Hi Terry

I know some of the turning tools from the far east do have rather
short handles compared with the Crown and Sorby etc. tools.

It depends a lot on what you turn, size and power of your late, blanks
etc, as what size tools you should use and the handle length.

As for what wood to use, I have made handles from rough sawn blanks as
an apprentice for tools used in metal working, as this was in Europe,
we didn't have Osage or even Hickory, so the most often used wood for
handles was Ash, or Hornbeam, Oak was not used as it likes to stick
splinters into your hands if you tread it a little rough, I would
suggest if you can get your hands on it to try to get nice Hickory,
Hornbeam or Ash, Dogwood and hard Maple is also a good wood for it,
Osage seems like a good contender also, but as it is very scarce up
here, I would like to use that for some nice turning projects ;-))),
However if you have plenty than send some to me OK, (the bigger the
better) and I'll send you some Ash for turning handles in return :-.

How dry ??, if the wood is wet and you make ferules for the shoulder
they will come loose as the wood shrinks, also the wood probably will
split if you make it from wood with the pith in it, like branch wood.

So straight grained wood that is fairly dry and without knots or the
pith in it, is what you would like to get and use, but lesser wood can
and has served also.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo


On Mar 28, 1:36 pm, THumphr wrote:
I've only been turning a couple of weeks, but I've already decided
that longer handles on my tools are a must!
My question is if I go out and harvest some of my timber for handles
which is better Osage Orange or White Oak. And how dry should it be
before I make/use it for handles?

-Terry