Thread: 10V after crabbiness at wright's supposed test data

Thanks for the data in regard to turning, Neil. I haven't followed what's popular in woodturning tools other than to note that 15v tools were launched here a while ago, and folks raved about them. And then they seem to have disappeared and I don't know why. 15V has lower toughness than 10V by a large margin, but I don't know that a good turner would have an issue with it. I saw some reviews for 15V tools on amazon here (western made, the stock probably keeps too many cheap versions from being made) that reported breakage of tools. A catch on a turning tool may be one of the very few things we do with wood that actually imitates the charpy toughness tests (hit the stock in the center with a hammer, measure how much energy it absorbs as it's broken).

I didn't know anyone used solid carbide tools (but again, lack of exposure), but recall the rise of the carbide insert types.

Originally Posted by D.W.

Thanks for the data in regard to turning, Neil. I haven't followed what's popular in woodturning tools other than to note that 15v tools were launched here a while ago, and folks raved about them. And then they seem to have disappeared and I don't know why. 15V has lower toughness than 10V by a large margin, but I don't know that a good turner would have an issue with it. I saw some reviews for 15V tools on amazon here (western made, the stock probably keeps too many cheap versions from being made) that reported breakage of tools. A catch on a turning tool may be one of the very few things we do with wood that actually imitates the charpy toughness tests (hit the stock in the center with a hammer, measure how much energy it absorbs as it's broken).

I didn't know anyone used solid carbide tools (but again, lack of exposure), but recall the rise of the carbide insert types.

The additional cost of 15V is probably the reason why it has fallen out of favour and, although I have never experienced any problems with it myself after years of use, some turners have reported edge breakout issues. Given its performance I would have more gouges made of it if I could obtain them.

Currently nobody sells a solid tungsten carbide bowl gouge so I had to make my own for undertaking my test runs. Grinding a bowl gouge flute out of TC bar stock is a bit of an ordeal, so I expect I have most of the only few that are out there in the wild...

10X flute after polishing.jpg

Besides the setup costs of having TC shapes pressed (which is the way TC shapes would normally be manufactured), the other big issue with TC is its brittleness with a Rockwell Hardness A up in the low 90s with the grade of sub-micron TC I used. You don't need to do a Charpy test to know how low its toughness is, just drop it on the concrete floor and you end up with shards. A catch in the wood per se won't do that but a deflection of the tool into something hard like the tool rest or the lathe bed will have you looking for the pieces. An imbedded rock or piece of metal in the wood blank is also a big risk and an imbedded hardened screw would be disastrous.

Unless laminated to something tougher, Tantung has similar issues with its brittleness. If laminated, like traditional Japanese plane blade, I expect it would be a good performer as a plane blade. Also, it doesn't require diamond to grind it. One of its other advantages is that it can take high heat so would cope with silver solder lamination without losing its hardness. I know of one woodturner who uses Tantung in this way for his heavy duty roughing out scrapers.

Anyway, at least for now, 10V/A11 is on balance the best option for bowl gouges with most of us woodturners.