making a new haft

[BigBuddha76]

now that I have 2 cs hawks coming I want to make a new handle for at least one of them. Is it better to turn them on a lathe or shape it with hand/power tools? The plan is to try making one with the abundance of live oak I have laying around, but test my skills with a scrap of pine to get the shaping down first.

on an sort of related note, does anyone know where I can get a center point for an old amt/craftsman 273 lathe?

 

[T.Saslow]

I wouldn't use a lathe on a handle. i would imagine you probably want more of an oval shape handle as (I find at least) an oval is more comfortable to hold. You would probably be better off with a nice spoke shave, a coarse, and a fine rasp. Sand paper up to 220 grit would help too. Also, i wouldn't use pine just in case you end up really liking it and want to use it in the end. I haven't heard of oak being used on a handle before but i don't suppose it would hurt to give it a try. If you can find it, go for Ash or Hickory-much more suitable woods for high impact jobs like this...especially if you miss the target I wouldn't get power tools to involved in this though; you'll find it harder to fit it to your hand if you do (however, you may want to use a Jig-Saw to cut basic profile out of the wood.)

 

[300Six]

Lathe will do you fine for initial rough turning of ovals. If you hand split the blank you'll know the grain alignment is going to be perfect and you can also choose for the length that is straightest.