Thread: Making your own turning chisels

I've made a few HSS chisels and a few more out of old files, tempered back so they weren't rock hard and liable to snap but I wasn't that impressed with the old file versions.

If you want a longer HSS chisel you can always attach a short section of HSS onto the end of a mild steel shaft.

Attachment can be an interesting/challenging problem.

If you use round HSS bar a hole in the end of the mild steel shaft and a couple of grub screws through the mild steel will work

For flat chisels the obvious way is to drill a couple of holes at one end of the HSS and attach it to the shaft with a couple of short socket screws.
You'll need a TC drill bit - if you are a cheap skate like me a touched up masonry bit will do it. Use old ones as they can disintegrate

The other way is to make clamping action end on the mild steel shaft. A metal mill comes in handy of you want to make a notched clamp but there are plenty of other ways - even a file if you have patience..

You can get some bigger HSS blanks from High Speed Steel Rectangular Blade including a 12X25X200. Nothing 300 long though.

If move away from HSS your then probably using carbon steel CS or high carbon steel HCS . Carbon steel is sensitive to heat and the heat treatment of them can lost during grinding, edge holding characteristics arent as good as HSS. But you can get a very fine edge on this type of steel, think of cut throat razors. I have one 3/8 HCS gouge for the nasty of nasty tear outs timber, seldom used but its there.

Any carbon steel can heat treated in the back shed with Mapp gas or similar and a bucket of water if the cross section is less than 25mm roughly, otherwise use oil, cooking oil will do. Do not use old sump or gearbox oil too many additives. Hot or boiling water can be used to substituent for oil on larger cross section of CS or HCS. This is especially good with spring steel when the grade of spring steel is unknown, ie generally old spring steel, say prior to 1970.

But the bottom line is they wont be as good as M2 HSS which is generally used in the lower priced tools. The more well known brand use far better HSS and of course the price goes up.

If your budget is tight, give it a go. As it will be a good learning curve on heat treating steel and improve your thoughts on the more exotic steels. I have done it in the past still do it occasionally to day.

Rob, I don't want to put you off, but here is my experience doing that. My background is metal, dad was a Blacksmith, the workshop was our backyard. I got into woodturning by building a wood lathe for my then wife, rather than buying one. Dad and I experimented with lot's of different steels, but none held their edge.
My experience with Mcjings HSS has not been any good, but that was a long time ago and others are saying the stuff currently available is ok.
For your longer HSS, Google these guys, I know they carry large sizes, voestalpine. I can't get the link to copy.
Good luck,
Rgds,
Crocy.

Bob has the right idea by attaching the HSS to regular bar steel.
Another method of attachment is with Silver Brazing. HSS was made to withstand high temperatures when machining so Silver Brazing it won't affect the material properties. You just need to get the rod and find someone with an oxygen acetylene torch set. When done don't quench it, let it air cool.

Pete

Originally Posted by Old Croc

Rob, I don't want to put you off, but here is my experience doing that. My background is metal, dad was a Blacksmith, the workshop was our backyard. I got into woodturning by building a wood lathe for my then wife, rather than buying one. Dad and I experimented with lot's of different steels, but none held their edge.
My experience with Mcjings HSS has not been any good, but that was a long time ago and others are saying the stuff currently available is ok.
For your longer HSS, Google these guys, I know they carry large sizes, voestalpine. I can't get the link to copy.
Good luck,
Rgds,
Crocy.

McJings are still around, I dont think the HSS has improved much. but then it might depend on what species your turnng

McJing Tools

Originally Posted by Old Croc

For your longer HSS, Google these guys, I know they carry large sizes, voestalpine. I can't get the link to copy.
Good luck,
Rgds,
Crocy.

I have never heard of Voestalpine, but I was going to suggest a company called Bohler Steel. and their S600 HSS which I used to buy in 300mm lengths. I have been out of the industry for quite a few years now, and was surprised when I typed in Bohler Steel in a search engine, up came their new name Voestalpine!
I have several skew chisels I made from S600 and they are fabulous to use. You will need to round off the edges to prevent damage to your tool rests, and grinding a tang will keep you busy for quite a while. Alternatively, a piece of round mild steel with a slot in it to fit over the rectangular section of the blank silver soldered or brazed on will give you a fairly long skew chisel.
I reckon their website isn't the easiest to navigate, but a quick phone call should get you under way. High Speed Steel - voestalpine HPM (Australia) Pty Ltd

Mcjing sell a range of HSS gouges and skews that just need a handle fitted, as others have mentioned. Many guys in our wood club use these tools and are happy with the price and material.

