Nice! Couldn’t agree more, doesn’t matter what tool was used to achieve the end product. No one asks what brushes a painter used to pair with. Thanks again for sharing!
Hi Mike, I use both conventional and carbide. I think the reason your friend's cuts were so rough was that his tool rest was too high. If he would have lowered the rest so that the flat of the carbide cutter was at center, his cuts would have been a whole lot smoother. When I'm done with either tool, my cut surface looks the same. Of course nothing beats the surface left from a skew used well. Cheers!
Mike, I noticed you never mentioned anything about shear scraping with the carbide tools. You do not always need to have them flat on the tool rest and just plunge them into the wood. Sure, you can start that way, but you can then use the tool in shear scrape mode and get a finish that would rival any HSS tool. Also, you can get much smaller coves and beads by using the point tool instead of the round tool. To be honest, the best thing I found for the round tool is hollowing. All in all, I agree with Mike Canfield. I feel as though you might have done a little more research on the topic or invited someone a little more knowledgable about carbide tools if you were planning to compare the differences between HSS and Carbide.
mike i use carbides every day i love them how ever im keeping a open mind and agree with you for the most part how ever i think that carbides work great and are awesome for heavy work . if you watch any of my videos you will see that i use the carbides for most of the work i do . but i do like to mix it up i use both your right there are places that the traditional tools just work better . but for the heavy work it is nicer to use the carbids and save the edge on my traditional tools then when i do use the traditional tools most of the time i can bring back the razor edge with a few swipes of a diamond sharpener . saves on grinder work . to be honest im not the best at free hand sharpening on the grinder and there is no reason you cant use both . would have loved to see you use them carbides . if you dont have them you should try them buddy i bet you will love them if you do .
So Mike here is my two cents worth...not that anyone should listen to me and my couple months of wood turning. 😂 So I discovered on small spindle turnings such as my pens I like to use a roughing gouge. In fact I like traditional tools for smaller projects. But I just made a small cup sized "catch all" and my carbide tools were the way to go for hollowing it. But used a roughing gouge to do the outside shaping. So I think all tools have a place, my problem with carbide is using a light touch. 🤣 There's my two cents.
Interesting videos but I don't think carbide appeals to me, however, if my wife wants to turn, I may well buy her a set as they are, cleatly, a good option for new turners. I agree with other comments in that it doesn't matter what tools you use, as long as you achieve the result you want. Thanks James
I use only carbide tools nowadays as I only have a small emco Unimat lathe, they are ideal in my opinion for working on small stuff and detailed work, but then most of the time I use the lathe for metal turning for my steam models
Good video Mike. I use several different brands of carbide turning tool and have a lot of I speed steel tools. Easy wood tools recently came out with a lot of tools/carbide tips. For instance they have negative rake cutters now that are excellent on plastic pen kits or any really hard dense wood . They even make an Easy Wood parting tool. Mike, all the best to you and yours. Ron
Hey Mike great video both part one and two. I started off with HSS and now primarily use carbide. I have used the Rockler cutters the easywood cutters and the CPT Eddie Cutters. All seem to perform the same so I prefer the CPT Eddie cutters due to the price. I also do a lot of resin turning and I have not found anything better than the easywood negative rake cutters for turning resin.
Your video successfully demonstrated that you have much to learn about using carbide tools. With skillful use they outperform conventional tools. More time turning and less time sharpening. (Insert something here about old dogs and new tricks).
I have noticed after watching hundreds and hundreds of wood turning videos that after claiming the benefits of "riding the bevel" the most common phrase is "then I use the scraper to clean up the tool marks".
Easy Wood Tools has a parting tool-fyi. Most lathes come with a face plate so making a recess in the bottom of a bowl is not likely to be a problem. I have been using them almost exclusively for over a year and have managed to impress everyone who sees my work. If you use a gentle hand just like you would for final cuts with a steel tool you can get a pretty clean surface.
They have there uses, I never limit myself to any one type tool. I have the mini set of easywood that my grandson grabs for when he is making a project. That tell me they are easy to use. I love them , carbide that is, but they are no match for a good Thomson gouge. But a Thomson gouge is no match for a easywood carbide in the right situation. I am a bit cheap myself and have made a few carbide cutters by taking a 1/2 in square steel bar stock and with a grinder shape it and put on a carbide cutter. I don't even have a handle on it. Works. Pine is really not a good wood to test compare, I only use it for waste blocks, just saying. Thanks for the video.
Did not see if anyone pointed out the different sizes of carbide cutter and tools for mounting them. Addresses some of your concerns for size of cove etc. Also with experience you can become skilled at using a combination of the tools to achieve he same forms as with the traditional tools. Which as Mike pointed out he uses more than one traditional tool to achieve his results.
Not much. I haven’t found them any better, or even as good, as bowl gouges. I still use them occasionally for hollowing work. The one exception is my dedicated shear scraper, which works much better than anything else I’ve used for shear scraping.
Carbide tools should be.in every turners tool kit. I use mostly HHS good but when I turn wood like California mountain mahogany, I use carbide as this wood is as hard as iron wood.
I always use the diamond point tool when I'm using wire to burn a decorative line. This is because it gives a round bottom that fits the wire. If you use a skew or point tool to make the groove it is v bottomed. The round wire will not fully get to the bottom of v shaped groove.
Interesting observation. I always use a point tool for burn wire grooves. It makes a v groove and I never had a problem with the burn wire getting to the bottom. We must be doing something differently.
@@MikePeaceWoodturning If you gradually increase the wire ( G guitar string or bassier ) pressure, it will burn a line all over, even with the skew toe. Depends on the width of your burn line, you swing the wire gently from side to side. You can use the treble strings for really narrow burn ( friction ) lines down to 0.008" wide. I've done it plenty.
Mike: you are comparing apples to oranges. I mostly use traditional tools, but when I turn acrylics the carbide works best for me. Carbide also works for some exotic wood. You need to check out the carbide tool that Rick makes at his channel. Rick Turns. The cutter is at a 45 degree angle and rival's the finish of a sheer scrape with a bowl gouge. You never mentioned or compared the new negative rake carbide cutters that have been out for a while. Bottom line you seem to be out of date with your information. Thumbs down for this one for incomplete information.
Thanks for your feedback. I am not sure if I could ever provide every piece of information someone thinks is needed to be comprehensive. Getting into one vendors newest offering is beyond the scope I intended but might be worth a mention later.
I prefer conventional tools as more versatile and provide a better surface finish with less sanding. Carbide is easier for new turners. Choose what works best for you.
