tool bit question

[curtis rosche]

question , i know there are people on here who have tried to use metal turning bits to make their own version on the Easy Rougher. they have said that it doesnt cut as clean and that it doesnt work quite the same because of the different angles involved. but what i want to know is do they work well for roughing out? i have come to the decision that the wood from my church is just way too abrasive to use my thompson gouge on. and over the weekend i was turning some dry locust with the tool i made awhile back with the 10%cobalt cutter. the cutter lasted very very long with the locust even as dry as it was, on both endgrain and face grain, but when i went to rough out the outside of a couple of the old poplar blanks, i had to sharpen the cutter for every blank, and i was only taking off 1/4'' to make them round and fit on my lathe (some idiot forgot to factor in the thickness of the sharpie when laying them out and ended cutting out blanks that didnt fit on his lathe by 3/8ths of an inch:rolleyes::o:(:D) and with the way prices go over at the Bay for tooling bits, i figure it would be more effective to buy some cheep bits than to waste my other tools for just roughing out bowls, then just go back and do some shearcuts with a gouge. i was thinking some either carbide bits or try to find some diamond bits that have a cutting surface that is large enough to use for more than presision metal work.

any input would be greatly welcomed

[Paul Atkins]

Instead of cutting up a plane blade, get some drill rod. It come in 3' lengths from 1/8 on up. I use w1 because that is what the metal place here has and it works well and is fairly cheap. The alloy of masonry nails probably isn't very accurate or of high grade. Yeah, I've used them, but they are short and I just didn't know what I was getting. I have a bunch of steel from dental tool blanks and it work very well too.

[curtis rosche]

well, i was think a plane blade, because i have one that is to short to be used on the plane anymore, and it doesnt really have anyother use unless i make a knife, but i dont really see a use for a sheathknife right now

[Jeff Nicol]

Curtis, Watch this video and you will see just what you need for hollowing end grain and any other thing. It is one of my videos, but I have told you this before but it will help you out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyN-RZOPB4M

You will see how good my tool design works.

Jeff

[curtis rosche]

diamond inserts should work right?

[Scott Conners]

Do you mean diamond shaped or diamond coated? I would not try to use a diamond coated insert on wood, it would just clog up. Diamond grit is an abrasive, not a cutting edge and cuts in a different manner than an edge. Metal breaks ahead of the cutting edge, while wood is sliced by it, you need that good sharp edge. I say make up a couple of oland tools in different sizes, witha good burr they shoudl work great for roughing. Robohippy (Reed Grey) may have more insight, I knwo he does all of his bowl work with scrapers.

[David Christopher]

Curtis, for 13 dollars you can get the easy rougher carbide bit...it will last ( Ive roughed over 50 bowls and not swiched sides yet ) and no trial and error...it just works

[Ted Evans]

This is the approach that I took. I took a cutter from my Byrd tools shelex planer head and mounted it on 1/2 x 1/2" square cold rolled. The cutter is slightly convex and I think does a wonderful job. I used it without a handle to turn the handle that is on it now. I tried a couple of different bowl gouges, finger gouges and a skew but got a better finish with the Byrd cutter except for the skews. Only problem with the skews, I did not think I would live long enough to finish it, inexperience you know.

Anyway, it worked so well that I ordered a couple of the round cutters from EWT and did the same with one of them. For me, it took the anxiety out of hollowing a bowl and leaves a great surface

I just received an order from Byrd for 10 of the cutters with screws and they cost less than $5 for a cutter and screw. I have had these cutters on a 8" jointer and a 16" planer for about three years and have not rotated them yet. And that is after a half dozen full house cabinet jobs in Oak, Hickory and Cherry.

121966

121967

Happy to answer any questions if you have any.

Bear

[Christopher Fletcher]

Jeff,
How about a demo on the tool making? :-)

[Jeff Nicol]

Jeff,
How about a demo on the tool making? :-)
Christopher, I could do that I suppose, I have all that on my website so check it out. www.woodennicol.com (http://www.woodennicol.com)

Jeff

[Don Orr]

Curtis,

Jeff's drill bit tool looks great (very cool Jeff !!) You could also search for the Oland tool. It's been around for a long time and works great for roughing bowls. You may already have the materials needed. There are lots of ways to do what you want. The carbide and ceramic metal cutting inserts will probably work, but my suggestion is to keep it simple at first.

P.S.-that Maple bowl/platter is real nice !