advice needed on turning chisels

[fubar]

bought a mcmillam lathe second hand and have been turning a few items for chrissie presents using the chisels that came with lathe they seem to blunt up pretty quickly so thought i should upgrade the chisels

Although the timber i was turning was redgum house stumps from the 1950s
anyway on epay there is a set of Record Sheffield England.Model no: RP CHS7 Masters spindle & Bowl collection for around $200 and was wondering if these are any good or should i just go through carbatec or the like and spend $ on their high end products
thanks for any info and happy new year

[artme]

Bluntness comes from a number of factors including improper sharpening in the first place, Hard timbers, timbers with grit dust and other rubbish in them, high silica content timbers, poor quality metal in the chisels or high carbon steel chisels. These chisels take a wonderfuledge but dull quickl.
Try to find out what sort of steel the chiselsd are made from. I suspect that this is your problem.

Buy good quality High Speed Steell (HSS ) replacements. P&N are excellent quality and not so expesive as others. Also buy Unhandled chisels and then make your own handles. Good practice.

[robyn2839]

are these chisels the new type red handles (record power ) type? i cant find them on ebay,i have record power chisels and they are great chisels and they stay sharp longer,i reccommend them

ps are they like these if so they are good

[wheelinround]

what they have said also the chisels/gouges would have needed honing from new

the ones robyn is showing are identical to Gary Pyes set or H&F's $120 set

[steck]

Hi Fubar,
I agree with Artmee. Make sure the chisels are HSS (High Speed Steel).
I also agree that P&N chisels are good quality.
I have also bought some MCJING Tools and found that they also keep a good edge at a reasonable price. They ship stuff really fast!
http://www.mcjing.com.au/woodworking/index.htm

Good luck with the turning!

[robyn2839]

RECORD POWER RPCHS6 HSS 6 PIECE TURNING CHISELS SET.

Manufactured from high speed steel with ergonomically shaped and balanced handles Record Power turning tools are developed by woodturners for woodturners. The result being some of the finest turning tools money can buy. The RPCHS6 professional spindle collection is our best selling turning tool set. This set of six comprises a roughing gouge for rounding square timbers, a skew chisel to achieve silk like finishes, 3 spindle gouges for detailed contour work and a parting tool for beading and parting. The set comes complete in an attractive presentation box.

what they have said also the chisels/gouges would have needed honing from new

the ones robyn is showing are identical to Gary Pyes set or H&F's $120 set

the ones robyn are showing are not identical to the gary pyes sets,or H&F,s $120 sets they are quality chisels, as are these hamlets that also may look like gp.s sets but cost 3 times more,choose by quality and reccomendation, not looks, have a look at the record site...........and they are Hss also......bob

[wheelinround]

I said the H&F were $120 not Gary's I have a set of H&Fs HSS Chinese and they are good when sharp like any tool.

I have a midi set Chinese HSS of Gary Pye's also good but have to tend them more.

I have a set of Record carbon steel also


Not all HSS is equal

what we are saying is the harder the wood the better quality tool is required or lots of sharpening for lesser quality ones as you work the wood.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Just to throw a monkey in with the budgies, HSS isn't necessarily better than CS either. :)

CS can hold an edge for longer than HSS, but you need to be very, very careful to not overheat (blue) the edge during sharpening. HSS is more forgiving in this area.

Personally, my advice is "go for the Sheffields." (And get used to sharpening frequently, that's one of the less enjoyable - but inevitable - chores involved with turning.)

The difference between mid-range & high-end tools is only slight. Even if you used the best quality tools available, they'd probably still need sharpening almost as often as the mid-range. (Might save you two or three trips to the wheel. :rolleyes:)

It's when moving from poor- to mid-range tools that you notice the difference most. Might cut your trips to the wheel in half or better, depending on just how "bad" the poor tools were in the first place.


So... buy the Sheffields as the basis of your future chisel collection. Then, when your need & budget allows, buy any further tools one at a time, as best as you can afford.

[robyn2839]

I said the H&F were $120 not Gary's I have a set of H&Fs HSS Chinese and they are good when sharp like any tool.

I have a midi set Chinese HSS of Gary Pye's also good but have to tend them more.

I have a set of Record carbon steel also


Not all HSS is equal

what we are saying is the harder the wood the better quality tool is required or lots of sharpening for lesser quality ones as you work the wood.

i stand corrected over which $120 set my records are supposed to be identical to . the point i am getting at is that they are not identical, they are good quality and if they are the hss like mine they are worth buying as the original post asked.....bob

[fubar]

wow lots to learn and thanks for the replies:2tsup:
another question in length of handle is longer the better?
looks like i'll buy the bare blades and turn my own seems like good practice and the ferrules should be easy to get
again thanks

[robyn2839]

just found them on ebay looks like a good deal,especially when you see what he paid for them.bob

[artme]

Fubar, handle length is a personal thing. I like longer handles for some tools and types of work but shorter hadles for others.

My general rule of thumb is that larger tools need longer handles. However for things like penturning or small delicate work you will use smaller chisels and the handles will be correspongly smaller.

If you can look ay some examples in a tool suppliers inventory or contact a nmate who turns you will get an idea.

[regulated]

Do you know what Chisels you actually need yet. May pay to get a cheap set until you do. The ones you don't use much get the cheapies but the ones you use a lot get the Sheffield unhandled. Will keep an edge and last longer. No use spending hundreds on tools you won't use.

Another option is the Northwood ones. A lot of people have said they are good value for money.

BJ

[rsser]

I'm quite happy with the Record HSS tools I have. If you get some for a good price you shouldn't weep twice. (hmm, ... )

Contrary to Skew's experience, mine with CS is that though it takes a finer edge than HSS it doesn't last as long on most of the timbers I turn. (I learned to turn and sharpen, and sharpen again etc on an old set of Sorby CS).

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Oh dear... I meant what I said but I didn't say what I meant. :rolleyes::-

CS can hold a finer edge for longer than HSS but when it starts to go, it goes quickly.

HSS will hold a usable edge for longer than CS, just won't be as sharp in the first place.

Hope that clears it up?

[fubar]

thanks for all the replies didnt mean to start a war between cs and hss users but its quite an amusing and informative discussion as always on this forum

[rsser]

We spared you the discussion about the different types of HSS and their merits fubar :rolleyes:

As for the Records, I've had a parting tool and a roughing gouge in regular use for years and they've performed well.

[woodwork wally]

Do you know what Chisels you actually need yet. May pay to get a cheap set until you do. The ones you don't use much get the cheapies but the ones you use a lot get the Sheffield unhandled. Will keep an edge and last longer. No use spending hundreds on tools you won't use.

Another option is the Northwood ones. A lot of people have said they are good value for money.

Gidday I have a set of carbatec chinese hss and a set of medallion hss { these were bought on ebay with faulty ferrules at an absolute bargain ] and also some northwood gouges and the time spent sharpening is differant only in proportion to size but a set of Marples and Sorby mix in tool steel definately need more frequent sharpening when worked so now they dont get much work unless it is soft wood. Another good look point is the tungsten carbide tip tools CiL and others in this forum. I have a self made Cil clone that when used on some acrylester pen blanks they only need 400 & 600 grit then EEE before polishing:2tsup: and is almost as good on old redgum:) Cheers for now Wally