Turning a Chisel Handle | Paul Sellers

In this video Paul Sellers shows you how to turn a basic chisel or tool handle. Following these few simple steps, you will see that although there are many types of handles, the principles are virtually the same, and now you can bring your old chisels and gouges very easily back to their former glory.
To find out more about Paul Sellers and the projects he is involved with visit paulsellers.com

[@tropifiori]

My Sister's Father-in law passed away and I inherited a shoe box full of old beat up chisels, They were vey nice steel. I made nice cherry handles for them, re ground and polished them all. It was a wonderful project.

[@steveamoss5098]

It's channels such as this that make KZbin worthwhile.

[@johnross278]

You are outstanding. I've been working wood for some 45 years and ALWAYS learn something new from you, not to mention enjoying your calm, knowledgeable style. Thank you, and God bless you.

[@bensheppard2444]

My favourite channel ever!

[@rickreed123]

Thanks Paul. I am about to make a new handle for an ebay skew chisel with broken handle. You have changed so much of the way I do woodworking. I started with pretty much all power tools, but have rounded out my skills over the years watching your instructions to include so many hand tool operations. I really find the process of operating my hands and body (and mind) with hand tools (saws, chisels, planes, etc) much more enjoyable than just operating machines. I don't advocate one over the other, but not having the hand tools and skills to use them takes away much of the joy of creating things, in my opinion. So, thanks again. You have been my mentor for many years now.

[@petermoossy1614]

I just have to say that this is an extraordinary instructional video. just the right amount of technique and tips, and very soothing!

[@grampajeff1]

It sure is great to learn from an artisan that walks the talk... freely shares best practice and teaches in a manner that allows the student to understand the what, why, and how to implement the lessons...I sincerely enjoy watching and reading a master teach the art of working wood.

[@eddyflynn213]

i've had a lathe in my shed for about eight years now and it's been turned on twice this would make a great starter project thanks for sharing your skills with us

[@IamtheActionman]

Never made handles before and after this I successfully turned 12 various shapes that look and feel great.

[@AdventuresInDIY]

Great video. Thank you. I like the way you're re-purposing what would have gone to the wayside to make the handle.

[@dennisa6132]

Just acquired my first lathe (a 1972 coronet major lathe, made in Derby), replacing all the plastic handles in my chisels has been something I've wanted to do for a while. I really like this simple and elegant design

[@Paul.Sellers]

I keep the lathe without a stand for easy storage. I want it out of the way when I don't need it. It slides onto a shelf of one of my benches when not needed.

[@mikebarnes987]

Paul, I have my lathe on its stand, and could do as you do. If you had a choice which would you do? A dedicated stand or just put it on a bench?

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

Thanks! I look forward to seeing just how you hold the handle for boring the hole for the chisel shaft.

[@christopherharrison6724]

I do like the London Pattern style chisel Handel ,my absolute favourite.

[@szlan]

With this two video and with the setup the new chissels video i could repar two old chisels. Thank you for the hints.

[@ToymakersToolbox]

Hi Paul! Thanks for the video (all of them, really). I bought a lathe primarily for turning new handles for the socket chisels I inherited. Good steel, but old, cracked handles from decades of use. Any chance you're going to do a similar video for sizing and fitting socket chisels? (Dare I hope?)

[@hoold01]

Nice idea fitting and fettling the ferrule on the lathe. Thanks Paul.

[@mikebarnes987]

Paul I use to turn a lot of cylinder type shapes. When I did a handle or a baton, I use a leather strap to burnish the wood and then finished with paste type wax. A very nice warm patina and a non slip grip. (did I mention cheap?) This was a wonderful tutorial. Thanks.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

i heard spit works wonders too. Just kidding.

[@brianlasch144]

another good one Paul, Honestly I have a few of my grandfather's chisels that need handles I'll be turning a few in the near future.

[@snort455]

Pure, simple genius

[@w0mblemania]

You're an inspiration Paul! Excellent work, both from you and your camera-dude.

