Tool handles, how do you make yours

[John Keeton]

Absolutely! A wood handle without a ferrule is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Mike Peace]

Here is a YouTube video I did recently on making handles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVslsr0PLhY

[robert baccus]

Actually I have been using 5-6 gouges with no ferrels. They feel better in the hand. However I like a heavy handle for balance and only use very hard and strong woods--mostly tropicals. Also i leave the thick "bulb on the very front with little if any taper and use epoxy for giggles. Several years with no problems and I am past the beginner stage however.

[John Keeton]

One should plan for the worst case scenario. Shortly after I started turning, I was using a gouge in a beefy hard maple handle I made using the Hosaluk insert. The insert fits into a hole in the end of the handle, but with no ferrule. I happened to let the gouge contact the wood unintentionally, it caught, slammed the gouge against the rest and exploded the handle. Fortunately, the gouge bounced off the wall instead of me.

The ferrule is meant to contain and restrict the longitudinal wood fibers and keep them from splitting. Given the risk I now know, and the minimal cost and effort of a ferrule, I don't understand why one would not use a ferrule. There is a reason why EVERY tool I know of that is sold in a wood handle has a ferrule.

I am sure there are folks that have never had a problem with no ferrule, and for their sake, I hope a similar situation does not occur for them.

[John K Jordan]

ferrule... They look cool but are they necessary?

They can keep the wood of the handle from splitting but you can do the same thing by wrapping the handle with something flexible like wire or cord.

[Geoff Whaling]

I like making my own handles but I don't use the brass or copper furrele, haven't had a problem without it. I normally make them out of oak but have used maple and black walnut.

John & others, have a read of Doc Green's excellent article on tool handles & ferrules. http://www.docgreenwoodturner.com/ferrule.html

Ferrules serve a purpose as an important safety feature on wooden tool handles. Wood chisels split from mallet impacts but don't experience the leverage stresses that wood turning bowl gouges are put through.

The rest of Doc Green's tool handle articles

http://www.docgreenwoodturner.com/maketoolhandle.html
http://www.docgreenwoodturner.com/drilltoolhandle.html

[Geoff Whaling]

Absolutely! A wood handle without a ferrule is a disaster waiting to happen.

Couldn't agree more!

[John K Jordan]

A wood handle without a ferrule is a disaster waiting to happen.

This is a great statement but it might be qualified by one consideration - the kind of turning done. I agree that tools used for many types of turning should definitely have strong handles and strong ferrules, for example bowl gouges and hollowers, scrapers and things that may even occasionally be subjected to strong forces.

Delicate spindle work such as shaping a small finial or using a small negative-rake scraper to smooth end grain on a box lid - not so much. I often use my smaller tools with no ferrules because I use them without handles, often held in one hand. I slip a soft rubber handle over a couple of spindle gouges just for the grip - no strength or length needed for small work. My favorite roughing tool for small diameter spindles is in fact the Thompson 5/8" (St Leger) roughing gouge I've never put in a handle. For my use this does not need a handle - but I certainly would never hand it to a beginner.

But I agree that the general recommendation needs to be a sturdy tool handle, especially to an audience that includes inexperienced turners and face turners.

JKJ

[Roger Chandler]

One should plan for the worst case scenario. Shortly after I started turning, I was using a gouge in a beefy hard maple handle I made using the Hosaluk insert. The insert fits into a hole in the end of the handle, but with no ferrule. I happened to let the gouge contact the wood unintentionally, it caught, slammed the gouge against the rest and exploded the handle. Fortunately, the gouge bounced off the wall instead of me.

The ferrule is meant to contain and restrict the longitudinal wood fibers and keep them from splitting. Given the risk I now know, and the minimal cost and effort of a ferrule, I don't understand why one would not use a ferrule. There is a reason why EVERY tool I know of that is sold in a wood handle has a ferrule.

I am sure there are folks that have never had a problem with no ferrule, and for their sake, I hope a similar situation does not occur for them.

If you are going to make tool handles.......LISTEN to what JK says here! It is the voice of both wisdom and experience! I wholeheartedly concur with his advice!

[Prashun Patel]

And, ferrules don't have to be expensive or fancy to work. Mine are just copper tubing with a little epoxy.

John, if one is willing to make a fat shouldered handle, would the necessity of a ferrule decrease?

[John Keeton]

Prashun, I am not sure which "John" you have referenced, but I will respond.

