They come with nice hardware and a decent set of instructions.
So, first think to do is throw away the instructions, they require a bunch of things I don't have, like a lathe. I mean, who needs a lathe for a turning kit?
Add a chunk of yew to the mix and I'm ready to go.
First up - drill a hole for the screwdriver shaft, the instructions say to drill a slightly bigger hole for the coupler - I'm ignoring that bit, I have a plan ;)
Needed to make a quick holder for the wood - I'm going to try and freehand the entire thing so don't need to square up the stock first.
So,2 of these and I can just use a reference edge instead of squaring & measuring everything. Reference 1 edge And then just use that edge on the V shape to square up an octagon, just rotate it until all the flats are about the same width (And the hole is in the middle). Onto fitting the coupler, instead of drilling a big hole and filling it with epoxy, I'm just chiseling out the shape for a tight fit. Then fill it with epoxy, just to be sure, the shape of the wood will stop it slipping and I had to hammer it in, so it's not coming out anytime. Markup and make a couple of stop cuts, I'm going for a really fat London pattern Handle, mostly because I like the look of that sap wood and want to keep some of it in. Just rasp, file then sand for the end of the handle.
Chisel and rasp out the shape at the other side for the ferrule.
That'll work, I'll leave it off for now and epoxy it on later so it doesn't get dinged up. Then just shape the curved section at the front.
Epoxy on the ferrule to finish.
And that's it, fun little build, I'll do more of their kits when I have a bit of spare time.
Excellent exercise in hand tool woodworking, with an outcome that exceeds anything that could have come off a lathe. The final shape of this is one beautiful tool, with an octagon grip for better torque in use. This reminds me of a time many years ago, when the tool craftsmen took pride in their work and created beauty & not just functionality. Nice work, really looks good.
I suspect a lathe would be a fair bit quicker though Ryan.
Thanks Tom, I think the London pattern handle is my favourite, Holtzapffel being a fairly close second - but they are a lot harder to freehand and they roll off the bench.
