40 odd years of turning. The copper is from off cuts from one of the local plumbers. If a heavy handle is needed to counter vibration, something is radically wrong. I have turned plenty of Cooktown hardwood and still haven't needed to use hardwood for handles.

Jim