Carbide lathe tools
#11
I have been traditional tools since I started. I bought a carbide tool and I'm having trouble holding it. It has a round shaft and I try to cut ever so lightly I still get a catch. My grip is not the best in the world. I never have that trouble with my traditional tools. 

Should I have gotten a square shank rather than round? I bought a hollower and haven't even tried it yet.Afraid it may be just as hard to hold. Again round shafted.
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#12
I have four of the square shaft tools and have no problem keeping them flat on the rest.  


I too, get catches when I get too aggressive.
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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#13
Yah a square shaft will not do that and that is why I do not buy the round shaft ones.  I know John is S&S sells his tools for a great price and I hope to get some more when I can afford it to give away to the vets.
It has been several months since he has been here and I sent him a PM and email to see if he is still making them.

Here is his home page

https://www.forums.woodnet.net/member.ph...&uid=22705

His website

https://www.ncwoodturningtools.com/shop

I hope you can get ahold of him and if not hope he gets with me.

I know a lot of guys love his tools here is the one in S&S

https://www.forums.woodnet.net/showthrea...id=7327453
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification.  Thank You Everyone.

It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
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#14
Does your tool have a flat on the bottom or is it a full round?  I bought the bigger Rockler carbide ones recently and they are round with a flat on the bottom.  I'm able to control the straight shank ones like the HSS tools I have.  I've only used the hollowing chisel once and had trouble keeping the flat on the tool rest.  I'm in the process of prototyping a couple of addons for that hollowing tool and progress is going well.
One is a handle that bolts on and you can control the chisel with your left hand.  The other is a bolt-on that is the tool rest is positioned right rests on the tool rest while you hollow out the object.
I'm waiting for a couple of forstner bits to do some initial hollowing, but they look promising.
As far as the non-hollowing chisels go, I find I'm holding them at a slightly different angle than I do my HSS ones.  May be my imagination, but I think the carbide ones have a wider usable rpm range than the HSS ones do, but nothing to base that on other than gut feeling.
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#15
(04-23-2020, 05:03 PM)gear jammer Wrote: I have been traditional tools since I started. I bought a carbide tool and I'm having trouble holding it. It has a round shaft and I try to cut ever so lightly I still get a catch. My grip is not the best in the world. I never have that trouble with my traditional tools. 

Lightly is the answer, followed by scaping downhill so you can't get a grab when you try to lift the grain.

If you go square, you sacrifice the ability to shear, which effectively lowers the cutting angle, producing a finer surface.  

Use your "off" hand to hold the tool firmly to the rest as you swing and roll, don't try to use it to adjust the bite, use the good hand and the great precision you gain by using the good hand with the most mechanical advantage.   Reminder - mechanical advantage means setting the toolrest as close to the work as possible, too.
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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#16
I too always used HSS but this past Christmas santa brought me a set of carbide tools and I love them. They do require a light touch and I do not used them for every application, but when you have a spot that keeps tearing out I find them priceless and the leave a very clean cut with very little sanding if any at all.  these have square shafts and rest very well.
https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Woodturnin...164&sr=8-5

Bruce
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#17
(04-23-2020, 05:03 PM)gear jammer Wrote: I have been traditional tools since I started. I bought a carbide tool and I'm having trouble holding it. It has a round shaft and I try to cut ever so lightly I still get a catch. My grip is not the best in the world. I never have that trouble with my traditional tools. 

Should I have gotten a square shank rather than round? I bought a hollower and haven't even tried it yet.Afraid it may be just as hard to hold. Again round shafted.

.....................
Why not grind your own flat on the round shaft??
Often Tested.    Always Faithful.      Brothers Forever

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#18
I do not know about a light touch unless you just want to take off whispers of shavings.  I have used them to hog off wood to and they are very good at that.

Like I said John sells them at great prices from $22 to $25 each which is a lot cheaper than anyone else.  He just sent me a PM back telling me is old supplier is no longer in business and he is getting another one so some of the 1/2" flat are not available for a week or two.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification.  Thank You Everyone.

It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
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#19
It take A LOT of practice to get a feel for a new turning tool. I hated my hunter tools until I actually watched a video of someone using them; now I use the Hercules for hogging out bowls and love it.
Now where is that chisel
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#20
(04-23-2020, 05:03 PM)gear jammer Wrote: I have been traditional tools since I started. I bought a carbide tool and I'm having trouble holding it. It has a round shaft and I try to cut ever so lightly I still get a catch. My grip is not the best in the world. I never have that trouble with my traditional tools. 

Should I have gotten a square shank rather than round? I bought a hollower and haven't even tried it yet.Afraid it may be just as hard to hold. Again round shafted.

I have used round, square, and square with a 45* rotation.

The only one that ever gave me a problem was one of the Hunter tools with the cupped carbide. That one caught no matter what I or my niece did. It has been in a cabinet for years now. It took me a long time before someone told me that it was not really intended for the outside of a bowl.
Rolleyes The WC manager assumed that I knew that when I asked him about catches with the tool. I suspect that I will not be using cupped carbides unless I get one of the guarded-tip hollowers.

I have the best success by treating the carbide tools like scrapers in term of tool positioning.

Keep the shaft parallel with the floor. Cut slightly below center on the outside and slightly above center on the inside.

If you must tilt the shaft, then keep the cutting end _slightly_ below the handle end and keep the tool rest as close as possible to the work.

Interrupted cuts are more challenging. You need to use the hand at the tool rest to keep the tool from advancing when you are cutting air.
"the most important safety feature on any tool is the one between your ears." - Ken Vick

A wish for you all:  May you keep buying green bananas.
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