Router Plane

Monday, December 18, 2017

Wood Balls, Mallet & Overlapping Circles - #4 Making the Handles

With the head pretty much done I started on the handle.  The piece of mesquite I had left had quite a few cracks in it that I had to work around.  Here is a photo of the end and you can see how the handle blank just fit between the cracks and the sapwood.


With the handle laid out I cut the waste away on the table saw ending up with a nice square blank.  Next is to cut the tenon that will go into the tapered mortise in the head.  Here I have set the stack dado blade to the right height and am ready to cut the rest of the waste away.

After cutting the tenon I mounted the handle blank in the lathe and started turning it round.  I always turn using a dust mask and frequently use the face shield.  I probably should use the face shield more.

Once I had the handle round I wanted to turn a slight arc or taper the handle from the ends toward the center.  To do that I marked out evenly space pencil lines then using a parting tool cut into the handle at gradually increasing depths toward the center.  This gave me my reference points for the bottom of the curve.  All I had to do was remove the material above that imaginary arc.  Also, if you look on the left edge of the photo you can see how the finished tenon looks.

The next step is to turn the round, tapered handle to an oval keeping the center taper.  To get an oval requires offset turning.  By that I mean the lathe mounting points in the handle will be moved off center.  Here is an over view of the handle ready to be turned in the first of the two setups required.

This is a closeup of the tail.  You can see how the live center in the tail stock is offset from the original center point used to turn the blank round.  The white line at the top is a reference line that will be the high point of the oval.  There is a matching one on the opposite side of the piece.  The chalk will be used as a visual guide while I remove material.  It will also come into play when I do the second setup to make sure the offset turning is matched.  More on that later.

Here is the headstock setup.  In this case I had to use a different method to get the offset than the tailstock.  Because the tenon is smaller than the rest of the handle if I tried to offset the drive center like I did on the tailstock it would be right at the edge of the tenon.  That would not work so I had to use a different method.  Switching to the scroll chuck I added the shim shown to provide the same offset as on the other end at the tailstock.

Because the piece is off center I have to be careful of how fast I have the lathe turning.  As the lathe speeds up the vibration increases.  Too fast and even the lathe I have which weighs over 800 pounds will start to shake.  Also, the piece being turned could fly off and that would truly ruin your day.  Anyway, here you can see how the chalk gives me a nice clear line showing the demarcation of where I have removed material.  At this point I have one side of the handle turned to an oval.  I can now remount it for the second offset.  It is set up just like the first except to the opposite side.

With the second setup made I can start turning the second half of the oval.  Here is where the chalk and center lines I made earlier come into play.  To get a symmetrical oval I need to remove the same amount of material from both sides.  To do that I stop the lathe frequently and check to see if the chalk is a mirror image about the center line.  In the top photo below, you can see the center line and how the chalked area matches on both sides.  The bottom photo is a side view and shows the same symmetry.  All that remains is to smooth the transition between the cuts and round the heel of the handle.


Here is the finished mesquite handle with the slots cut for the wedges that will lock the handle in place.  The slots were cut with the bandsaw.


The handle for the white oak mallet is a lot simpler as it is based on a rectangular section versus an oval.  To lay out the taper I marked three points; the beginning, end and amount of offset in the center.  To mark it I took a long clamp, set a thin piece of oak between the jaws and slowly tightened them until I got the arc I was looking for a shown below. 


Its then pretty straightforward to cut the arcs with the bandsaw and smooth using rasps, files and sandpaper.  Last step is to round over the corners using a router to start and finishing with files and sandpaper.  This is the handle except for the tenon which is out of frame.  It has the slots cut in it for the wedges also and looks just like the mesquite one.


Next Up – Finishing the Mallets

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