I have also used bits of power hacksaw blade and other bits of HSS or tool steel either screwed or brazed onto mild steel flat bar ground into a variety of shapes for scrapers.

Another possibility for gouges is to use the shaft out of a car suspension front strut. I don't know if it will hold an edge, but is ideal for tool rests, either as is, or welded as a wear rod to a mild steel carrier.

Some fun and games ahead for you experimenting with the suggestions above.

Alan...

Thanks for the comments . Its a good range of ideas and knowledge coming through .

Ive joined HSS by welding before , Mig welded with 50 / 50 success . And by brazing, but used Bronze . It was some HSS to carbon steel . Extending some Spoke shave blades . They had a bad edge from the heat required and how close to the cutting edge it was I think . They didn't hold an edge for more than 15 seconds . Only tried out one of the ones I did ( Made 2) once and haven't gone back to them .

So silver could be a lot better because of less heat around the cutting end .

And I think Bob's suggestion of lengthening could be used but Id bronze braze the extension on the tang end if I did that. And try and hide it in the handle.

I'm sort of not wanting it to get to involved . If I can grind up some scrap and get some good use out of it for scraping then it would be worth a try but if not then I'll buy them .

It add up the $ of course though.

doragus. That Mcjing link is good! I had searched there but obviously not the right way . A few times . I was just finding the metal lathe cutting HSS I think . There's some good sizes to be had there .

hughie . Thanks . The hot water sounds good.

Crocky .

" For your longer HSS, Google these guys, I know they carry large sizes, voestalpine."

Great link . That looks like quality stuff . One of the ones I looked at required heat treating . Heat treating HSS is beyond me . I dont have a furnace . But there is probably some there that can just be worked as is . Ill have a better look .

QC inspector Pete.

Silver would be good and "When done don't quench it, let it air cool."
That may have been what I did wrong with the HSS spoke shave blades . Apart from hotter Bronze I possibly quenched in water .

hughie . Yep thanks, looking at Mcjing closer now .




Rob

Originally Posted by Uncle Al

I have never heard of Voestalpine, but I was going to suggest a company called Bohler Steel. and their S600 HSS which I used to buy in 300mm lengths. I have been out of the industry for quite a few years now, and was surprised when I typed in Bohler Steel in a search engine, up came their new name Voestalpine!
I have several skew chisels I made from S600 and they are fabulous to use. You will need to round off the edges to prevent damage to your tool rests, and grinding a tang will keep you busy for quite a while.

There's no need to use a grinder to form the basic tang, use an angle grinder with a thin kerf cutting disc, and then use a grinder to round off the edges.

Alternatively, a piece of round mild steel with a slot in it to fit over the rectangular section of the blank silver soldered or brazed on will give you a fairly long skew chisel.
I reckon their website isn't the easiest to navigate, but a quick phone call should get you under way. High Speed Steel - voestalpine HPM (Australia) Pty Ltd.

I've bought a range of steels from Voestalpine but here in WA they have a minimum $50 sale price which often has me buying more than I need. They also sell thinner stock in minimum lengths, eg the 12mm rod stock min length for SS is 3m, unless they have the material in their offcuts racks of which they have many but have never seen any S600 offcuts, maybe I need to look a bit harder

Brazing tips is OK but bear in mind constant sharpening can use up a tips pretty quickly. Using a mechanical connection can allow for many different shaped tips to use a smaller number of handles/shafts.

Originally Posted by BobL

There's no need to use a grinder to form the basic tang, use an angle grinder with a thin kerf cutting disc, and then use a grinder to round off the edges.

It is a long time ago when I made the skews. I did use the cutting discs that were available back then, probably 2.5mm thick i suppose. I tidied up the tangs with normal angle grinder wheels. The thin cutting discs available these days are marvelous, very impressed with them indeed.

Alan...

