Quick File Handles

Stuart Ablett

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15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
I saw these quick file handles while reading Garrett Hack's book "Classic Hand Tools" and I thought they looked interesting.

Basically, they are turned and then cut, so they are "Split" handles, with no ferrel.

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Here are all the tools I used, besides the lathe ;)

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The piece of wood is 5 1/2" long, I mounted it on the lathe and then roughed it into a cylinder

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A little work with the skew and spindle gouge and I'm ready to part it off.

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Turned handle

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I check the length of the tang on the file, and mark the handle, so I know how deep to drill, you want to make sure the tang does not bottom out in the handle.

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Next up I take the live center out of the tail stock and the safety drive center out of the head stock and put the drill chuck in with the right sized drill. It turn the lathe down to about 250 RPM, center the drill bit on the hole left by the drive center and then hold onto the handle and turn on the lathe. Then turning the handle on the tail stock, I drill the file handle.


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I then cut two kerfs in the handle, at 90 degrees to each other........

Cont...........
 
..........

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here is the one I just finished.

This one is made from Zelkova, or Japanese Elm, any hardwood would do I guess, has to have some spring in it.

The time stamps on my pictures say 17 minutes elapsed, but that was with taking pics, I'm sure these can be turned in less than 10 minutes no problem.

No finish, and if or maybe when they break, I'll make another one.

file_handles_done.JPG
Here are the three I did tonight, and one I did a while back, with a ferrel. The one with the ferrel is nice, for sure, but, it relies on the wood in the handle being crushed to hold the file, if it gets too crushed, then it is useless.

I think I'll be making more of these, I'm now eying the cheap plastic handles that came on some of my cheap files :D :rolleyes:

Cheers!
 
..........

The one with the ferrel is nice, for sure, but, it relies on the wood in the handle being crushed to hold the file, if it gets too crushed, then it is useless.

:huh::huh:Wood being crushed due to the ferrel?? :dunno::dunno: I am confused, could you please explain this statement?

Did you glue the cut?

Are you going to "wrap" the outside of the cut with maybe copper wire?
 
That "crushed" statement has me bumfuzzled also. :huh:
All look nice but I don't understand the need for the cuts.
I have handled many files by just drilling a hole and pounding in the file tang until it is tight. Between the taper and square corners they seat and hold just fine.
 
What a relief! I read this earlier and thought I must be even stupiderer than I thought because I couldn't understand what holds the file in.

I'm lost too Stu.

Brendan
 
Yes, the split springs around the file tang, hold the tang in place in the handle, but, if you remove the file from the handle, there is no wood that has been crushed, so the handle can be used on any other file and it will work just fine.

If you have a hole in a piece of wood, and you "Pound" a file tang into it, then the hole will become shaped like the file's tang........right? The wood will get "Crushed" to conform to the shape of the tang that you are pounding into the hole in the wood, right :dunno:

If, during the use of the file, the tang works loose, you then have to pound it again, into the handle, and this will only work for a limited time until there is no more wood left to crush and conform to the tang on the file........ with me so far? :D

Also, if you have a large file and you pound the tang into the handle and then, down the road, you replace that large file with a medium file, you cannot use the same handle, because the tang will be a smaller size, and will not be able to crush enough wood to get a grip.

The beauty of the spring handles I've made is that I can change files in them and as they spring back, the file size don't matter.

Clear as mud :dunno: :D

I'm curious, you guys have NEVER had a file handle work loose on a file and had to pound it back in place and then have it work loose again and find that pounding it did not work? :huh:

This spring handle eliminates that problem.
:wave:
 
Replace? Once together, it's like marriage forever.
Need new handle? Make another, that's wat scrap is for.


I would guess Frank, with the wild temp and humidity swings here, I have more trouble with the wood shrinking and expanding, as I have handles on files work loose all the time, and yes, I do know how to "Pound" a file tang into a hole :D

Maybe I just use mine more vigorously than most :dunno:

Anywho, these spring handles work well, and they are faster to make than a handle with a ferrel, plus, I don't have to find and make a ferrel ;) :D

If the info is of no use, no worries, someone might find these handles of use, I did! :wave:
 
If I may... it works kinda' like a spring-loaded four-jaw collet, am I right? The tang goes down the center hole, then the split handle grips whatever side (or edge) of the file it's next to because the file pushes it away from where it wants to be so it keeps trying to spring back to where it wants to be.

