Thread: Follow up on the TCT cup cutter & conclusion

This time the timber is hard wood of unknown type. It came from a load of sheet metal as forklift dunnage or gluts.


pic 003 shows a over all shot with with two bands, this is the area of testing.

001 is the first attempt to produce a fine finish

002 is the final attempt

004 & 005 shows the cutter presented to the timber

Conclusion:

The cutter can produce a good finish with a small or flat learning curve. The fine finish does require a longer learning curve as it each timber will require slight variation on the technique along with feed and speed considerations.

Tried using the cutter for roughing down the square timber, totally inadequate.


Bounce or chatter is one of the areas where close attention to timber type, speed and feed rates is very important.

End grain turning was done with out any aids such as oiling etc. The end grain and the timber chosen had particularly bad end grain problem.

In removing the nub or centre peak on a bowl or platter. The cutter preforms very well.

The edge has held up very well on this limited test and I did find the need to rotate the cutter during the test.Although it was rotated for comparison purposes.

The two angles shown in 004 & 005 are the two critical aspects. I had one one angle to play with as shown in 004. This angle needs more research to find the optimum and from this experience it could be as low as 5'

So my best results are shown on the left hand band in pic 002. At the end of the day roughing out on green timber and finish cuts on dry timber are where it seems to shine.

Turning dry Australian Hard woods, such as burls etc is hard work. Best left to conventional tools or a cutter like the Munro with its limiting guard. As it will bounce or develop chatter on any thing but a whisper cut. A larger dia cutters would assist in producing a better finish. Buts its trade off on the less chatter of a smaller diameter.

I drew comparisons with two other cutters [a] Rolly Munro, [b] Ashley Isles cutter. Both of which I have owned or still own.