Carbide Cutter

[Paul Hannaby]

Hi Philip,
I would be interested to find out more about your UK source for the round carbide cutters. I worked out that 10 of the 10mm cutters from the US would work out at £13.00 each including shipping, VAT etc. Are the ones from the UK any cheaper?

 

[paulm]

Hi Chas, No, these are not flat topped cutters.

OK Paul, I'm still in for one of those, just did not want anything from the steel cutting stable.

Paul

add me to the list of people who will take one if you do make an order.

try anything once...

Same here Paul, I would take one to try too.

Cheers, Paul

 

[OldWood]

There's a thread here I've just read

captain-eddie-s-sharpening-jig-t57600.html

This guy's site has carbide cutters - the round ones come from Germany !!

Rob

 

[Paul Hannaby]

It looks like those are all the flat cutters so possibly standard carbide rather than the finer stuff.

 

[Retire2004]

Hi Guys, I have been a member for 3 yrs. but this is my first post. I too have tried the square inserts with great success. I have also, like you, been trying to source the round cutters from the UK and have found some. They are 12mm dia. and highly polished with a chipbreaker, they are designed for use on aluminium. They are considerably cheaper than the prices quoted by some of you. As I am a new poster I am unable to reveal the source on-line due to forum rules, but beleive that I can do so on request via a PM. if any of you are still looking. (I have NO commercial interest in this whatsoever).

More about me.
Retired engineer and amateur woodturner. Prefer larger items such as wall hangings, bowls, platters and am recently into hollow vessels.
Have several lathes including two that I have built myself with lots of extra home made gadgets/jigs etc.

Tudor

Do the right things, don't just do things right!

 

[paulm]

Sounds very interesting, a couple more posts and you will be able to post links okay.

Home built lathes sound fascinating too !

Cheers, Paul

 

[flubaluba]

Hi all,

I am looking for something like the easy tool for turning pens and cant seem to find anything here in the uk or Europe, I am sure by now there should be some localish suppliers, If anyone knows where i can get a handle and holder + carbide tips at a reasonable price please could you let me know.I did see one item , cannot post links yet, that was one tool that took 4 different shaped bits ,but it is in the US and i don't want to have to go through all the customs hassle, although i will if i really have to.

I am new to turning and have just bought my first lathe a jet 1014 , I intend to obviously make some small items , including pens and although i will be buying the hss tools i was hoping the carbide might give me more enjoyment from the word go. Nothing as frustrating as getting a new toy and being unable to play with it because you cannot sharpen the tools correctly.

I have been watching hundreds or videos, literally, online and although i know practice makes perfect feel that i could enjoy this new hobby of mine.
If anyone has any tips regarding using carbide tips or even if someone can give a link to carbide suppliers it would be much appreciated.

First time poster and new member of the forum

 

[woodyturner]

A 1/2" or 3/8" socket bar will take a piece of 1/2" or 3/8" tool steel and you can grind whatever profile you like on them but you will need to drill and tap a thread in the socket bar for a grub screw to hold the steel and make a handle

 

[CHJ]

Hi all,

I am looking for something like the easy tool for turning pens and cant seem to find anything here in the uk or Europe, I am sure by now there should be some localish suppliers, If anyone knows where i can get a handle and holder + carbide tips at a reasonable price please could you let me know. .....

First and foremost, carbide tips are not superior for turning wood, they do have a place, especially when turning wood that has a lot of silica or sand debris embedded, in general they like to work with heavier loads and sound support.

IMO you are better forgetting about them for turning pens, standard HSS tools will take a sharper and more easily renewed edge.

As a newcomer to turning my advise to you would be to stop reading about the bright and shiny exotics and keep your money in you pocket and put towards a couple of decent standard spindle and skew gouges.

 

[Chris1965]

Hi all,

I am looking for something like the easy tool for turning pens and cant seem to find anything here in the uk or Europe, I am sure by now there should be some localish suppliers, If anyone knows where i can get a handle and holder + carbide tips at a reasonable price please could you let me know. .....

First and foremost, carbide tips are not superior for turning wood, they do have a place, especially when turning wood that has a lot of silica or sand debris embedded, in general they like to work with heavier loads and sound support.

IMO you are better forgetting about them for turning pens, standard HSS tools will take a sharper and more easily renewed edge.

As a newcomer to turning my advise to you would be to stop reading about the bright and shiny exotics and keep your money in you pocket and put towards a couple of decent standard spindle and skew gouges.