I have for a long time now been playing around "making" my own turning tools. This happened out of necessity as there were no tool shops close and I am a bit of a skin flint with deep pockets and short arms, that likes to experiment. My first tools for turning were old files, I still have some of them.
I have played with engine push rods for small gouges, (there was a hole up the centre), a welders chipping hammer, an old cold chisel and my axe. In fact there was a photo of me turning with an axe in the Australian Wood Worker magazine. I have tried silver soldering old planer blades to mild steel bar that wasn't as successful as I had hoped. That was for scraping type tools.
My mate was an boiler maker at a local sugar mill, he "borrowed" a heavy duty machine hack saw blade and showed me how to silver solder pieces of the hack saw blade to flat mild steel bar. The big advantage of that is that the tool edge can be shaped to suit the job at hand and can be very easily replaced for next to no cost.
If there is a need I can get some photos in the morning.

Jim

Originally Posted by powderpost

My mate was an boiler maker at a local sugar mill, he "borrowed" a heavy duty machine hack saw blade and showed me how to silver solder pieces of the hack saw blade to flat mild steel bar. The big advantage of that is that the tool edge can be shaped to suit the job at hand and can be very easily replaced for next to no cost.
If there is a need I can get some photos in the morning.

Jim

Hi Jim .
Some pictures would be good to see .

Rob

I can't see the value in having whole bars of HSS for scraping or fussing about welding and brazing bits and pieces together, unless that is what you like to spend your time doing.

HSS tips that can be rotated to give you fresh edges and/or to present a different edge profile work better (and are cheaper) for me than having a bunch of expensive scrapers each with its own profile that I might need from time to time.

The tip system I use is the Woodcut scraper kit... CWS Store - Woodcut Pro-Forme Scraper kit

Unlike any other scraper config I know of it allows for shear scraping at your preferred angle inside forms and this rig can be fitted into a bar that you make with whatever configuration you prefer if you don't want to buy into the whole Pro-Forme bar kit.

If you want heft or rigidity you get that from your own bar design. If you want a swans neck to reach around inside a form you forge that to suit your needs.

And, the replacement tips are cheap enough.

https://www.cwsonline.com.au/shop/it...aper-2-cutters

Some of these "tools" were created out of necessity, simply because the nearest tool store was a week away by mail order and I like to push the boundaries a little. Keep in mind some of these weapons are about 30 years old, well before the internet and U-Tube existed. Some, made from chainsaw files, were for special purposes, not recommended for beginners.


IMG_2607.jpg
This one was made from a welders chipping hammer. The turned piece beside it was turned with this "tool" The flat portion became the "roughing gouge" and doubled up as a skew. the "pick" end was hollow ground to create a detail gouge. Note also the ergonomically designed handle.

IMG_2605.jpg
From the left, this was a push rod from a car engine, it was a failure, it would not hold an edge, so it didn't warrant a handle. Next is a very narrow parting tool made from a chain saw file, it still gets used when necessary. The next three are bent round bars with pieces of heavy duty hack saw blade. These were made as the need arose.

IMG_2606.jpg

About ten years ago, I got tired of lugging large lumps around and attacking them with a chain saw and started making small lidded slip fit boxes, not a lot of cleaning up needed? Then I got interested in hand thread chasing and started reading about the tools needed. I couldn't find a source so started making my own tools. The first one is an old carbon steel tool with hack saw blade tip for cleaning up the bottom of the boxes. The second is used for the relief at the bottom of an internal thread. The third one is the prototype of the bottoming tool. Never got around to making a handle for it. the last tool has a pivoting head for sanding inside small shaped boxes.

Heavy tools.jpg

The longest of these weapons is about 600mm long, made from a short length of 32 x 10 square bar with a 12mm round bar handle. The working tip is a piece of planer blade. The middle "tool" is a piece of 30 x 10mm flat bar with hack saw blade silver soldered on both ends on opposite sides. The second end is not visible. The third one was mad frome 12mm square bar. They were "developed" because I was making deep vases (300mm deep). This three are about 30 odd years old.

Why bother? Necessity is the mother of invention and the tools I needed were not, as far as I knew at the time, were not available, plus I enjoy experimenting.

Hope this is of some interest.

Jim