Get a grip! How to turn your own custom handles for bowl gouges and other woodturning tools.

I often find that the handle supplied by the manufacturer on a bowl gouge is too short for my liking, so in this video I show you how easy it is to remove the gouge from the existing handle, and turn a custom one that better suits your needs. You can customize everything from the length, to the grip thickness, to the color of the wood and the ferrule, and I've found that a thicker grip than the handle they come with often relieves tendonitis, tennis elbow, and other conditions cause or exacerbated by overgripping a handle that is too thin.

This video was filmed in my wood studio in Denver, Colorado on Monday June 1st, as a way of preparing for a live remote demonstration I presented on the same topic on Tuesday June 2nd for the June 2020 meeting of the Front Range Woodturners woodturning club. I've included my outline and notes including sources of supply that was sent to club members here:

If removing a current handle:

Most are just pressure fit- this has been true so far for all of the Sheffield brands I have tried including Crown, Henry Taylor, and Sorby.

1. Wrap gouge shank in blue tape for a little protection
2. Hold in engineers vice/machinists vice
3. Hold 2x4 or spindle blank against handle and give a few sharp blows with hammer to separate- careful of where the handle will go, it can come off fast!

Sizing the gouge for drilling later:

3/8" bowl gouge doesn't necessarily = 1/2" shank

Crown 3/8” bowl gouges  = 31/64"
Crown 1/2” bowl gouges = Something around 21/32”, best fit I have found is a 16.5 mm bit, see sources of supply below
Henry Taylor 3/8” bowl gouges = 17/32".
Henry Taylor 1/2" bowl gouge does = 5/8" shank

Most US suppliers e.g. Thompson, Carter and Son = actual 3/8”, 1/2” etc.

Turning the handle:

1. Mark centers, select end that will receive gouge & drill a pilot hole (5/16" or 3/8" - must be equal to or less than tool shaft size)
2. Mount between centers with pilot hole on cone center in tailstock
3. Fit ferrule
    Mark length
    Use calipers and parting tool to size tenon- ideal fit is tightly hammered    on with no glue. Easy to go over and make it too loose, sneak up on the fit like you would a box lid.
4. Shape handle. With this setup you can take off and put back on and fairly reliably have it re-centered so you can check fit as you go.
5. Set up Jacobs chuck with twist bit in headstock, switch live center over in tailstock to “regular”/non-cone center
6. Center bit on pilot hole. Turn on and check for wobble, adjust if necessary
7. Between 400 - 600 rpm, turn lathe on, drill hole by simultaneously grabbing handle and advancing tailstock. (Make sure tool rest and other things are out of your way)
8. Finish end of gouge handle
9. Drive the handle on to the gouge by placing a scrap block on the floor and driving the handle home with a deadblow mallet or similar.

Sources of supply:

16.5mm bit good fit for Crown 1/2” bowl gouges:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...


Ferrule material:

1.25” OD x 0.065” thick x 1.12 ID = Good diameter for bowl gouges, works fine for spindle tools too if you want a nice thick grip:

Brass: https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/b...
Stainless: https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/s...

1” OD x 0.065 thick x 0.87 ID = A more “traditional” looking size for spindle tools:

Brass: https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/b...
Stainless: https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/s...

• #howto_style
• #woodturning
• #wood_turning
• #ferrule
• #handle
• #gouge