Sorry but I have to disagree with that entirely, carbide holds a sharper edge and for longer, is quicker and easier to resharpen and does not require specialist sharpening equipment. Plus you can buy one tool that will do the job of four HSS.

 

[12345Peter]

Sorry but I have to disagree with that entirely, carbide holds a sharper edge and for longer, is quicker and easier to resharpen and does not require specialist sharpening equipment.

I can't contradict you as I have no experience with carbide tools, but everyone who has advised me says that HSS is sharper and stays sharper longer, I am confused, but will not be rushing out to change my tools.

Plus you can buy one tool that will do the job of four HSS.

Now that sounds good, if I get rid of my 3/8th spindle gouge, 3\8th bowl gouge, 3/4 roughing gouge and my 1\2 round skew, which carbide tool could I replace them with :wink:

 

[Chris1965]

It is no secret that we make and sell a carbide tool ... all this came about after 30 years of wood turning, I have a tool that will replace all the tools you mentioned, and we are developing others for specialist tasks. But I am not here to plug my tools, those that pm'd me and asked have been sent the relevant information for them to make an informed choice. One of the biggest hurdles I have come up against has been "traditionalists" who prefer HSS tools, which is fine, but for new turners who get lost in the minefield of what to chose and then discover that sharpening HSS tools is almost a black art and requires a whole new skill set, carbides offer an easy solution, for those who want to turn wood instead of sharpen tools.

 

[CHJ]

but everyone who has advised me says that HSS is sharper and stays sharper longer, I am confused,

A lot of the confusion between HHS and Carbide is a hangover from metal turning where profiled carbide tips are regularly used.
These tips like to take heavy cuts and wear well but in the main do not have as sharp a finite edge as can be found on a hand ground HSS cutting tool. In a hobbyist environment and associated light lathes more often than not a metal cutting HSS tool works better and gives more consistent results. You can easily change the cutting angles,rake etc. to get the best results, something that can't be easily done with a preformed carbide tip.

Folks trying to use these 'metal' tips for wood turning find that they do not perform as they expected.
There are however Carbide cutter tips that work well for cutting wood and have extremely sharp edges which, because they in the main do not have any top rake contours can be easily sharpened by dressing of the top surface with a diamond stone.

I find them very effective for roughing down blanks quickly and removing bulk material and occasionally finishing cuts where their external shape/curve etc. matches the profile that I'm forming.

Using them requires differing handling to the majority of wood turning gouges because there is no bevel contact to support the tool or control the depth of cut. They do work in shear scraper mode much the same as HSS scrapers but their small edge profile does not aid the forming of smooth curves.

 

[jumps]

It is no secret that we make and sell a carbide tool ...

without wanting to deail this thread anymore, if the above is the case then shouldn't your profile or, better still, signature, indicate this?

 

[Chris1965]

It is no secret that we make and sell a carbide tool ...

without wanting to deail this thread anymore, if the above is the case then shouldn't your profile or, better still, signature, indicate this?

I dont think that would be necessary.

 

[Noel]

It is no secret that we make and sell a carbide tool ...

without wanting to deail this thread anymore, if the above is the case then shouldn't your profile or, better still, signature, indicate this?

I dont think that would be necessary.

I'm afraid it is necessary. We certainly have no problem with members participating who represent commercial interests, indeed we have the the likes of Axminster, Brimarc, Lee Valley etc as well as many smaller companies who are members here. But such members abide by the guidelines that are available at the top of each board.

There is a fine line between advertising/promotion of commercial interests and helping or assisting members and making a valid contribution to the forum. Generally speaking those members with commercial interests do not start threads or jump into existing threads essentially promoting and plugging their services or products. Certainly there are instances when a member is enquiring about a specific product or service from a company and we accept that it is of value to our community for a representative of the company in question to assist. Therefore it is important that clear disclosure through a signature is evident in order that all members are aware of vested interests and who exactly they are communicating with. Quite often we've banned new members who feel they can take advantage of the forum with what we see as free advertising and promotion. They have no place here and never will. Of course they are quite welcome to purchase banner space.

With regard to participating in general discussions such as this one it is important that such phrases and wording such as "It is no secret that we make and sell a carbide tool" are not used. That is promotion as far as I'm concerned and is not acceptable. Certainly, you can discuss the pros and cons of carbide in a general manner on a limited basis but without reference to your products or commercial interests as outlined in this rule:

( 8.4 ) Commercial interests
Members of commercial organisations or those forum members who have any commercial links with a company through personal involvement with product promotion, demonstrating etc. are welcome to participate in forum discussion on a limited basis.
They will however not be permitted to start threads relating to, or linked to, their products or services as a point of sale source or promotion.
Such behaviour will not be tolerated.

