making your own lathe tools

[smitty10101]

So I'm being cheap (surprise!).

Have you made any turning tools?
If so:
What steel did you use and what supplier for the steel?
What was(is) the tool you made?
Did you anneal the steel & how?

I'm looking(thinking) of making a THIN parting with the intent of making a "bowl from a board".
I've seen the cuts for the rings done on a band saw & on a lathe. I'm more interested in the lathe procedure. Like in an 1/16 to 1/8 kerf. In one U Tube video the maker says he made the parting tool from a demolition reciprocating saw blade but doesn't explain the how and whether the use of the blade is safe.

Any thoughts, leads, advice?

Thks

smitty

[HandyDan]

I have made different lathe tools. If I was to make a thin parting tool I think I might take an old 6" joiner blade and and use it. They are HSS steel most often. If you need want to drill a hole in the back end for mounting purposes you will have to heat it up to somewhat red hot and let it cool on its own. I would stick it in my vise and leave the part to drill stick out the top for heating purposes. You can heat it up and the vise will act as a heat sink protecting the business end from excess heat. I probably would not worry about hardening it again since it is brittle when hardened. Here is a tool I made to use 1/4" metal lathe tool bits. Uses set screws to hold them in. The round shaft is not hardened. The thinner bits laying there have been employed as parting tools at times.

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Here are some carbide tipped tools on a round shaft I made using my metal lathe. The shafts for these and not hardened either. The second one is negative rake and is good for deep holes.

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[Cherryville Chuck]

I took a chainsaw raker file and made it into a parting tool. I ground the end on an angle and flattened the top edge. But that's about 1/8" thick. For best results the blade should taper a bit and I can't remember if I did that or not. I still need to make a handle for it. I also made an inside turning tool with a round carbide insert like Dan shows. I bought the insert and some screws for it from Banggood for under $10. I mounted it on one arm of of the forceps shaped fireplace tool (the one for grabbing the logs). It has the curve at the end for inside turning. It works well but I still need to put a handle on it too. And maybe shorten it.

You can use a saw to part pieces too. If you want a really thin cut use a hacksaw. Just remember that the deeper you go, the greater chance it might bind in the cut.

[smitty10101]

You can use a saw to part pieces too. If you want a really thin cut use a hacksaw. J

Ok----that sounds like it would bend quite easily (hacksaw blade).

I'm trying to stay away from carbide cutters----for no other reason than "because".
In my brain, I'm seeing that with the insert & the screw to hold it, the kerf would be more than I'm hoping for.

take an old 6" joiner blade and and use it

The joiner blade would work---except I don't currently have a dull one laying around.

I took a chainsaw raker file and made it into a parting tool

Somewhere/somehow ( the other forum??) when I brought up using a file I was informed that the steel in a file is too brittle to use as a turning tool.---don't know that for a fact but was unwilling to try and find out the hard way.

I will say that I have broken a file into 3 pieces w/o much trouble.

[Cherryville Chuck]

You can use a saw to part pieces too. If you want a really thin cut use a hacksaw. J

Ok----that sounds like it would bend quite easily (hacksaw blade).

I'm trying to stay away from carbide cutters----for no other reason than "because".
In my brain, I'm seeing that with the insert & the screw to hold it, the kerf would be more than I'm hoping f

Somewhere/somehow ( the other forum??) when I brought up using a file I was informed that the steel in a file is too brittle to use as a turning tool.---don't know that for a fact but was unwilling to try and find out the hard way.

I will say that I have broken a file into 3 pieces w/o much trouble.

I meant using the hacksaw blade in a frame. By itself it's too flimsy unless you use it in pull stroke mode. You'd still need to press it into the cut and it can bend and bind doing that. A Japanese pullsaw might work. You'd need to move the steady rest out of the way to use it. I have used a hacksaw to cut pieces off on my metal lathe.

I think it was one of the wife's uncles that told me years ago that he mostly used old files for turning tools but he also used them as scrapers. On their sides I agree that the chance of snapping one is pretty high, especially if you cant get the steady rest close on something short and small and have to extend it past the rest very far. On it's edge as a parting tool that's not so much an issue. Raker files are 3/4 to 1" in width. I don't do a lot of turning but I've been using that one file for a while now with no issues. Because it's so hard and sees limited use in comparison to my other tools it's never needed a touch up.

