Thread: D-way vs Thompson gouge

Originally Posted by RETIRED

I have been saying the same thing for the last 30 odd years.

I asked a metallurgist I used to know about this and his reply (and his mate concurred) that in the hardening or tempering process the ends can sometimes cool quicker thereby not receiving the same treatment as the main body of the tool.
He said that the result can go one or two different ways depending on the steel: 1: A "softer" steel, i.e. not as hard as the rest therefore bluntens(?) quicker or 2: An extremely brittle edge which can crack. I have experienced this on an Ashley Isles spindle gouge many years ago when HSS was in its infancy for turning tools. It was a bloody good tool after the missing bit was gone.

Then its a process issue and by the sound of it geared to the dollar as opposed to quality.