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

w0mblemania "Camera-dude"! Well, at least you remembered the hyphen. (Were you trying to avoid, '"camera-*man*? Horrors! Perhaps Paul Sellers is a craftsdude or craftsperson?!)

[@w0mblemania]

No, I wasn't trying to avoid camera-man. I'm not a PC type of person. If dude is good enough for Little Lebowskis, it's good enough for me.

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

As you say! (Er ... dude.)

[@juliodifelippo]

Nice video! Thanks for sharing!!

[@100oracle]

Cool video. Came here wondering how to drill a hole in the center to then mount to tool. I reckon i will just eye ball it

[@JeremyUrbanWoodworker]

Thanks for sharing!

[@grizzly22485]

Just picked up a used lathe and my first project was going to be making handles for my old socket chisels. What timing!..........Ross

[@Lawman212]

Paul, thanks for the lathe video. I liked the trick of air drying shellac by running the lathe. I wish I could do that when I'm making other shellacked furniture. Please consider showing other lathe projects, like chair spindles or similar.

[@Paul.Sellers]

One thing about that. Make sure the shop (or wood) is warm and not too humid otherwise damp seals under the surface and shows as bloom.

[@Lawman212]

Thank you for the advice. I will watch out for using shellac under humid conditions. I know it's one of your favorite finishes, but learning how to use it well has given me fits. I do like it though.

[@jcknives4162]

You might have heard already, if you can turn the speed down when you are sanding, your paper will last longer. Nice work. thank you!!

[@rafasacha2766]

I don't own a lathe, so I decided to forge myself a draw knife and use it for tapering my handles, that are made mostly from broken tool shafts. Maybe not as good looking as a perfectly round handle, but the carved look is great, too. You can get them pretty close to round if you want, or even sand them, but I don't. And I love putting vinegar stain on them, then some linseed oil followed by shellac. Looks geat, and I can wipe them with damp cloth if they get dirty.

[@robertpope1213]

Paul a good tip i was tought in turning a dowel to a standard size use a Open ended spanner .of the size you need. and turn down untill the spanner slips / rub's onto the wood. i find it usefull when turning say a 10mm or 1/2 " dowel on the back of a knob. to fit your drilld hole :)

[@Paul.Sellers]

I do that too but ferrules never match spanner sizes I'm afraid.

[@pencils1951]

Well done Paul.

[@Kikilang60]

Thanks. Helpful.

[@garymccraw1466]

Very Nice Chisel handle

[@ef2b]

Paul- If you were sharpening a skew for a lathe, would you put a convex bevel on it? Some say a flat bevel is needed on the lathe, but it's easier to grind and hone convex bevel by hand (like on a bench chisel).

[@kleinjahr]

If worried about damaging the end of the handle, size it for a pipe cap. Gives you a metal striking surface

[@petersierksma5374]

Hello Paul, As a big fan of yours, having started in woodturning, I am wondering: 'do you sharpen your woodturning chisels the same way you sharpen your regular chisels? i.e. diamond stones and polishing with a leather strap and buffing compound? Looking forward to all your coming content! Greetings Peter

[@goognamgoognw6637]

Could the woodturning steel be higher carbon content than hand chisel steel due to the fast cutting action the lathe requires ? I really don't know but it is still the same process. The useful information is that different sharpening stones materials are more aggressive than others for the same grit (grit and steel cutting speed of the stone are two different things often confused by beginners). Diamond stones are rough and hard but too slow on hard steel. The reason is that there is not that much diamond particles in contact with your steel. If you work with water stones you can control the aggressivity of the stone from the amount of slurry. The more slurry the more aggressive. Japanese chosera ceramic stones are excellent and last a long time. I don't like oil based stones as they don't give as much feedback as water stones although waterstones are harder to learn. But once you master waterstone you'll never want to change back. Also no oil mess is a plus. Another quality of waterstones, is that the water based slurry does not stick and clog the stone so it keeps cutting and you can just rinse it off under tap water, a delight. You should be able to tell how hard the steel is from the stone.

