Re-Handling Turning Tools

prologus · 17 Dec 2009

I have bought a bundle of well used turning tools from eBay. Some of the tools are either lose on the handles or totally free. The handles are the original manufacturer's handles and generally in god nick. The tangs are all square in cross section. I am relectant to simply hammer the tools back into the handles in case they split. Can anyone advise me on how best to resolve this problem?

Harbo · 17 Dec 2009

Try Araldite?

Rod

dannykaye · 17 Dec 2009

heat the tang and push it into the handle so it burns a new seat?

matthewwh · 19 Dec 2009

If the fit is reasonably tight you could get away with epoxy, do this at room temperature - not in a sub zero workshop. Failing that you can drill the holes out with a pillar drill, glue a dowel in and trim it to length then start again with a fresh hole drilled in the dowel for the tang.

For square tangs the hole should be the average of the measurement across the flats and the measurement across the diagonal. If it's right you should be able to press the tang halfway in by hand and then knock it on the last bit.

I wouldn't recommend burning them in as you will end up with a layer of hard brittle charcoal right where you want nice grippy compressed wood. You also run the risk of altering the heat treatment of the steel if you start warming things up.

Mr Ed · 19 Dec 2009

I rehandled a couple of gouges recently and burned them in. This was off the back of reading a post by Mike Wenzloff on Woodnet (which I now can't find) that advocated this. It works really well.

I think the idea of affecting the temper of the blade is a red herring as the heating is localised to the tang and if done right has no effect whatsoever on the rest of the chisel. I used a blowtorch which is easy to direct.

I drilled a hole that was stepped to suit the tang and then the burning seats it nicely to fit. They are rock solid now.

Ed

prologus · 19 Dec 2009

Thanks guys. I ought to have said that all the tangs were square/rectangular, and not round. A couple are quite tight so I will try epoxy, while for the others it looks like Matthew's advice to drill, insert dowel, and then do some stepped drilling. Thanks again.