Therefore it is necessary that you have a signature on your posts if you wish to continue to be a member here.

 

[OldWood]

I would like to think that the Moderator here - Noel - would have passed this posting by the other moderators; I suspect he hasn't as anyone with a sense of reasonableness and common sense would have said 'bin it'.

This is an asinine, pompous and inaccurate criticism of a posting from a member who is commercially investigating a technology which is relatively new to wood turners and correspondingly is of significant interest. The very fact that the thread has gone to 4 pages indicates such.

I would suggest for a start that Noel actually reads his comments to Chris1965 and reads carefully his quoted regulation 8.4. Nowhere does the regulation say that a commercial interest cannot 'jump into existing threads' - that actually would be totally counter to any assistance that comes from commercial contributors who do, if my memory is correct, quite frequently suggest one of their products.

This posting should never have been made, and certainly not in public view as it certainly makes moderation look foolish. If I was Chris 1965 I would walk away from this website immediately, as other have I believe due to heavy handed management postings; I hope Chris won't as he clearly has something of value for us all.

Rob

 

[Chris1965]

I would like to think that the Moderator here - Noel - would have passed this posting by the other moderators; I suspect he hasn't as anyone with a sense of reasonableness and common sense would have said 'bin it'.

This is an asinine, pompous and inaccurate criticism of a posting from a member who is commercially investigating a technology which is relatively new to wood turners and correspondingly is of significant interest. The very fact that the thread has gone to 4 pages indicates such.

I would suggest for a start that Noel actually reads his comments to Chris1965 and reads carefully his quoted regulation 8.4. Nowhere does the regulation say that a commercial interest cannot 'jump into existing threads' - that actually would be totally counter to any assistance that comes from commercial contributors who do, if my memory is correct, quite frequently suggest one of their products.

This posting should never have been made, and certainly not in public view as it certainly makes moderation look foolish. If I was Chris 1965 I would walk away from this website immediately, as other have I believe due to heavy handed management postings; I hope Chris won't as he clearly has something of value for us all.

Rob

I have sent both CHJ and Noel messages explaining... again .. I am not here for commercial reasons, Noel cherry picked a line from a post of mine, he obviously neglected to read further where I stated quite clearly "But I am not here to plug my tools" I got involved in the discussion, primarily because of the amount of disinformation already floating about, kind of wish I had'nt bothered really. I had considered starting a thread explaining what I am doing, but as that might be viewed as self promotion, I decided against it :wink:

 

[OldWood]

Chris - can I put the thread back on track !!!!!!

What is the difference in terms of use between 'cupped' round cutters - eg Ebay 150791316376 - and flat ones as Ebay 290704049229 ?

Obviously from the previous comments in this thread, the flat ones can be sharpened. I bought the Ebay tool and find it total magic for end grain in hollow forms with very smooth cutting, but haven't used it for anything else yet. I've been using it with the LH edge low for deep boring; this seems to be counter to the 'rub-the-bevel' approach for HSS, which perhaps might be the right approach for the flat tips ?

Rob

 

[12345Peter]

It is no secret that we make and sell a carbide tool ... all this came about after 30 years of wood turning, I have a tool that will replace all the tools you mentioned, and we are developing others for specialist tasks. But I am not here to plug my tools, those that pm'd me and asked have been sent the relevant information for them to make an informed choice. One of the biggest hurdles I have come up against has been "traditionalists" who prefer HSS tools, which is fine, but for new turners who get lost in the minefield of what to chose and then discover that sharpening HSS tools is almost a black art and requires a whole new skill set, carbides offer an easy solution, for those who want to turn wood instead of sharpen tools.

I am not a traditionalist as I have only recently started turning, I was advised by many turners to stay away from carbide chisels as they need sharpening more often than HSS, I have no idea if that is true, but none of the turners recommended carbide so I took their advice. I have learnt to sharpen my HSS tools and it is not a black art as far as I am aware.

You said "those that pm'd me and asked have been sent the relevant information for them to make an informed choice" If I had the information I would not be able to make an informed choice, I just don't have the experience, however if you had made that info available in a post, others more experienced could evaluate what you are saying and translate for us newbies, who want to learn. I hope you will post the info.