julian Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I have been asked about making some lathe tools for a woodturner who needs to work mesquite. He says he wants me to do M2 steel for the peices; I have done some reading on M2 and i don't have the equipment to heat treat it; says I have to temper at 1000F or so for 2 hours twice, and my toaster oven doesn't get that hot I have been told O-1 is good for woodworking tools (I also know how to heat treat it), but I'm not sure if it would work in this case because I haven't done anything with lathes/woodworking. The guy who wants it says he has to resharpen his little lathe tools every 5 minutes or so because they lose their edge on mesquite. Does air hardening steel work for wood lathe tools? I have a peice of S-7 and maybe A-1 around; are these more suitable for the job than O-1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Pro wood turner here. Mesquite is tough stuff and very hard om tools. He is better off to just go out and spend the money on the M2 tools from Packard woodworking. The only hand forged tools I use are on my medieval pole lathe. Finnr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Thomas Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Concur with Finnr. Have him buy the real tools. No, S-7 and A-1 are not the right tools for wood turning. I've made turning tools from M-2 for myself. The heat-treating to optimize it is a rather involved cycle and requires a heat-treating oven. Many of the better turning tools are now M-42. Wood turning tools are subject to fairly high heats; the sort that takes high-speed steel to retain a sharp edge with the high friction, rather than alloys such as the S-7 which are designed to take shock. It is unlikely that you will be able to improve on what your friend already has without some experience in heat-treating, and some time on the lathe to get a feel for what is expected of the tools. Now if you have some bars of M-2 and wanted to do this for yourself, I'd strongly encourage you to try it. But someone else is not likely to be happy with your results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julian Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 thanks for the replies, I have zero knowledge about lathes, and I dont know how precise these tools even need to be; I'll tell him about buying M-2 tools, I wouldn't want to set him up with tools he already has that aren't getting the job done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I'd see if he wanted some tools forged that would hold carbide metal lathe inserts. The tool doesn't have to be fancy because it's the carbide that does the cutting! I had a bowl turner come over to the forge to get some of these made; boy was he ever surprised when I took a hot length of steel and handed it to him and told him to stick it in the vise and bend it to the curve *he* wanted. Then hang it up to normalize---He had his own forge by the end of the month... Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I agree with thomas. Make tools to hold m2 carbide metal tool tips. You can use oil hardened drill rod( cheap at enco.com) and make any shape tool holder needed. Lots cheaper and work just as good as the expensive tools. All that is needed is a drill, tap, and a heat if you need to bend it( can be done with a cheap propane torch. If you want try looking it up on sawmill creek.com or woodturners resource( turnwood.net). Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Thomas Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Hmmm... the inserts are fine for spindle turning and scraping, but in my limited experience, I haven't seen them used as replacements for gouges. Seems like it would be more trouble to shape an insert for gouging than to machine or forge a gouge from M-2 and heat treat it. However, here is a link to the premier site for turning, where you might get more help if you are really interested:The American Association of Woodturners homepage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Sorry ed, I was talking tool holders for scrapers- they are kinda expensive when you can make your own for a lot less - not talking about replacing gouges and such. Should have be a little clearer ( gotta get that second cup of coffee in me) Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rstegman Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Take my opinion with a grain of salt. Using grinders to shape and cut turning tools is comonly used. The bowl gouge and roughing gouge can be made from rod stock. Shape the grinding wheel for the flute profile you are after, and simply grind and grind, and grind. One type of turning tool set one can use is where is is basically a rod with a hole in the end and a set screw to hold metal cutting bits. One then has the handle with a set screw to fit the other end of the rod. One can make a whole set of interchangeable turning tools, with whatever shape bit one needs, whatever type handle suites the needs, even outrigers for stability. All that is needed is a bit of imagination. Welding skills help a lot. The great thing about using the grinder to shape the metal, is that one does not need to heat treat it if it starts that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobStrawn Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Finally a conversation in my area. I seriously enjoy turning mesquite. It has a great grain, and can turn to a polish. The stuff is lovely and durable. It' major flaw is fairly low split resistance. Apart from that, it is one of the best woods you can get. It is the most stable wood I know. Osage orange is the horror. You can watch the metal wearing off of a solid well tempered M2 tool as you turn. Some pieces will turn fine, some will wear you out. O1 can do quite well as a turning tool with one small but important note. High speed cuts can overheat tool edges and ruin the temper of the tool. Because of this, HSS is generally preferred. I usually don't burn my tools, but I don't make a lot of bowls. Large diameters, such as bowls, at high speed means a lot of wood wearing past the blade in a short time. Easy to turn a blade yellow. If the angle of the cut is correct, and the blade angle is correct, you can often cut for a long time without wearing the blade edge at all. The wood can do a controlled split just before the edge and leave a very clean, even burnished surface. Mesquite is so even in behavior that it is one of the easier woods to do this with. Mike Darlow in his book 'The Fundamentals of Woodturning' details the split before the blade edge at the beginning of the fourth chapter. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobStrawn Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Ultra solid tools are nice for turning. A blade with wobble can chatter and dig in, ruining work. Long tools are better for fine control and details. A long tool with it's tip on the tool rest can be fine controlled by movement of the long handle. A longer handle means finer control. So the paradox is that huge heavy turning tools allow for finer detail. As far as precision goes, Turners often regrind tools as soon as they get them. Often they have all sorts of jigs for sharpening that no one else would use. Turners have to sharpen tools constantly. So the precision as far as manufacture goes, is in the cross section. The tip is going to be mangled or perfected by the turner in short order. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now