mmayo
Member
12 Roadster /Saturns
12 Sierras
1 Razor
Lots of wood pens moving lately so time to get to work. Holiday craft show within Souza Winery this weekend. Now for finishing.
Nice three hours work
- Thread starter mmayo
- Start date
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12 Roadster /Saturns
12 Sierras
1 Razor
Lots of wood pens moving lately so time to get to work. Holiday craft show within Souza Winery this weekend. Now for finishing.
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eduardomachado
Member
Scissortail Pens
Member
Would you please stop doing things like this. My wife thinks it takes at least 3 days to make a pen. You're really messing it up for me...:biggrin:
mmayo
Member
M
Many pardons, I am under the gun and had the blanks drilled, tubes glued up and flushed up in advance. The pens are finished and ready for tags. My trusty small carbide with a 2" radius was slightly squirrelly for some reason today. I will change the chip, screw and clean it well. The Magic Bob tool with a 2" radius continues to be my choice for 90% of these pen tubes. I like a smaller cutter when I get close to the bushings.
I tell people honestly that one simple pen start to finish would take three hours. Only through the economy of doing many at once does the time reduce.
By the way, shop start time today was 4 am... Kind of a weird retirement, but my choice.
Many pardons, I am under the gun and had the blanks drilled, tubes glued up and flushed up in advance. The pens are finished and ready for tags. My trusty small carbide with a 2" radius was slightly squirrelly for some reason today. I will change the chip, screw and clean it well. The Magic Bob tool with a 2" radius continues to be my choice for 90% of these pen tubes. I like a smaller cutter when I get close to the bushings.
I tell people honestly that one simple pen start to finish would take three hours. Only through the economy of doing many at once does the time reduce.
By the way, shop start time today was 4 am... Kind of a weird retirement, but my choice.
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mark james
IAP Collection, Curator
I was fortunate to be able to try out the Magic Skew when in "prototype" mode. I liked it fine, spent 2-3 hours with it and it was an improvement to my roughing gouge/spindle gouge/carbide cutters. But I went back to the tools I had gotten used to. Time passed...
Several weeks ago I assisted MagicBob at a local tool show, and used his tools exclusively (Magic Skew) for probably 8-10 hours over two days. Since then, My former carbide tools and roughing gouge are collecting saw duct. After a better learning curve, I agree with your comments on this tool being one for a great asset.
mmayo
Member
By the way, at first I thought I had wasted $100 for the tool, I no longer feel that way. I bought five replacement cutters from AZ Carbide to keep me turning.
Scissortail Pens
Member
No reason to pardon yourself there, bubba...:biggrin:
I totally understand the retirement issue. Not weird at all, you enjoy doing it. I do as well. I wish I could actually get out to my shop that early, but this time of year it's too cold to start that early and I don't have any heat in the shop. I'm also with you on the carbides. The radius' and the round carbides are absolutely amazing at how well they cut. I use the square to rough and then work my way around with the round or radius. Also the three hours is at least for me about the right amount of time. If I make sure that the CA is cured between coats it takes me about 3 hours to make one from start to finish. At least that's where I am at, at the moment.
mecompco
Member
I love the Magical Skew. I haven't touched my other tools since I got it. It is so much faster and I love not having to touch up the edges every few minutes (especially with acrylics). It almost feels like cheating, but you can't argue with the results.
You can't beat AZ Carbide's prices on cutters!
Skie_M
Member
Actually, I just bought a pack of 10 carbide cutters from Global.
I spent $1.73 per carbide bit, plus some for shipping ... ended up being around $2.60 per bit all told.
I got the 10-pack of 14mm x 14mm square cutters with .5mm radius edges (no sharp corner). It doesn't have the 2" radius edges, but I think I can work with these quite nicely. I do have to build a new tool holder, as they don't fit the holder I currently have, but that's just a minor issue. I can get some mild steel square barstock, grind down the edge I'll need, and drill/tap the hole for a machine screw. Making the rest of the handle will be easy ... I have a lathe!
I spent $1.73 per carbide bit, plus some for shipping ... ended up being around $2.60 per bit all told.
I got the 10-pack of 14mm x 14mm square cutters with .5mm radius edges (no sharp corner). It doesn't have the 2" radius edges, but I think I can work with these quite nicely. I do have to build a new tool holder, as they don't fit the holder I currently have, but that's just a minor issue. I can get some mild steel square barstock, grind down the edge I'll need, and drill/tap the hole for a machine screw. Making the rest of the handle will be easy ... I have a lathe!
eharri446
Member
I have to work in my garage and as it has been stated, it is getting to cold to go out early in the morning. I am thinking about getting one of those oil filled radiator style heaters to help take the bite off. Then I can get into the garage more often. Just have to make sure to keep it dusted off.
Scissortail Pens
Member
Billy, anytime you're back up in the area, give me a shout. I'll make sure you've got a hot cup of coffee and someone to talk shop with.
David
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Scissortail Pens
Member
I don't know if an oil filled one would help or not. My shop is a metal, 20x26 building that also doubles as a garage for the truck I'm rebuilding. It's not insulated yet and has no electric service out to it yet(we're working on that right now). I'm running extension cords out to it at the moment. Not the best setup by far, but, I'm trying to make the best of it.
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Skie_M
Member
Actually, I just bought a pack of 10 carbide cutters from Global.
