Just because I have a lathe doesn't mean I know how to use it.

[Just_Dave]

I've been finally going through all of dad's tools and I turned up several old chisels. 


With broken or no handles


If a guy who is not a turner were to attempt to turn some handles what kind of wood would he use? 
Is there something out there that would provide some hints, ideas on how to turn chisel handles?
Yeah I could Google it but it is more fun asking the brain trust.

[Bob10]

[badwhiskey]

Are they square or round tang?  This pdf from Thompson tools is a good guide to making handles for lathe tools, but the process for chisels would be the same:

Turning Tool Handles

The big differences between lathe tools and chisels are (obviously) length of the tool handle and wood choice.  Lathe tool handles can be anything because they won't take much abuse, but chisel handles need to be tough.  Some good choices are beech, oak, hickory, and ash.  

Some folks glue the handle in, but I don't.  Who knows when I will have to rehandle it.

[SignWave]

Turning a handle is a pretty basic thing to do, as far as turning goes. And you're turning a small radius piece between centers, so it's generally safer although safe practices still need to be followed. I am not going to try to tell you everything you need to know about woodturning in a single post, but with some research you should be able to do it. And don't be afraid to do each handle more than once. If you have some scraps around, the cost in time will be offset by the experience you gain from doing it.

There are a lot of videos that cover how to turn the shape, including the WoodWhisperer one linked above.

If the chisels have a tapered tang, Paul Sellers has a video on how to drill using a variety of sized bits to match the taper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xocuzBlViEo

[crokett™]

I made several tool handles for carbide-tipped tools. I drilled round holes that would accept square bar stock and knocked the corners off the bar stock to fit in the holes. the rest of the space was taken up by epoxy. I used copper pipe couplings to wrap around the handle where the tang is inserted. I drilled the hole first and turned between centers so that the handle would stay inline with the hole. I turned down the handle enough that the pipe coupling fit with a press fit and heated the coupling some to expand it. after the coupling was on I finished turning the handle so that I could turn it flush down to the coupling. I've used red oak, cherry, walnut and maple. the cherry is soft and has gotten marks in it. the red oak has open pores and took some work to get it smooth.

[Arlin Eastman]

Dave

If you do not wish to make them I would be more then happy to make all you want.  Just send the chisels and I will make them and send them back for you to glue up.

[AHill]

Ash and maple are common woods used for turning handles.  I've also seen beech, bubinga, walnut, and even laminated wood.  Just about any hardwood will do.  Should be straight-grained.  Ferrules are usually brass.  You can make ferrules from brass or copper.  You can turn your ferrules also on the lathe.  I've used brass plumbing fittings as ferrules.  You can also buy copper tubing or brass tubing and cut a ferrule to fit, and tweak it on the lathe.  Use something substantial for the ferrule.  If you get a catch, you don't want the tool cracking the handle and flying loose.