Carbide tools - happy boy

[opticsguy]

Have had two Lathes for many years and have made many projects on both machines and have been a semi-happy turner. I never could seem to get shavings to fly off like butter like I had seen on many videos, despite care taken to keep my tools sharp. Some might respond here that they were not sharp enough . . . . maybe but for me, turning was always work and not a joy.


Now have taken the step to carbide tipped tools and suddenly I seem to be on my lathes most days and having fun and being creative and smiling. As with any tools, there are pluses and minuses but for me, carbide has really opened the door and you are now reading words from a very happy turner.


PS, not sure if this is OK. I purchased my tools from Juastin, you can find him in the swap-n-sell thread.

[AHill]

Glad you found a system that works for you. Are the chips flying off like butter with the carbide tools? I would note that in most videos where you see those long ribbons of chips, they are turning green wood, so you can be more aggressive and you'll get pretty nice chips that way. That's not to say you can't get lovely long chips turning cured woods. Were I you, I'd check the bevel angles on my conventional tools. You may have altered the bevels over years of sharpening and they might need to be refreshed. If you're near a turning club, make an appearance and bring your tools. Carbide tools tend to be foolproof, but honestly, conventional tools are faster and usually leave a better surface.

Either way, you're enjoying turning again, and that's a good thing.

[Arlin Eastman]

Have had two Lathes for many years and have made many projects on both machines and have been a semi-happy turner. I never could seem to get shavings to fly off like butter like I had seen on many videos, despite care taken to keep my tools sharp. Some might respond here that they were not sharp enough . . . . maybe but for me, turning was always work and not a joy.


Now have taken the step to carbide tipped tools and suddenly I seem to be on my lathes most days and having fun and being creative and smiling. As with any tools, there are pluses and minuses but for me, carbide has really opened the door and you are now reading words from a very happy turner.


PS, not sure if this is OK. I purchased my tools from Juastin, you can find him in the swap-n-sell thread.

The biggest way to get chips or shavings to fly is with wet wood. 

Justin has some nice tools and I got a few.  I have been testing the parting tool.  It works good but the flat part needs to be longer where it rests on the tool rest.  I changed the degree of the tip several times to find the perfect cut and I am done with my results and will email him with it tomorrow.

[jaustin]

Have had two Lathes for many years and have made many projects on both machines and have been a semi-happy turner. I never could seem to get shavings to fly off like butter like I had seen on many videos, despite care taken to keep my tools sharp. Some might respond here that they were not sharp enough . . . . maybe but for me, turning was always work and not a joy.


Now have taken the step to carbide tipped tools and suddenly I seem to be on my lathes most days and having fun and being creative and smiling. As with any tools, there are pluses and minuses but for me, carbide has really opened the door and you are now reading words from a very happy turner.


PS, not sure if this is OK. I purchased my tools from Juastin, you can find him in the swap-n-sell thread.

Glad that you enjoy the tools. 

Arlin, Let me know when you do get  chance to send the results
John

[MidwestMan]

Have had two Lathes for many years and have made many projects on both machines and have been a semi-happy turner. I never could seem to get shavings to fly off like butter like I had seen on many videos, despite care taken to keep my tools sharp. Some might respond here that they were not sharp enough . . . . maybe but for me, turning was always work and not a joy.


Now have taken the step to carbide tipped tools and suddenly I seem to be on my lathes most days and having fun and being creative and smiling. As with any tools, there are pluses and minuses but for me, carbide has really opened the door and you are now reading words from a very happy turner.


PS, not sure if this is OK. I purchased my tools from Juastin, you can find him in the swap-n-sell thread.

I'm glad you have found a way to use your lathe, that apparently you like better. My first thought, after reading your words, was that you haven't gotten to the point of using a tool, with the bevel riding on the work, and allowing the tool to cut/slice. But it's impossible for me to know your circumstance.

In any event, turn on and enjoy.

[opticsguy]

OP here.

An update on my original post.
My new recent interest is making mallets, large, medium and small.  So far made about 23, some the size of sledge hammers and many the size of a one-handed mallet.
I have been using fallen tree branches for the handles on the one-handed mallets and they are hardly ever very straight.
Using my standard turning tools takes a long time to get the branches to round.  Now with the carbide tools, I have the entire handle whittled down and round in about a minute or 2 at most.   

I plan to continue interchanging my use of both carbide and steel tools, always always something to learn.

Also in making the handles and the heads I am learning about curves and balance and design, each mallet a bit different in shape and design and size. Each mallet provides me with new insights about turning, a great education.  

So, in conclusion, carbide tools got me back on the lathe, got me doing creative work again, got me enthused about the hobby again, and most important, even more happy than I was before.  And I am already a very happy guy.   :-)

[MidwestMan]

So, in conclusion, carbide tools got me back on the lathe, got me doing creative work again, got me enthused about the hobby again, and most important, even more happy than I was before.  And I am already a very happy guy.   :-)

That's Great !! 
  Made me happy to read it.

I had the same problem as you had. I suppose all turners go through it. My lathe sat around for years because I didn't understand how to use the tools properly. I bought carbide tools too because scraping is easy. Then I saw a very good teaching video from Brendam Stemp that revolutionized my comprehension. Specifically, the bowl gouge. It is utterly amazing how swift a piece can be worked with confident bowl gouge use. (It can be used on most all projects)

[daddo]

I've been turning for many years- defined in decades, but if you put actual hours into the equation, it's really not that many. I have good days and bad with the tools and chips. The gouge still confuses me after "gouging" failures. I boil it down to me and less on the tools, but I don't toss away the idea of it being both.
I do fine on green wood.

[Pirate]

Why would a sharp hs steel, chisel, turn better than, a just as sharp, carbide chisel?
After a bit of use, I can see the carbide staying sharper.

[imapseudonym]

Equally sharp scrapers mde of hss of carbide will perform similarly, but scrapers and gouges or chisels that are slicing the wood may yield quite different results - sometimes better, sometimes worse depending on the wood.