I spent $1.73 per carbide bit, plus some for shipping ... ended up being around $2.60 per bit all told.
I got the 10-pack of 14mm x 14mm square cutters with .5mm radius edges (no sharp corner). It doesn't have the 2" radius edges, but I think I can work with these quite nicely. I do have to build a new tool holder, as they don't fit the holder I currently have, but that's just a minor issue. I can get some mild steel square barstock, grind down the edge I'll need, and drill/tap the hole for a machine screw. Making the rest of the handle will be easy ... I have a lathe!
Got an email request for a link to Global Tooling's site.
Carbide Insert Knives
The ones I bought are 3rd down from the top at $1.73 apiece.
zaqdesigns
Member
Wow, nice!
Scissortail Pens
Member
Actually, I just bought a pack of 10 carbide cutters from Global.
I spent $1.73 per carbide bit, plus some for shipping ... ended up being around $2.60 per bit all told.
I got the 10-pack of 14mm x 14mm square cutters with .5mm radius edges (no sharp corner). It doesn't have the 2" radius edges, but I think I can work with these quite nicely. I do have to build a new tool holder, as they don't fit the holder I currently have, but that's just a minor issue. I can get some mild steel square barstock, grind down the edge I'll need, and drill/tap the hole for a machine screw. Making the rest of the handle will be easy ... I have a lathe!
Got an email request for a link to Global Tooling's site.
Carbide Insert Knives
The ones I bought are 3rd down from the top at $1.73 apiece.
Are they good, Greg? I just ordered some round and radius from Arizona Carbide. They did me good. How do they compare?
Skie_M
Member
Well, as I said, I need to make a bit holder for them.
They are very square-ish, with just a tiny radius off the very tips of the corners. I expect that they will be excellent for roughing and giving me a clean level surface in preparation for drilling or finishing operations.
They are thicker by a little bit, compared to the carbide bits available from PSI, and seem to be quite sharp right out of the box ... Speaking of which, it's a nice small compact container, made to dispense the carbide bits one at a time, and it holds them apart from each other to avoid any damage during shipping.
You are restricted to buying a package of 10 at a time ... I expect these will last me a lifetime of use, especially if I go to the trouble of re-sharpening them at decent intervals.
The center hole is a size or two larger than the ones used by PSI's Ultra Carbide cutter bits, and the bit itself is larger, so it doesn't fit on the carrier properly without modification to the cutter carrier.
I plan to continue using the Ultra Carbide handle and 2 inch radius bit for most of my detail work, and the new bits for the roughing in work.
The Global Tools bits are 90 degree squared edges, and only the half millimeter at each corner gets rounded over.
Never tried the AZ Carbide stuff.
They are very square-ish, with just a tiny radius off the very tips of the corners. I expect that they will be excellent for roughing and giving me a clean level surface in preparation for drilling or finishing operations.
They are thicker by a little bit, compared to the carbide bits available from PSI, and seem to be quite sharp right out of the box ... Speaking of which, it's a nice small compact container, made to dispense the carbide bits one at a time, and it holds them apart from each other to avoid any damage during shipping.
You are restricted to buying a package of 10 at a time ... I expect these will last me a lifetime of use, especially if I go to the trouble of re-sharpening them at decent intervals.
The center hole is a size or two larger than the ones used by PSI's Ultra Carbide cutter bits, and the bit itself is larger, so it doesn't fit on the carrier properly without modification to the cutter carrier.
I plan to continue using the Ultra Carbide handle and 2 inch radius bit for most of my detail work, and the new bits for the roughing in work.
The Global Tools bits are 90 degree squared edges, and only the half millimeter at each corner gets rounded over.
Never tried the AZ Carbide stuff.
Scissortail Pens
Member
Sounds good. Are you using one of the Trend hones? I've seen where a lot of people are using them to sharpen carbides.
Skie_M
Member
Harbor Freight diamond knife hone block ...
It's a square profile block with 200 grit, 300 grit, 400 grit, and 600 grit surfaces. For my carbide bit, I only use the 600 grit surface. I place it flat side down and simply work it in circles for about 30 seconds ... then back onto the bit holder it goes, nice and sharp!
Had a look at the Trend credit card style sharpeners ... one side 300 grit, other side 600 grit ... I really don't see the difference, though I did make sure to pick out a block with nice smooth surfaces, as I use this for putting the basic bevel and edge on my hand planes.
I am giving serious thought to picking up some ceramic sharpening and polishing blocks from 1000 grit to 8000 grit, I'll have to see if they will actually work on carbide bits someday.
It's a square profile block with 200 grit, 300 grit, 400 grit, and 600 grit surfaces. For my carbide bit, I only use the 600 grit surface. I place it flat side down and simply work it in circles for about 30 seconds ... then back onto the bit holder it goes, nice and sharp!
Had a look at the Trend credit card style sharpeners ... one side 300 grit, other side 600 grit ... I really don't see the difference, though I did make sure to pick out a block with nice smooth surfaces, as I use this for putting the basic bevel and edge on my hand planes.
I am giving serious thought to picking up some ceramic sharpening and polishing blocks from 1000 grit to 8000 grit, I'll have to see if they will actually work on carbide bits someday.
mmayo
Member
I use a Trend diamond hone on my carbide chips. It does work and I will continue to sharpen them, but each time I install a new chip from AZ Carbide it is a pleasure. With wood the sharpening is great, with tricky acrylics, not so much.