C-Forum

I've got a mitchell premier which needs shortening, my intitial thought was to cut it off, make 4 cuts to form a square tennon on the shaft and then chop a through mortice in an oak blank, wedge (or draw-bore) the tennon in place and then put it all in the vice andshape the t-grip using gouges, spokeshave and rasps...

However the original grip, (and traditionally most t-grips) have a blind mortice (shaped as a truncated cone) and a tapered tenon held with glue (and a tight fit) as used in traditional chairmaking and wheelwrighting.

The question is, does that traditional approach confer sufficent advantages over using 'normal' joinery, to be worth the effort... i dont have a tapered tenon cutter or tapered reamer, so i'd have to do it with a spokeshave/drawknife and spoon bits

Wha??

Taper shaft and secure with waterproof glue with a large cross pin (wooden dowel) has worked well for me.

Straight tenon, into a straight mortise. Epoxied in place, it won't go anywhere. A cross pin if you feel like it, but its probably not necessary.

As per Davey Hearn's recommendation, I did what Silent Bob posted. Billy Hearn liked to add a little graphite powder to the epoxy before application--not sure how that helped but wanted to add that for ya.

I slotted the top of the shaft and glued/screwed in a block that I shaped to my hand. I've been real happy with it, it's way strong and it feels good.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10920228 ... 8665472977

Pretty work!

Thanks Mike.

To be honest I didn't expect that paddle to last (it's a souped up $25 Caviness Pro after all). I have abused it more than a few times, fully expecting it to break, but it just keeps on ticking.