OK I lied,wood handled pipe collet

[Paul Engle]

I made this one to fit over the 1/2" pipe collet, it is 18 1/2 inches long and just under 2" at the but. It is vaugely shaped like a 2.75" rocket, any vet who ever had a cobra or a huey support em in combat knows what that sounds like, so I call it my "Freedom Stick". I drilled the blocks at 13/16th and then used a rotary rasp to open the hole to just slide nice on the pipe , glued up first half with pipe in , clamped it snug and pulled the pipe out, glued up the 2nd half did the same process. Glued the two together with the pipe sticking out the first half by 1/2" then clamped it , twisted the pipe back so's not to glue it and let rest and hour. Used a 36" Pony clamp and jacked the pipe all the way to the bottom, chucked the ferrule nut in the G3, centered the butt on the live ts and turned it down. The purple heart gave me hard time so I used my Ellsworth bg to in it's pipe collet to rough it to smooth then a HT spindle g to finished up.Tung oil frictioned on and buffed with shop rag. Pics not too hot but thanks for looking! The last one is spalted walnut is 23 inches long and 1 3/4 dia and is for th 5/8 pc if I can figure out a way to drill it straight
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[Chris Fierro]

Nice work, Paul! While I personally don't care for the multi-colored woods, I appreciate the technique. I have been grappling with your collet handles--trying to figure out how to get that long bore or otherwise glue up. I was thinking of a glue up halfway down the middle--the long way. But this just makes too much sense. I think this is how I'll wind up doing it. So, thanks!

-CF

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Great work Paul, and yes, I do know what it like to have that Cobra get there just in time; that is the most welcome sound in the world! Freedon Stick...Cool!

[Paul Engle]

Yea neither do I , It was an exercise. I'll most likely cut this off and try something else , It was a lot of work tho and I may sell it if any one is intrested . I thought about a normal handle , bored using a spade bit and extension and only 10 inches and cut the pipe down to that. only concern is boring it straight. Thanks for looking and if you get any ideas let me know as I have a couple others to make , one for the 5/8" Ellsworth and another 1/2".

[Ron McKinley]

Looks good Paul. Bet it feels better in the hand than the pipe/hose combination. I got all the parts today and will drill out the compression nut tomorrow and put it together. Thanks for your help......Ron

[Chris Fierro]

The form itself is nice. I'll probably alternate big chunks of walnut with little chunks of maple or something more traditional along those lines.

Have you thought of filling the pipe with lead shot? How much does your laminated handle weigh compared to a typical hardwood handle?

Thanks for the inspiration.

[Rich Souchek]

Paul,
THAT IS A GREAT IDEA.
The laminated wood will work real good and it can look fine also. Believe the reason your handle looks kinda weird is the randum widths, spacing, and lack of patterns. Bet with a little planning, the tool handle would would look like a work of art.
Got to try several myslef now......
Rich S.