Thread: Discussion - Future of Woodturning Tools & Directions

Good question Scott, I'm sure you will get a varied amount of responses.

My point of view is this, and I apply it to all forms of woodworking:

My time is very limited. Between work and commuting, uni study, working after hours, and early next year our first baby - my time for 'things I want to do' is extremely limited. Unfortunately I don't have much time for the shed. With this in mind, when I do get the time I want to get in there, make what I want, and get out.

Don't get me wrong, I love spending the time thinking, designing, making jigs, etc, but if there is a quicker way to do something, I want to do it. As an example, a Domino let me build a few things that had been 'on hold' for years. Similiar to what Scott has put down, this is by no means a 'traditional' tool or joint, but it let me finish some projects which otherwise would still be in pieces.

I respect people who have the time and skill to master hand tools and hand cut joinery, and good on them. But it ain't for me at this stage.

Look at it this way. Having a non-traditional tool allowed me to finish some projects, and ultimately retain my interest in woodwork. If it wasn't for this, I may well could have stopped woodworking all together and taken up another hobby. Instead, I will continue on with this while at the same time can feel my desire for traditional tools building. From this view, its keeping me in the hobby, and I'm sure modern tools such as the tungsten bit turning tools will attract a whole heap of people into the hobby and industry - good for everyone.

Nathan.

It's a bit like the internal combustion engine that fundamentally hasn't altered in design for over 100 years. Turning tools haven't changed much over the centuries, with the only significant advancement being with HSS. I can't see the TC being much of an alternative. Sure, there have been some inroads made into TC turning tools but they simply aren't as good as HSS for most turning applications. I have a few TC tools but only use then on really hard stuff. From my reading you cant get as keen an edge on TC compared to HSS so HSS will be the choice of most turners, given where metal technology is at, for a while to come.

I agree with BS, I simply can't see TC tools making even as much difference to Turning as HSS tool made over carbon steels.

I think with most trends the tungsten will take off, I used to work in a woodturning factory we had a shop with tools etc and the boss taught lesson on weekends. some students would see the arsenal of chisels gouge and scrapers we had on the wall in workshop and they would want to buy exactly what we had! I tried to explain that they were better off waiting to see what they were making at home before spending $ 1000's as some of our collection were for one off jobs that we might not use again but they saw we had one and so should they!
having said that I am looking into getting some or at least 1 tungsten tool soon for bowl work and deep hollowing still weighting up am I going to use it enough to warrant the purchase!
when it comes to between Centre turning thought 9.5 times out of 10 ill do it with my old faithful HSS kit of skew chisels and gouges!

Originally Posted by Scott

I was having a discussion with a prominent business the other day about how we (woodturners) achieve the end results using the tools at our disposal. I had noticed an emergence of tungsten tipped tools and wondered if these type of tools were going to replace the more traditional woodturning tool, i.e. gouges and skews. Does it matter how we achieve the end result using whatever tool at our disposal?

Depends on whether you want to be a Woodturner or patternmaker?

TC works well for scrapers, but I don't believe it has any advantages (instead I believe it has disadvantages) when it comes to cutting tools such as gouges, skews, etc.

Furthermore, while HSS made for major improvements in both cutting AND scraping tools when compared to carbon steel, we still have a variety of gouges, scrapers, skews etc. rather than a "one tool does all." And for some jobs I still prefer a good quality CS gouge to modern HSS, such as for finishing cuts!

So, I seriously doubt that TC will replace existing tools... instead it's just another string in our bow when it comes to choosing the right tool for the job at hand.

Originally Posted by

Depends on whether you want to be a Woodturner or patternmaker?

I only wanted to provoke a discussion, but if you could explain, that'd be great

Skew pretty well summed it up.

At the moment Carbide is only used to make tools that scrape (hence pattern makers) but that could change.

It took woodturners 40-50 years after metal turners had used them to adopt HSS tools.

As for not being as sharp as HSS or HC that is debatable, as each can be sharpened to the same level but they take longer with more specialised equipment to achieve the edge.

AS a tradesman carpenter of a bit ago, all my tools had handles. Now days all the carpenter's tools have triggers. Could this possibly happen to turning? Automatic and copy lathes did change the hand turning trade, so who knows what is in the future. Where will the silicon chip take wood turning?

Jim

Originally Posted by powderpost

AS a tradesman carpenter of a bit ago, all my tools had handles. Now days all the carpenter's tools have triggers. Could this possibly happen to turning? Automatic and copy lathes did change the hand turning trade, so who knows what is in the future. Where will the silicon chip take wood turning?

Jim

But there's be a much higher ratio of Pro:amateur capenters than the same for woodturners (i.e. trigger demand for carpenters would be much higher than for turners)

I do mostly bowls, and tool handles for my own use. The best finish comes from a slicing action rather than a scraping action. Until the carbide tools are changed to have strength while ground very thin, as in a skew or spindle gouge, The high speed steel and powder metal tools will have the advantage. The unsupported thin edge breaks off.

I have an Easy Finisher with the round carbide tip that I use for hollowing while I support the bowl with the tail center. I can run the round tip from the bottom up the side to the rim while holding the tool parallel to the bed.

It is a scraper, and gives a rougher finish than a bowl gouge. I have been resharpening the "never needs sharpening" tip for about two years on a diamond plate. It does make a significant difference.

After pulling the tail center back and turning off the spigot I finish the bowl with a bowl gouge or a spindle gouge rolled over on its side to slice off the timber as a skew does on a spindle.

On some recent growth dry black walnut, the Easy Finisher made two quadrants of smooth and two quadrants of 1/4 inch furry grain. On dry locust, which approaches some of your hard AU timber, it is smoother all around. On softer timber it is fur all around.

I have some old carbon steel tools, that when freshly sharpened and honed make cleaner finishing cuts than anything else I have. Crown, Thompson, Henry Taylor, etc. Of course they stay razor sharp for a shorter time than the high speed steels.

Okay, I love scrapers. I have been experimenting with the Tantung and Stellite materials. Both can be sharpened on standard grinding wheels, and have much better edge durability than HSS or even the V10 steels. Scrapers, like gouges can do both scraping and shear cuts. That depends mostly on the nose profile. Square nose is very difficult to get a shear cut with, but more ( or C nose, and you can do a bevel rubbing shear cut, or shear scrape. The Tantung has been around for a long time in the woodturning world. Just not well known, but it does an excellent job on Myrtle (california bay laurel) which has interlocking grain, and is rather abrasive. Who knows, I may get more scraper converts.....

robo hippy

Robo,

I have rolled the Easy Finisher over to about a 45 degree angle and done some shear scraping with it. It is makes a much smoother surface, but is hard to control as there is only the corner of the square shaft on the tool rest.

Someone makes one with the tungsten carbide tip mounted at a 45 at the end of a square shaft so the flat sits on the rest.

I use the two Bedan looking scrapers below for hollowing also. I have a bunch of various home made and acquired tools that are used interchangeably. The smaller was a concrete form stake, the larger a blacksmith made a heavy bench chisel from a square file that I ground for my purposes.

2-P1050732.JPG1-P1050729.JPG

Doug Thompson makes a 'fluteless' gouge, which is half round bar stock. If the carbide tipped, and my tantung and stellite scrapers were on the half round stock, they would work much better as shear scrape tools. I do put a 1/4 round edge on the bottoms of all my scrapers. I am not sure how the half round tools would work for straight scrapers. Fine I guess if you are plunging straight in, but if you are using one edge, they may not work as well.

robo hippy