This is simply a black and white issue for me. The dynamics of wood are pretty fundamental. It takes minimal stress/force to split wood along the grain - think splitting firewood.

I just cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone would even consider a "work around" to avoid using a ferrule when the added effort is extremely minimal and, like you, I use copper pipe so the cost is negligible. Centuries of wisdom just shouldn't be ignored. Ferrules have been in use since some of the earliest hand tools for solid reasons. When I had my "experience" with the catch, the force with which the gouge struck the wall was impressive. The shards of the handle were scattered over the corner of my shop, and the remnants of the handle were yanked from my hand with explosive force. I am absolutely certain that had there been a ferrule, the results would have been quite different, and when it happened I stood in shock of what might have happened to me had the good Lord not been watching out for my inexperience and lack of attentiveness. I would add that I have a lifetime of woodworking experience, even though at the time I was a very inexperienced turner.

While "bulk" surrounding the tool "may" decrease the propensity to split somewhat, it still seems to be flirting with disaster, albeit perhaps on a very slightly reduced "flirt." Again, I just don't understand even the slightest consideration of not using a ferrule and no amount of "I have done it without any problems" would convince me otherwise. I suspect there are those that have consistently driven a vehicle while texting without incident, but as we know, that is not a wise decision.

[John Lail]

I have used and still do use them on bowl gouges or a scraper that has a lot of pressure on it. I make my handles with the end towards the tool end kinda fat but a lil rounded also for appeal.

[Prashun Patel]

JK-

My question was just curiosity. One of the prev posters said a ferrule-less handle had better feel. I inferred it was because he likes the handle fat near the shoulder.

Ok, Self, hands back on the steering wheel now!

SAVE FERRULE!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw a commercially made wooden tool handle without a ferrule. Nope, never saw one without. Think that should tell us anything?
faust

[Geoff Whaling]

Absolutely! A wood handle without a ferrule is a disaster waiting to happen.

Actually I have been using 5-6 gouges with no ferrels. … Several years with no problems and I am past the beginner stage however.

One should plan for the worst case scenario. … There is a reason why EVERY tool I know of that is sold in a wood handle has a ferrule.

This is a great statement but it might be qualified by one consideration - the kind of turning done. … But I agree that the general recommendation needs to be a sturdy tool handle, especially to an audience that includes inexperienced turners and face turners. JKJ

Another golden rule - NEVER EVER use a hand tool or file etc without a handle. You may get away with it for a while but emergency room statistics will back that one up.

Only recently while at a participation style wood turning event I witnessed a tool handle explode while being made. The relatively experienced turner refused to accept the combined wisdom of several more experienced turners who essentially said “the wood is not suitable for a tool handle.” Sure enough the handle exploded while still being made & the turner lucky not to be injured.

All turners should heed the advice of turners like John Keeton who have experienced such a failure. I would suggest that the scenario John describes that caused the handle failure is not rare and has occurred to most turners, and probably several times. Their recent experience can confirm the wisdom and knowledge accumulated from centuries of wood turning experience and why we use a ferrule on wooden handles! The reported instances of "several years with no problems" is not good advice it simply means the turner has been either lucky or has not experienced the scenario, either through good technique or plain luck, that WILL cause the handles to split.

The properties of wood, the nature of its grain etc means that some woods are more suitable than others to resist the leverage stresses generated in a wood turning tool handle, and particularly with bowl turning tools, gouges and scrapers – or any tool potentially used with longer overhangs.

Over the centuries some basic but largely unwritten rules have been learned. Most writers over look the recommendations for a simple tool handle as a “given” or common knowledge. Doc Green’s articles are very good advice.

Wood turning tool handles made from timber should have,

• Timber with interlocking grain – not straight grain.
• no cross grain, knots, splits or other defects.
• sufficient length to resist the turning and leverage forces from hand turning.
• a properly made well fitting (i.e. interference fit) hole to accommodate the full length of the tool tang.
• a solid ferrule to prevent splitting of the timber from constant and sudden leverage stresses.
• sufficient material between the tang and ferrule to provide shear strength to retain the ferrule should a strong catch occur.
• Sufficient material to retain strength for the full length of the handle
• a length and profile that is comfortable and ergonomic for the intended turning task.

Finally don’t be lulled into a false sense of security that commercially supplied tool handles or the ferrules supplied on them are “safe”. Some just don’t make the grade particularly those supplied with very large scrapers.