Make a Pin Style Handle For a Tool - PEP BB tool.straw.handles

Here is my submission for the Tool Care - Straw - Make a Handle for a Tool (pin handle list) BB.

So, I was out in my woodland peeling a log.  I was excited to finish peeling the "top" and when other methods of rolling the log failed, I went to get the peavey.  It has lived near the (currently broken) sawmill for over a decade so I tested it before heading back to the woodland and here is what happened.


Thanks for adding the Peavey to the Pin Handle list for this repair!

I cleared the old handle debris with a drill, pry tool, and pliers then cleaned up the metal with a wire brush.  One of our many junk poles was a good fit so I cut it down and shaved both ends using the drawknife.  The smaller end became the handle as it was already smaller than the peavey.  The larger end was tapered to fit snug then bolted in place.  After rolling my log, I decided to store the newly repaired tool under cover.  

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
 - pic of tool with missing/broken/inadequate handle
 - pic of new handle under construction
 - pic of tool with new handle installed

Questions here: 1. do you expect someone to start with a piece of dead tree?
2. Is there a better BB to apply for if I do the little fix from the picture below, or is here fine?

My friend left this tool in my goose shelter, and it's *really* handy for little jobs there and in the general area. Problem is that handle was broken where you hold it, making it quite uncomfortable in my hand. I have a scrap of an old handle that needs smoothing at the hand end and fitting into the socket of the tool, where the original handle was pinned in place, but we tend to use screws or bolts. Do I post it here or elsewhere or nowhere when I finish it?

Hi Jay,

1. any wood is fine for this BB
2. that seems like a pin-style handle to me so I'd say it fits here

The first picture shows the broken tool handle and a scrap of doweling I will shape to fit the tool head.


The end of the handle, I simply cut off the rough bit with a hand saw and then used a file to smooth the edge.
The part that needed to fit into the head needed to be shaped to match which I did by using a knife to whittle it to the approximate shape, and then used the file to smooth it until it fit snugly.


For the "pin" I used a stainless Robertson head screw with a washer.


Here's the side view just before I installed the pin.


I use this tool as something between a rake and a shovel for breaking up compacted areas of mulch in our goose shelter, or scooting mucky mulch out of corners that are hard to reach, as part of light servicing between bigger clean-ups. The space is awkward, so I don't want to use my full-sized pitchfork unless it needs a serious clean out which happens when I start needing to duck to get out the door. Since the mulch decomposes at the deeper levels as I add fresh at the top, most of the time, this small tool is all I need.

Our shovel broke while turning over our plot in a community garden. It had been a bit dodgy for a while, and had some fibre tape reinforcement, but it truly snapped this time. The shovel end had to be burned out and the old rivets cut off.

Fortunately, we'd pruned some Griselinia a couple months back which was a suitable diameter and size for a replacement. Hardwoods are both difficult to source and expensive locally, so this was quite fortunate! I turned the handle to match the old one on a lathe. My husband forged 3 new rivets for me for the purpose--two for the handle end, and one for the shovel end (we were able to re-use the largest rivet in the top centre of the handle fortunately. Once drilled and peened, I finished the handle with a mixture of beeswax and grapeseed oil--my favourite wood and metal finish.