[HandyDan]

The joiner blade would work---except I don't currently have a dull one laying around.

Give me your address in a PM and I will mail you one.

[Cherryville Chuck]

I damaged a cutoff saw blade by trying to make a cut I shouldn't have. I wound up getting the blade jammed into some of the dust shroud. The only way I could get it unjammed was to cut a tooth out of the blade with a dremel with an abrasive cut off disc on it (first photo). Luckily it wasn't a new blade or an expensive one. But I thought I might as well try and repurpose it into other uses. I've been wanting to make a scratch stock and the steel in the plate should make good cutters. It's strong but can still be filed so that I can file or grind the pieces into profiles. I thought I might cut out a section or two with a tooth on the end and make a grooving plane out of that with one or two cutters mounted in it.

Smitty you got me thinking that a strip of the blade with a tooth on the end should also make a decent cut off tool. The tooth is already ground with relief angles and the body is thinner than the tooth for good clearance, plus the carbide tooth will stay sharp for a long time. So this morning I took my recip saw with a steel demon blade on it and cut a strip out of the blade. I'll have to make a handle for it before I can use but it should work pretty good. It may not be stiff enough for deep cuts but it should be okay for shallow cuts to an inch deep on a two inch diameter I'm thinking.

The one photo below shows the blade with the strip cut out, the strip with the tooth on it, the file I have been using for cut off, and the tool for inside turning I made. It's one half of an old fireplace tong. I ordered a round carbide cutter and pack of mounting screws and milled a flat on the end of the tong, then drilled and tapped a hole for the screw. It worked well in a trial run but I'm debating whether to cut some of the arm off and how much yet. The diamond sharpening stone in the picture is what I use to sharpen the carbide teeth on the cutter. It only takes about a minute to touch a tooth up.

[Stick486]

Smitty you got me thinking that a strip of the blade with a tooth on the end should also make a decent cut off tool.

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WAY TO GO CHUCK!!!!!

[smitty10101]

my recip saw with a steel demon blade on it

Demo blade made from:
Straight steel?
Bi-metal?
Carbide tooth?

PITA or just somewhat of a nuisance to cut through the TS blade?

I wonder if an angle grinder would be a quicker cut & then put the cutout into a vise & straighten out the cut??

SWMBO "borrowed" some 7 1/4 inch blades some time ago---- they might/will be repossed soon!!

[Stick486]

Demo blade made from:
Straight steel?
Bi-metal?
Carbide tooth?

https://www.workersofwood.com/viewtopic ... 934#p13934

[Cherryville Chuck]

my recip saw with a steel demon blade on it

Demo blade made from:
Straight steel?
Bi-metal?
Carbide tooth?

PITA or just somewhat of a nuisance to cut through the TS blade?

I wonder if an angle grinder would be a quicker cut & then put the cutout into a vise & straighten out the cut??

SWMBO "borrowed" some 7 1/4 inch blades some time ago---- they might/will be repossed soon!!

The Freud Steel Demon blade seems to be a class above the demo blades. I did finally destroy it cutting the saw plate up so I'll finish the cuts with an angle grinder and abrasive discs. I managed to make about 4 cuts with it just the same but I lost one tooth off it, then about 4 teeth and now it's so dull it's not cutting. I think the steel demon blades have the cermet teeth. I'm not sure what cermet stands for but probably some type of ceramic blend. The first cut went pretty fast.

When I got done with the strip I cut out I grabbed it with vise grips and held it against my big belt sander. About 30 second to a minute per side and it was flat and smooth.

One thing to keep in mind is that the miter saw blade I cut that from has around zero hook on the teeth. A proper factory made parting chisel is used pretty much as a scraper. I don't know that a home made cutter from a rip or combination blade would work unless you shaped it like a hockey stick. The upward hook on a rip tooth might grab the work. Maybe Dan would know if that would still work. He does a lot more turning than I do.

