Polelathe - Get a Handle on it

I hadn't planned to do much on the pole lathe today but it was a little too cold to wield a spanner easily and so a bit of greenwoodwork to keep warm was a bonus.

Turning to keep warm is an opportunity to do a few simple jobs that I otherwise don't get around to. The piece of birch my hand landed on said chisel handle to me, and I need a few big handles for bowl hooks. Given that I've just managed to break one hook I could do with putting the rest onto handles.

Just about any long round shape will do for a chisel handle as long as its comfortable to hold. There is a traditional shape for the handle which has a gentle curve with a waist about halfway up. Length is upto you and for bowlhooks it seems that handles well over a foot long are the norm. They provide the leverage needed to keep the hook steady on the wood.


Once the handle has been turned I drill a suitable hole in the end and then heat the chisel (held in a vise) with a propane torch until its almost red hot.

Then lower the handle firmly, it fills the hole and then burns its way further into the handle. Finished off with a few sharp taps on the chopping block while its still smoking slightly.

This handle has turned out to be attractive as the normally plain birch is two-tone coloured where the tree had rot in it.



Another bowl hook is ready to do battle, all I need is time to prepare the next blank. But for now I am warm enough to do some of the other jobs on the list today.