Hmmm... that wasn't any less words, was it? Nor any more clear. Ahem - pwhwht - is this thing on? :)

So far I haven't had bad luck at all with ordinary drilled turned handles with no ferrule & no split... but then again I also like to keep my files wrapped in paper so they don't bang each other. I may well give one of these split handles a try, though.
 
I've been trying to think of a way to combine the slitted version with a ferrule. I like the idea of it being adjustable, beyond the banging of the tang back in the handle. But I also like the idea of a ferrule giving it some extra strength to keep from splitting.

Either way, I really like the idea of turning some handles for the handle-less files I have hanging around. Dont really like the plastic jobby's on the ones I do have handles for. :thumb:
 
I've been trying to think of a way to combine the slitted version with a ferrule. I like the idea of it being adjustable, beyond the banging of the tang back in the handle. But I also like the idea of a ferrule giving it some extra strength to keep from splitting.

Either way, I really like the idea of turning some handles for the handle-less files I have hanging around. Dont really like the plastic jobby's on the ones I do have handles for. :thumb:

How's this?

Taper the tang end of the handle slightly and cut a 1/2" copper pipe coupling in half to use as a ferrule. Double-drill the tang end of the handle before you split it. Slip the copper ferrule into place on the tapered end, then push (don't whack, only push) the file into the double-drilled (stepped) hole. The ferruled end will fold around the drilling step, constrained by the ferrule, maintaining spring pressure against the file's tang.
 
If I may... it works kinda' like a spring-loaded four-jaw collet, am I right? The tang goes down the center hole, then the split handle grips whatever side (or edge) of the file it's next to because the file pushes it away from where it wants to be so it keeps trying to spring back to where it wants to be.

Hmmm... that wasn't any less words, was it? Nor any more clear. Ahem - pwhwht - is this thing on? :)

So far I haven't had bad luck at all with ordinary drilled turned handles with no ferrule & no split... but then again I also like to keep my files wrapped in paper so they don't bang each other. I may well give one of these split handles a try, though.

Tim, you nailed it, thanks, just like a collet chuck! :thumb:

Here is a close up......

file_handles_close_up.jpg

Personally I think you did a great job with the tutorial Stu. I actually need to make some handles for my files so I might give those a try. If anything it is just another excuse to play on the lathe.

Thanks Drew, and any time I can help you get on the lathe, it is a good thing :D

I've been trying to think of a way to combine the slitted version with a ferrule. I like the idea of it being adjustable, beyond the banging of the tang back in the handle. But I also like the idea of a ferrule giving it some extra strength to keep from splitting.

Either way, I really like the idea of turning some handles for the handle-less files I have hanging around. Dont really like the plastic jobby's on the ones I do have handles for. :thumb:

I think if you were worried about it, you could wrap some soft wire around the handle, like Jonathan suggested, but I did not leave room for that on my handles, I've found using them a bit, that they work well.

This is not some new fancy idea, this is a very old one, just one that I'd not seen before. :wave:
 
How's this?

Taper the tang end of the handle slightly and cut a 1/2" copper pipe coupling in half to use as a ferrule. Double-drill the tang end of the handle before you split it. Slip the copper ferrule into place on the tapered end, then push (don't whack, only push) the file into the double-drilled (stepped) hole. The ferruled end will fold around the drilling step, constrained by the ferrule, maintaining spring pressure against the file's tang.

I like it! I thought about wrapping with wire, but for some reason that didn't appeal to me. In all honestly I think I'd be doing this more for aesthetics than anything else. I mean really, I've used the darn files without handles enough anyway, and it's not like you really put that much lateral stress on the tang or handle.
 
Hi Stu,

How about adding this from LeeValley?

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,43456,59452&p=59452

With the stainless steel coiled wire you can have it secure but allow for expansion and remove if you need a new handle.
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