Very nice work, Patrick. Your SE handles are very unique, and I love the distressed look on your brush handles. Did you hand carve the distressing? Dremel tool? Something else?
I am new to TSD, but shaved with a brush, Williams, and a Gillette Old Type for these many decades. I have turned a number of inkwell razor stands, but am just starting in on brush handles. The blanks come out of the fruitwood and maple in my firewood rack, so the learning curve only costs time. Nothing fancy in the lathe department, just a full size Harbor Freight item via craigslist. My 1” skew, round scraper, and parting tool do most of the work after the roughing gouge is done with its part of the job. I need to pick up my spindle gouge and spear scraper more often. I have gotten a small 4 jaw chuck and a Jacobs chuck, but... I haven’t had much luck finding collet chucks, so if anyone can point me to some sources I would appreciate it! Neither my local woodworking shops nor Google have helped much. I want to be able to set smaller knots, 16mm and up, so I am hoping to find a few collet chucks that will cover a range 16 - 26mm. Thanks for any recommended sources!
Welcome! We’d love to see your work! As for Collett Chucks, they are made by Beall tools. You can buy directly from them online, or in sets from Lee Valley.
Thanks for the collet chuck info! Here are some inkwell stands, all but one out of the woodpile, maple and cherry. You might get the impression I like OCs, slants, and SE. Thanks for the welcome
I like the creativity of doing the inkwell stands, there aren’t many practical constraints on form. Here are three vaguely based on chess pieces.
These are cool! You’ve given me some inspiration... now I just need the time to get back into the lathe room!
I-X collet chucks incoming! Direct from Beall, which seems like a nice little operation. Can’t wait to use them, but I do have a project to finish turning first. I am particularly looking forward to being able to hold a brush handle, then rechuck it to tweak the shape for the perfect feel. (Or to totally destroy it if I get sloppy or try to rush - ain’t turning great!) This will motivate me to dive into the woodpile and make up more brush blanks to season. Plenty of blanks so far, half a dozen knots waiting to be set, but no brush handles have made it any further than the reject bucket. Well, one was drilled deep to convert into a really tall razor stand. Thanks again for pointing me to them. ‘I-X’ was the key to unlocking the internet.
