A member of the club turned an inset for a handle and since aluminum is cheaper than buying an insert I decided to give it a try. Bought a 1.5 inch bar on Amazon. Cut off 5 inches. Chucke it up in 35 mm jaws. Drilled a thru a hole I think it was two sizes over 3/8 so tool can be reversed. Picked what I thought was a nice piece of pecan but the holes running down the side were nothing compares to the one I almost center of end so that is the end chucked. Drilled 3/4 for insert and then. 7/16 deep enough for the gouge to go in almost completely. Turned the handle just a little larger than most others. Not as easy to turn aluminum as you might think. Wish I had bought 1 inch Aluminum.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 20251 yr by Gerald

Will there be screws added hold the tool bar?

I like it.  Looks great.  Aluminum is a lot harder than wood.  Keeping the tool in the cut is difficult because of the hardness. 

Looks really good from here. Good idea too.

There was an article in the AAW magazine some time back by a guy who opined that woodturners should also have a small metal lathe. I've toyed with that idea over the years and never pulled the trigger. I would know less about using a metal lathe than I do with a woodturning  one. Still, there are quite a few times i wish i had one. Back to your handle, I think that really came out nice. Like Lew, I was wondering about set screws.

I have put mine to use quite a few times making tools.

Well done Gerald. Kudos for doing something beyond the "norm." Surface finish came out very nice on the inset.

I had not tapped for screws when pic was taken. That was the easiest part of the whole thing. The Al rod 16 inches was just over 20 , so that is enough to make 3 inserts. Lets see at 20 to 25 each to buy it adds up rather quickly.

Thanks

Edited January 29, 20251 yr by Gerald