Thread: Cutting silicon carbide help! For pottery tools.

Originally Posted by tea lady

I am sick of struggling with the available tools. And want to make my own range of pottery tools to hopefully even sell to fellow frustrated potters. I want to cut my own shapes for the tools and attache them to my wood turned handles. Any one who can help me with this project? There was a range of carbide tools available for a while that sold for around $100 upwards each. If they were the right shape and ergonomic design they would have been great!

The usual tools potters use are only steel strapping that goes blunt very quickly and can only be sharpened a few times before they are thrown away. I was going through $30 worth of then a month when I was doing it all the time. (Making more wood turning tools go blunt these days. I just want to make pottery less frustrating to do too! ) Carbide tools are supposed to never go blunt in this application!

Any one?

Can you post a link to either the steel ones or carbide versions?

Greg

Originally Posted by Greg Q

Can you post a link to either the steel ones or carbide versions?

Greg

Here is a link to their web sight! They don't actually have any photoes which seems pretty dumb to me! Phil Poburka and Bison Studios

They are also available on the "Etsy" sight! pdpbison on Etsy

I want them kinda like this. O;ly differant of course.

Anne Maria I don't think you'll have any luck with the versions that look like ribbons of steel.

The solid ones you might have some luck with, perhaps in High speed steel? HSS has the advantage of being much easier to shape on a grinder, and it is possible to sharpen.

If you really want carbide you'll be faced with grinding with either a silicon carbide "green" grinding wheel, a diamond wheel or wire EDM machine. The last would be expensive unless a toolmaker somewhere owes you a favour.

Nothing is impossible, but you'd have to source thin carbide in the right sizes, shape it and silver-solder on a stem to fit into the handle. Then there's the matter of accurately lapping the edge for use as carbide does not like a real acute edge, hence the lapping is the only way to get it sharp enough for hand use. (assuming the clay needs a sharp edge?)

Greg

Oh come on! It must be possible cos its already being done! What about laser cutting for the shapes?

I do only want the solid tools not the ribbon ones.

It sounds like you give up too easy Greg!

I was just looking at his site in the first link and see that the open tools are carbide. Carbide in sections that thin are foreign to me as I've only used chunkier sections.

I'm not one to shy away from spending $10,000 to save a couple of hundred on something by making it myself. Even if the end result is pretty crap. But I am getting a bit smarter about that lately.

With regard to the solid tool as pictured you'd really just need to find the chunk of carbide, draw out the shape and grind it to suit. You can get cheap diamond wheels on ebay for around $30. They work. Use them with lube of some kind.

I still don't know how sharp it needs to be. If really sharp you can make a lapping wheel from a 6" dia piece of Aluminium charged with some diamond paste.

Good luck with it

Greg

Hey Tea Lady!

How about modifying this:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/BAHCO-PREMIUM-CARBIDE-SCRAPER-REPLACEMENT/dp/B0001P0PJK/ref=sr_1_17?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1318743758&sr=1-17]Amazon.com: BAHCO PREMIUM CARBIDE SCRAPER REPLACEMENT BLADE, 1" PEAR SHAPE FOR 625 SCRAPER: Home Improvement[/ame]

Greg

And yes, apparently SC can be laser cut. It'll still be up to you though to draw the profiles and convert to a .dxf file for the laser cutter.

Originally Posted by Greg Q

I was just looking at his site in the first link and see that the open tools are carbide. Carbide in sections that thin are foreign to me as I've only used chunkier sections.They are probably using fuzzy metal terminology like me! I just want a tool that doesn't go blunt when rubbed on silicon particles.

I'm not one to shy away from spending $10,000 to save a couple of hundred on something by making it myself. Even if the end result is pretty crap. But I am getting a bit smarter about that lately.

With regard to the solid tool as pictured you'd really just need to find the chunk of carbide, draw out the shape and grind it to suit. You can get cheap diamond wheels on ebay for around $30. They work. Use them with lube of some kind.

I still don't know how sharp it needs to be. If really sharp you can make a lapping wheel from a 6" dia piece of Aluminium charged with some diamond paste.

Good luck with it

Greg

Doesn't have to do sharp enough to shave with or anything! As sharp as those bits in the C1 rougher that is available to wood turners now. I think they use the same bits as the thicknessers.

Maybe loop tools could be made out of planer blades.

PLANER BLADES TUNGSTEN CARBIDE X 6 UNIVERSAL FIT | eBay

Or a lord of the rings ring?

Tungsten Carbide Shiny Finish Traditional Mens Wedding Band SZ 11 -tun610sa | eBay

Look look look!Nearly exactly what I want! (fall over with surprise)

BAHCO WOLFRAM CARBIDE TRIANGULAR SCRAPER BLADE SUIT 625 | eBay

So how easy is it to re shape a little? For someone who is use to sharpening turning tools?

Tea lady, I've got a honours degree myself.... it's the rare one: for watching house paint dry . It's all ART Isn't it . MIKE

Originally Posted by tea lady

So how easy is it to re shape a little? For someone who is use to sharpening turning tools?

Wolfram is the Swedish word for Tungsten. So any youtube video on sharpening tungsten carbide will give you the basics on how to re-shape it. Green wheel or a diamond cup wheel mounted to your regular grinder.