Build your own pick handle

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks

A few years ago I found an old home made pick down by one of the local creeks. The handle was just about cactus but the steel head of the pick was quite hard so I decided to keep it. Heres a pic of the old beast.

used it for a couple of years when ever I was plodding around in the water with a pan. Decided to give the old girl a bit of a spruce up by reshaping the end of the head and putting a new, longer handle on it. The plan is to use it with the SDC when travelling. It is light weight and compact and will stored in the back of the ute with the folded up 2300.

The head of the pick had a piece of pipe welded to it to accept the handle. After removing the old handle, I changed the shape of the socket to an oval by squeezing it in the vice. The head was then reshaped slightly with the angle grinder and sharpened. Now for the handle. Found an old bit of spotted gum (70x45) and cut it down to slightly over the dimensions of the finished handle. (42x42x600)

Marked out and punched my centres as well as two off set centres for turning.

Turned the material to a stepped cylinder on the lathe and then quickly sanded this shape with some 80 grit abrasive.

I was basically using some of the handle dimensions on my larger pick as a guide.
The next step was to off set the work to one of the other marks. (The off sets were 5mm each side of the original centre.) I then machined about 5mm off the handle and then re- sanded with 80 grit. The process was then repeated using the remaining off set centres. This is what it looked like after the turning process.

The handle was cut to size and fitted to the pick head. A quick coat of proof seal and the job was done. Took about an hour from start to finish so it was a nice little job after lunch.

Cheers

Les

 

[Manpa]

Clever offset turning, nicely done.

 

[LONEWOLF]

I like my pick handles, but not for picks.... :koala:

Wish I had a Lathe...

LW.....

 

[Maple Leaf]

Very nice craftsmanship sir.

 

[Greenhornet_au]

Clever offset turning, nicely done.

Manpa, do you have a lathe, and could you spin up a pair of handles for Kato and I ?

Just found a plow disk in the yard, considering making three light weight pick heads, one for you too.

I will supply the preferred wood.

 

[Manpa]

Clever offset turning, nicely done.

Manpa, do you have a lathe, and could you spin up a pair of handles for Kato and I ?

Just found a plow disk in the yard, considering making three light weight pick heads, one for you too.

I will supply the preferred wood.

Offset turning is not something I have done, let me have a go and see how it comes out before I commit, Ill take some photos and let you have a look at my work.
Cheers
Glenn

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Manpa,

Give it a go. It is a very simple process. If you can turn a cylinder on the lathe, the offset turning to make the oval will be a breeze. The trick with the offset turning is to only remove a small amount of material. For this particular handle only 5mm was shaved from each side. It would be very easy to take too much off. Good luck.

Cheers

Les

 

[Lesgold]

After making the handle for the pick, I started thinking about a few other options. (Thinking can be a dangerous thing to do as it generally gets me into trouble or creates work) Began questioning myself as to why I didnt make the whole pick from scratch rather than just tarting up an old one. So, yesterday the decision was made to knock one up from scratch. I also wanted a narrow pick with a reasonably long point for working the creeks and rock bars with the SDC. Thought that a car spring would be just right for the job. There were plenty of old wrecks out in the bush and it didnt take long to find what I was looking for. Cut and welded the head of the pick late yesterday and turned the handle this morning.

This time, I ensured that the growth rings of the timber were running through long section of the oval handle (back sawn) Maximum strength is achieved when the grain is configured in this manner.

Seems reasonably well balanced. Hopefully it will work as intended.

Cheers

Les

 

[Mackka]

Great job Les.
Mackka

 

[Greenhornet_au]

:Y: :Y: :trophy: :clap: :clap:

 

[DukesGold]

Great idea, I've done similar with a hatchet using some spotted gum. Main thing is to line up the growth rings with the direction of striking/force for maximum strength

 

[Muk]

Just like making wood arrows grain needs to face the right way cheers Muk.