I rough shaped my tool handle with a shape I felt I would like and I checked the fit to my hand frequently.

Now I go back and final fit the ferrule. I only take little bits of wood off at a time and check the thickness with the calipers almost constantly. I leave a bit of a taper about a quarter of an inch back so that I have to hammer the pipe into position later.

On finishing my handle I did the same as I would do on a piece that I was going to show or display and went all the way with it. This might seem like a waste for a tool handle but I had just watched a video with turner Dick Sing and he made the statement, “If you can’t turn you might as well have pretty handles.”

On to dealing with my copper pipe. As I said this piece is 2” and I only need 1”. So it became obvious that I needed to cut it down to size. The question became as to the method I would employ for this. I am not that great with a hacksaw I have learned from plumbing projects and I really want a nice square surface. I had purchased a small chuck that up to this point I have found to be quite useless – until now. I started thinking that copper is a very soft metal and certainly much softer than HSS tool steel so to the lathe it went!

Well it worked like a champ and I divided the copper with a spear point tool. I was then able to clean up the edges so I would not cut myself.

The next problem is mounting the tool into the handle. I retrieved a drill bit just slightly smaller than the mid section of my tool’s tang. I installed a Jacobs chuck into the head stock and mounted the drill. All I had to do at this point was to hold the new tool handle level, center on the bit and push! (Yes, I own Raffin tapes.)

Time for assembly, I tapped the tang into the handle the full 3 ½” and took a center punch that I used on the ferrule to make sure it would never move.

Making this tool took me about 4 hours from start to finish. I really enjoyed making it and I felt very satisfied with the end results. The thing about a tool is not anything counts about it but how well it functions with its intended purpose. When I told my wife that I was about to use this new tool I had made she voiced her concerns and suggested that I where a helmet, full face shield, Kevlar vest, gloves, etc. I decided to make a bowl out of the same material I had used for the handle because of its tendency for the end grain to tear. After all that is what I made this tool for!