Can you put a good edge on stainless steel for a chisel ?

[Ttrees]

I am considering making my own roughing gouge for turning, as these are quite expensive.

I don't have the equipment, nor experience to harden steel so I have thought about using
stainless steel tubing instead...I think I might have some in the metals pile.

Is it possible to put an edge on stainless steel ? , and if I find a few samples of tubing
should I test them before getting the angle grinder out,
as these may be different types of stainless, and thus some easier to sharpen than others.

This could be a huge rabbit hole (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)
Thanks
Tom

 

[MusicMan]

Very unlikely, sorry. Tubing is normally drawn, or sometimes rolled and welded. These both need a malleable steel, which in turn does not take or keep a good edge.

You are probably better off looking on eBay for an affordable roughing gouge.

Keith

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wouldn't think the grade of stainless used for tube would sharpen well, and besides you'd struggle to find tube with a wall thickness enough to take the hammering a roughing gouge gets. If you're really penny pinching watch ebay for carbon steel ones - they don't fetch anything like the money HSS ones do, and for occasional amateur use they're fine - they just blunt a little quicker.

 

[Ttrees]

Hello again
Thanks for the replies folks
If I have some, it might be a lot different to what your thinking.
It would be thick enough for a start, with no join along the length.

I was wondering if it will be able to sharpen it in the first place.
Is there any tests to confirm it will take an edge, without honing ?

Tom

 

[CHJ]

What are you turning that makes a Spindle Roughing Gouge a necessary acquisition, I can't envision anything that a decent HSS Bowl Gouge can't tackle until such times you get the funds together.

If it's pieces that can't be handled with a HSS Bowl gouge then anything less than a quality Spindle Roughing Gouge is not likely to be adequate.

 

[sunnybob]

Stainless will take an edge... but it wont hold it.
Sharpen every minute gets boring very quickly.

 

[CHJ]

Some Japanese Knives have specialist Stainless (VG10?) cores that are hard if I remember correctly, but in general Stainless steel, readily clogs grindstones and if the poor edge holding capabilities of some fancy SS ones donated to the local village hall kitchen are to go by just about useless for anything harder than a rice pudding, I've given up trying to keep them sharp for them.

I think the lack of Stainless chisels for use anywhere but in a sterile environment is a good indicator.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I was wondering if it will be able to sharpen it in the first place.
Is there any tests to confirm it will take an edge, without honing ?

Tom

You wouldn't normally hone a roughing gouge. There is of course one way of finding out ...

 

[D_W]

VG10 is not high speed steel, though.

Better to track down a chinese made roughing gouge made out of M2 or some equivalent (they'll call it something different) and get fast at honing it. It'll serve you well.

The other thing you can do is get regular tool steel and make a large parting gouge out of it. If you're turning down spindles, etc, you can do quite a lot of work with a parting gouge. It's a scraping action, I guess, but it works and it's easy to sharpen. You could round it when you grind it, too.

 

[Ttrees]

Sounds like there's no stainless that will take and hold an edge.
If I have some, it will be the most expensive stuff you can possibly get your hands on.
I think, I have noticed some differences in the stuff I have though, so that's why I asked.

The stuff I have used for a riving knife is soft enough to file though compared to the chisel I made a plane iron from,
and that chisel will not seem to take an edge that will shave easily.

Option 2 is attempting to harden it or some other steel, which I think would be a lot of hassle at the moment.
Thanks
Tom

 

[hodsdonr]

If you really want to make your own Spindle roughing Gouge , get some thick wall tube/pipe cut it in half lengthwise. then get a mate who can weld well to put a couple of hardface beads on the end. grind it down and put another bead on it then grind a 45 degree cutting edge on the gouge. The trick is to weld on the ends of the pipe without any blowholes etc,
Remember for turning you use the chisel straight off the grindstone without any honing. Grinder grits used are between 80 and 120 for sharpening chisels. 80 grit would be fine for a roughing gouge. remember it is a roughing gouge.