[@tridneven]

Paul, would you mind to show us how to make polygonal handel?

[@thomastieffenbacherdocsava1549]

The clock construction video is a "Great video! I've a hand saw like your panel saw that I got from my nieghbor when I was a teenager who was a retired carpenter. I just thought it was made for short guys. LOL! I love it but I will appreciate it more. I have pine, pine and more pine accumulating in my shop. I even have some pieces my father and uncle got from creates in 1940's as it was better than they could get at the lumber yard. The drunken woodworker recommended this video. Lots of praise. he wants to meet you some day. What type of oil is in your rubbing tool?

[@amezcuaist]

I turned four bedposts for a double bed using a comical improvised rope and elastic system . It worked very well and safely but ......in this video ,.....you mentioned something about safety but then forgot it. Or was that on a separate video ? Turning with a motor driving can be unexpectedly dangerous if you get the smallest thing wrong like chisel angle and toolrest position. Don`t forget about long hair and loose sleeves as well . Much easier to get half a dozen ready made handles on ebay to be perfectly honest . I made most progress about turning from an Australian book . I`m always impressed by Australian teaching books , whatever the subject . But best wishes .

[@yuyo57]

I like thicker bigger handles because of my arthritis. They are easier to grip and handle on lathe. Still nice video fellow lather. Cheers

[@spencerallen5052]

Hi Paul, I was wondering how this process would change if you were turning a handle for a socket chisel rather than a tang chisel? Are there any special steps, or would the process be the same other than tapering the end to fit into the socket?

[@themastermason1]

For those without a lathe, there's always planing your block round using the square-octagon method and a lot of sanding.

[@scotthaun8582]

a LOT of sanding! LOL

[@artheen4713]

if you use a draw knife and a scraper, no sanding is required. And if you don't have those, use a rasp. And if you don't have a rasp, whittling will get you very close to round and still save you most of the sanding. A good rule of thumb is that if you find yourself removing wood with sand paper instead of just finishing, you're probably spending more time and energy than you have to.

[@dwdougherty]

There's a post on Paul's blog that details one approach to fitting the handle to the tang: paulsellers.com/2014/04/questions-answered-fitting-chisel-tangs-new-handles/

[@crmusicproduction]

Hi Paul, I am wanting to make a new handle for my Marples morticing chisel, but what kind of wood do you recommend. I have some oak and quite a bit of green heart, which is blooming hard. Your thoughts?

[@OfficerPaterFamilias]

Would you normally place the Lathe on the bench or was that done just for the video?

[@richardkern5185]

may be already answered, but what are you using for ferrules? They look like brass rather than copper pipe sections.

[@themastermason1]

Mr. Sellers, what species of wood besides oak, ash and beech are decent for making tool handles? I know that the Japanese have been using red and white oak for a long time and I have been planning on making one if not two 6oz hammers with some red oak cutoffs I've had laying around.

[@Paul.Sellers]

Depending on the intended use you can use almost any dense-grained wood for chisel handles. Some woods are more resistant to splitting and it's these that work best. Hickory, boxwood, maple are other woods used a lot but I recently used some laurel and was very pleased with the results because it too resists splitting.

[@GeorgeBridgeman]

Hi Paul! How do you fit the tang into the handle? Drill a hole in the finished handle by hand, then fit the handle to the tang? By the way, my wife says you look tired and could probably use a holiday!

[@Paul.Sellers]

Always listen to your wife, she is usually right and in this case she's right again. John is prepping another video we finished on fitting the handles and so another week or so and it should be out too.

[@mattneff1262]

Do you use standard ferrules or ones specific for tool handles?

[@j.d.1488]

Nice mini lathe. What make and model is that Paul?

[@rafasacha2766]

Also, a question to anybody who might know the anser, be it Paul or one of youtubers. I have an 180W washing machine motor, 2800rpm. I was thinking about building a small wood lathe. A pulley that will give me around 7-800rpm on the wood piece is also available. The torque of the motor is pretty good, it's impossible to either stop the spinning motor, or even prevent it from starting spinning. The reduction gear will give me 2-3 times more torque even. I also can make it spin at 1400, but I think it's too much for starting from an irregular piece, or a square one. Will the power be enough to make things like tool handles? I don't want to turn bowls and such, just knobs, handles, and so on.