[Cherryville Chuck]

Smitty I was thinking a bit more about using a blade segment with a rip or combination type tooth on the end and it might be possible. Where a normal parting tool is used with the top of it level with the turning axis of the lathe, a tooth with hook might work okay if you drop the rest down and come in near the bottom of the turning. In terms of a compass, if the top of the turning is 0* and a normal parting tool is used at 90*, a tool with a hooked tooth might work okay at about 135*.

[Stick486]

cut the body of the blade so that you have a near 0° angle to the tooth...
set a straight edge to the tooth and draw the cut angle on the blade's body to match or near parallel match to the face of the tooth......
figure the gullets and tooth profile TG/AB/TC/AB etc) into the design and you'll be golden...
the best bet would be an FTG...the narrower body and tapered tooth would relieve the binding issue...
then it won't matter what tooth approach angle you prefer..
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tenryu-tooth-geometry.jpg

[Cherryville Chuck]

I cut one of these out of the nearly full diameter of the saw plate. Still need to clean it up a bit more but it 's long enough to use on something relatively small without one. I thought it would cut a little faster than it does but maybe I just need to experiment with where I contact the radius on the turning.

[HandyDan]

maybe I just need to experiment with where I contact the radius on the turning.

Most parting tools have a bevel under the cutting edge so the bevel can be ridden. Lay the bevel on the wood so it isn't cutting and bring cuttinedge it back until it starts cutting. That will give you a good place to start with your experimenting. Sticking it straight in is just scraping the wood away and wears the sharp edge off quickly.

[Cherryville Chuck]

Thanks. I'll give that a try. I'm pretty sure the back bevel on the saw tooth is similar to the bevel on a parting tool, I'll just have to see if I need to trim off more of the saw plate. I'm slowly building a turning saw and I have the small handle on the far end to turn yet so I can experiment on it.

[smitty10101]

Most parting tools have a bevel under the cutting edge

cut the body of the blade so that you have a near 0° angle to the tooth

I'm on the fence with the tooth thing.

I was "thinking" along the line of something like this:https://www.amazon.com/Thin-Kerf-Partin ... 774&sr=8-3
but with a thinner body. Same edge profile & same relief below the point.



Hopefully, starting next week I'll be able to get to the grinder & get to work on it.

[HandyDan]

The angle on that Sorby tool and others keeps the tool pretty much level when using it. Changing the angle would result in raising or lowering the handle while in use distorting its comfortable use range.

[Cherryville Chuck]

Maybe cutting off a section of blade on a rip saw blade would be better, one with lots of forward rake. It would be easier to use the way you described Dan where you start high and lower it until it starts cutting.

[smitty10101]

I'm still not buying into keeping teeth on the tool.
Isn't the teeth offset to either side regardless of the intended function of the saw blade, especially a circular saw blade? Admittedly the set of the teeth can be ground off, but then you'll have a tool with a bunch of spikes with no useable function.
And with the teeth on---you'll only be opening a kerf to one side of the tool---using the front/leading tooth. So what is the benefit?

Or did I miss something?

[smitty10101]

Just went to the "library" and was thinking---- the offset of the teeth will open the kerf and PROBABLY will eliminate the need to to "cut a little & move over to cut some more" to avoid binding in the cut?!?!

Thoughts?

[Cherryville Chuck]

I'm still not buying into keeping teeth on the tool.
Isn't the teeth offset to either side regardless of the intended function of the saw blade, especially a circular saw blade? Admittedly the set of the teeth can be ground off, but then you'll have a tool with a bunch of spikes with no useable function.
And with the teeth on---you'll only be opening a kerf to one side of the tool---using the front/leading tooth. So what is the benefit?

Or did I miss something?

The teeth are centered but may be ground with alternating bevel. Here is a link with the types of tooth grind shown. https://vermontamerican.com/circular-sa ... ind-types/ I don't know if there is an advantage to a bevel grind or flat top tooth grind. The one I used is bevel ground. I didn't notice if it tended to wander to one side. That's the only down side I can see with that grind is that it may possibly tend to do that. I did play it cautious and widen the cut before parting all the way through and it wasn't a deep cut.