Replacing a gouge handle

most of 5 boxes’ worth

I’ve been doing a lot of carving lately. More to come too. One of the gouges I use a lot has had a split in its handle and I decided today was the time to fix it. It’s a modern tool - made by Ashley Iles, sold in the US through Tools for Working Wood https://toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TXQ

I don’t know how long ago it split, certainly more than 10 years. But it wasn’t bad enough to replace it, until just recently when it split further.

original beech handle

I keep a small box of offcuts for gouge and chisel handles; hickory, ash, some oak and I noticed some yew in there too. I dug out two hickory blanks - one was already turned, the other just a riven section about 1 1/2” square. After a silly detour thanks to Jennie Alexander’s writings (more on that one next time) I turned the rough blank to about 1 1/4”, tapering down to 3/4” at the small end. Then comes the hard part for me - boring into that end grain and keeping things as close to perfectly straight as I can.

I laid out 2 centerlines - one down the radial face and one down the tangential face. Then grabbed the handle blank in the vise and checked those layout lines against a square held on the bench. Fiddle with it this way & that until I’m satisfied it’s sitting up straight. Then start boring. Once the bit is started, I check it against the square. A little this way, a little that way.

to the river or to the trees. Sometimes both.