[@Darren_Barclay]

What' lathe would you advise a beginner to purchase, been not to expensive.

[@learitee444]

*I love those old blue Record Lathes, these new Chinese-made lathes don't even come close.*

[@1873Winchester]

Ah I thought it was an old Coronet. I have a 70s burgundy colored coronet major, it reminded me of this lathe.

[@artheen4713]

Many new lathes (and some old ones) are overpowered. A low hp lathe is generally safer to use, and works just as well. You don't need more power than what's needed to keep the wood spinning, and if the wood is unbalanced, don't brute force it with an overly heavy and overpowered lathe; use an axe first. Precision > power any day.

[@sharpeguns1]

Where do you buy your ferrules? I've looked and could not find any.

[@johnawhiting]

Hello Paul my Friend. How do you know what RPM to Turn At??

[@Steve-dr7rr]

Can you do it if you haven’t got a lathe

[@ffff1758]

Hi Paul, I´ve learned so much from you that I´m giving you a free advice: if you like your fingers, never ever used a cloth ont the lathe. Use paper tissue instead

[@xxActionBastardxx]

carlos m. zaccaro Here is a free piece of advice. Actually pay attention and watch the video listen to it too while you're at it. Just looking at the video you can see he is using a paper towel. If you listen at 17:47 he even says its "just a piece of paper towel".

[@ffff1758]

xxActionBastardxx You´re right only partially dear Bastard! By 16:44 you´ll be able to see some "threads" coming out from the tissue/cloth wich is why I´ve put my advice. After that yes, I agree with you, it can be clearly seen that Paul´s using a piece of tissue and saying it´s paper. My mistake. But, I´ve seen so many accidents (even with experienced workers) that involved the using of fabrics that I´m pretty sensible about it.

[@artheen4713]

That's a 1 hp safety belt driven lathe, unless I'm mistaken. Using cloth is mostly an issue with overpowered modern lathes, not the older and safer ones that will stop if something catches. I use cloth on the lathe all the time - long strips to polish with. And more than once, it has caught, and it has never been a problem. The pull is less than a dog at the end of its leash.

[@Bullhideboots09]

Can't believe there is a power to on Paul sellers bench

[@alcaponehome6744]

Hello., i was wondering what is the best wood for chisel handle ??? ...thanks

[@Paul.Sellers]

Hi. Paul has addressed this question in one of his blog posts that you can find by clicking here paulsellers.com/2014/12/changing-the-shape-of-ash-chisel-handles/. - Team Paul

[@thomastieffenbacherdocsava1549]

Oh yeah, I wanted to watch this on my Smart TV but it wouldn't run.

[@learitee444]

*That's a bowl gouge not a spindle gouge, because of the deep flutes (spindle gouges are shallow fluted)*

[@benvolio1987]

paul in 2014 ``hello? is this the electricity board? I need an electro-plug for my workshop``

[@jeff8470]

No lathe. I hand carve them to fit my hand. Not so much glory.

[@davidosullivan3432]

an axe spokeshave,rasp,and card scraper would be a lot more fun .thanks anyway

[@austindea]

in paul's latest series on his website, he shows several ways of making spindles and chair legs purely with hand tools.

[@Johnconno]

Making a Toothpick with Jesus of Nazareth.

[@beretgascon]

Don't know why you didn't just measure the inside of the ferrule - makes life much easier and could have shaved a couple of minutes off this video.

[@mtabernig]

Too many steps ....0n and off the lathe.... it is not that difficult.... sorry but i could not help myself

[@goognamgoognw6637]

you don't get it, Paul is a master at teaching. Taking breaks from the lathe and explaining how and why the next step is taken is not just the best way to teach, it is also delightful to watch it. Please do not try to teach as nobody would learn from you and nobody would watch either based on your comment.