Hi to all,
I am soon to get a lathe hopefully and I thought I would get the 4 carbide tools at this site
http://www.harrisonspecialties.com/m...theAccessories
instead of HSS tools as sharpening looks tough to do??
I'm primarily interested in pen turning ( newbee) but may turn other stuff as skills improve?? I asked this question on another forum and the concensus there was go HSS not carbide so what to do?
Thanks in advance for your input,
Garry
If you're new: (Speaking as someone who is still new to the craft) :
Get the least expensive set of either HSS (or even carbon steel!) gouges. Harbor Freight (no kidding!) gouge set for $20 or so.
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-wood-lathe-turning-tool-kit-3793.html
Get eye protection (I prefer a full face shield).
Go buy a bunch of cheap wood from Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Poplar, pine 2x2s, etc.
Set up a sharpening jig, and learn to sharpen your steel tools. Turn the cheap wood into skinny spindles. Learn how wood interacts with the cutting edge. It's easy to learn if you just want to make funny-shaped sticks; it's much harder to learn if you have $ invested in your wood. It's easy to learn to sharpen on the $20 Harbor Freight tools. They'll get just as sharp an edge as the $100 PM HSS forged tool. (They won't last as long, but you don't care). Because it's an inexpensive tool set, you won't mind re-sharpening, and learning what works with the sharpening jig and what doesn't. Once you've re-sharpened your inexpensive tools to the nub, you can get the better tools.
Set up some exercises, as in "can I make something really really straight & cylindrical"?
Once you're pretty comfortable making spindles (and having fun doing it!), then, go ahead & spend some $.
I bought a carbide tool. I love it, but I don't use it all the time. I still use a roughing gouge to rough; I'm still learning the skew for beads. The carbide tool goes in for the finish cut when the shape works for it, and allows me to start sanding at fairly high grits.
Welcome, be safe, and have fun!!!