 

[hodsdonr]

A local turners here in South Africa has done this and his hardface roughing gouge is still going after 8/9 yrs. and when you sharpen you are only removing a couple of thou each time. or rather you should only remove a couple of thou to get the edge back. You are not re-profiling but sharpening

richard.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There are many different grades of 'stainless steel', to suit different applications. Very roughly speaking, the grades with higher carbon content can be hardened and will take and hold a fair cutting edge (think of stainless kitchen knives), but grades intended for stuff fabricated by welding are usually low carbon content. The reason for this is that the welding heat causes carbon and chromium to combine into chromium carbides, causing chromium deficiency in the heat-affected zone near the weld, rendering that are liable to corrosion. Tubes and pipes are usually specified as low carbon, as they're frequently fabricated by welding into whatever - chemical process plants for food, pharmaceutical, or corrosive chemical service, for example.

It's impossible to be definite without knowing the exact grade of steel from which your pieces of stainless are made, but the chances of tube being low carbon, and thus not good edge holders, is quite high.

 

[Ttrees]

Thanks all for your input again folks
I'll have to read this later again and have a think about it.
Tom

 

[ED65]

Sounds like there's no stainless that will take and hold an edge.

Many a kitchen knife argues otherwise ;-)

Just in terms of sharpening, even steels not noted for taking an edge can be sharpened. Not a few people fettling their cap irons have cut themselves on the sharp arris they've produced on the edge and cap irons are just mild steel!

 

[D_W]

Sounds like there's no stainless that will take and hold an edge.

440C (lovely if done right, see friodur straight razors) and anything made by great eastern cutlery - not high speed steel, though
PM -V11 - though they don't classify it as stainless that I've seen, it doesn't rust - also lovely, also not high speed steel
M2 - not stainless, but slower to rust - great for turning tools, only to be convinced otherwise by people making more expensive turning tools. If don't well, I doubt anyone would ever have a complaint
D2 - also not HSS and maybe not technically stainless, but very slow to rust and good hardness
VG10 - japanese basic steel similar to 440, maybe more carbon (didn't look) - not HSS
(tons of more alloyed stainless japanese steels that ultimately do sharpen well, but they can really hold a burr).

There may be some stainless high speed steel, but stainless usually likes chromium or nickel (?) and HSS likes vanadium and tungsten.

 

[knockknock]

To add to D_W's list.

CPM S35VN (stainless knife steel) funny video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFhDTGX_-E

Crucible Industries knife steel sales brochures
(includes O1, A2, D2 in comparisons):

http://www.crucible.com/pdfs/SelectorKn ... bleLLC.pdf
http://www.crucible.com/PDFs/Knifemaker ... 202010.pdf
http://www.crucible.com/PDFs/DataSheets ... v12010.pdf

http://www.crucible.com/

 

[MusicMan]

Sounds like there's no stainless that will take and hold an edge.

Many a kitchen knife argues otherwise ;-)

Just in terms of sharpening, even steels not noted for taking an edge can be sharpened. Not a few people fettling their cap irons have cut themselves on the sharp arris they've produced on the edge and cap irons are just mild steel!

Of course you can sharpen almost any metal to a fine edge, sufficient for cutting flesh once or twice. But non-hardened steels lose their edge with one or two cuts of wood.

Kitchen knives are not made out of steel that tubes are made from. There are indeed hardenable stainless steels, but they are not the sort used to make tubes.


Keith

 

[D_W]

To add to D_W's list.

CPM S35VN (stainless knife steel) funny video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFhDTGX_-E

Crucible Industries knife steel sales brochures
(includes O1, A2, D2 in comparisons):

http://www.crucible.com/pdfs/SelectorKn ... bleLLC.pdf
http://www.crucible.com/PDFs/Knifemaker ... 202010.pdf
http://www.crucible.com/PDFs/DataSheets ... v12010.pdf

http://www.crucible.com/

I love the knife reviews. They all involve barn raising, megalodon butchering, concrete block splitting and then shaving peaches at the end with "1095 couldn't do this".

I have more knives than I should, but not remotely like a plane and stone issue that I have. The bad 1095s are kind of duds, but I'll take the good 1095 knives over anything. They can be maintained with a single stone and though they rust if you let them, a guy with a buffer or auto polish can keep them bright and clean without issue.

Good 440C is kind of the stainless equivalent.

Lots of the CPM knives don't tolerate much bending and when they chip, they're a pain. Even when they don't, you really need to run back to diamonds to sharpen them.

Anyway, off the point - I think the OP would be best served by eyeballing ebay for a chinese roughing gouge. Something should turn up later for 20 quid, and I have to admit that the ones that I use (which range from chinese to sorby to some PM gouges), the chinese ones are fine. They're not quite as good, but not in any way that would hinder turning.