glaser website down

[Mike Minto]

have you all noticed that the glaser/hitec website is down? i guess that really marks the end of their involvement with making and selling turning tools (although this a.m. i bought a 1/2" V10 bedan online from a vendor who still has 4 more, different V10's for sale - no gouges, though - rats). mike

[curtis rosche]

why did they stop?

[sascha gast]

haven't noticed 'cause I haven't cared about glasers since Jerry retired.
time to move on, isn't it?

[Mike Minto]

it's a subject i'm somewhat interested in and am just making conversation about - if you're not interested in talking about it, why bother to post?

[curtis rosche]

ditto about the dont care since you cant buy them anymore. but why did they go out of buisness? why not just sell the company?

[Mike Minto]

"ditto about the don't care"? don't you talk about things that interest you, even though they 'aren't being made anymore'? (and as i said, packard woodworks has a few V10 tools available, still). he did sell the company; do a google search and get your own answers to your questions.

[Nathan Hawkes]

So, Mike, does this vendor have any V15 tools left???? I know they don't, but I can wish, right? I have a couple powder metal gouges; after seeing the difference between HSS and powder metal in the Crown pro-prm, and the difference between that and the 2060 packard steel, I'd love to be an owner of some V15 steel!! From what I understand, they were quite expensive--over $250 for a 5/8 or 3/4" bowl gouge. Sounds like it might be worth it---I like heavy handles. They help me dampen any slight vibrations during very light finish cuts for smooth slides across the toolrest.

[Mike Minto]

nathan, i believe the fellow at highland woodworks told me they have a 3/8" bedan, a 1" skew, and two beading tools (3/8" & 1/2") left, all V10. i asked about the V15 specifically, and no soap. no gouges left, either - these may be the last glaser V10's left on the planet, for all i know. i agree with you on the crown pro-pm; my ellsworth grind gouge from them is my favorite turning tool i have. mike

[Nathan Hawkes]

nathan, i believe the fellow at highland woodworks told me they have a 3/8" bedan, a 1" skew, and two beading tools (3/8" & 1/2") left, all V10. i asked about the V15 specifically, and no soap. no gouges left, either - these may be the last glaser V10's left on the planet, for all i know. i agree with you on the crown pro-pm; my ellsworth grind gouge from them is my favorite turning tool i have. mike

Thanks for the info. My next gouge will be a thompson--the new Bill Grumbine signature series extra long gouge is right up my alley! I have a 2060 packard gouge that is just about too short to be balanced now. Its got about another inch or so of sharpening before I order a new one.

[Mike Minto]

nathan, i have 1 thompson gouge, a 3/8 detail; i'll be buying a 3/4 thompson 'u' gouge next; in a month or so, gotta stay in that wood budget! when i bought my 3/8 V10 bowl gouge last year, if i had known they would be so scarce so fast, i'd have bought all highland had on hand! mike

[Gordon Seto]

Why V-15 steel? I am definitely not an expert in this area. I remember Stuart Batty didn't recommend this steel because of its brittleness.
According to the data from Crucible, the manufacturer of this CPM tool steel:
http://www.crucibleservice.com/datash/ds15Vv5.pdf?CFID=411235&CFTOKEN=60199102
The wear resistance is very high, but the toughness is fairly low. It is about half as tough as regular HSS steel. That would mean that it is brittle, easy to crack. The 10V (A-11) at 60 HRC is tougher and several folds more durable than than M2. There is no free lunch. At 63 HRC, the wear resistance increases as the toughness decreases.

I have high respect for Mr. Jerry Glaser. He pioneered & provided the best tools for wood turners at a fair price. They were not inexpensive because the cost of the steel and production were high. I believe what Doug Thompson does changed the whole business model for A-11 turning tools. By selling direct, he cuts out the distributors. That brings the A-11 tools to the level that more turners can afford.

The Glaser screw chucks are still the best. I waited 8 months for mine from the new owner. I am glad I did.
(I read somewhere that the M33 Glaser chucks at Highland doesn't fit Oneway lathe, make sure you check with them before ordering.)

[Mike Minto]

gordon, have you ever had ANY turning tool crack? i had a discussion with a fellow at highland earlier today, he told me of the problem with the glaser screw chucks that 'fit' oneway's - can't get the new company to resolve the situation, he said. mike

[Gordon Seto]

gordon, have you ever had ANY turning tool crack? i had a discussion with a fellow at highland earlier today, he told me of the problem with the glaser screw chucks that 'fit' oneway's - can't get the new company to resolve the situation, he said. mike
Not exactly "crack". A chunk chipping at the tips, yes. It was not on a powdered metal tool.
That may not be the tool's fault. I took a class with Mark Sfirri, he had a Mastercut bowl gouge with steep 30 degree nose angle for off-center turning. I like how this grind can reach into tight area. I converted my regular HSS bowl gouge to the same grind. The tip kept breaking off. I am not going to name that brand, because grinding the bowl gouge to such an angle is not normal usage. After the class, I talked to Doug Thompson about it. That was how his shallow flute detail gouge was born.

I have heard that turners have experienced snapping with the V-15 gouges. Some said that was why some of the later V-15 gouges have regular steel shaft and short V-15 tips only. I don't exactly know whether that was because of toughness issue or cost saving of this very expensive V-15 steel. To me, I think the V-15 tools may have more wear resistance; but the combination of additional initial cost but shorter flute length (useful tool life) may not turn out to be ahead or just a wash.
I have used others Glaser V-15. But at $260 then, it was hard to justify even for tool junkie like me.
Talking about the Glaser handle dampening vibration. Have you tried the tool rest test? If you hit the shaft of a Glaser to the steel toolrest, the sound is a deadening sound. If you do the same test with a wood handle tool, you will hear the long harmonic ringing sound. Jerry Glaser does know something we don't.

[Doug Thompson]

First of all I am sorry to read this news.

The 15V is a very good steel but for woodturning it's slightly to much, you need SG wheels to sharpen and a 3/8 diameter tool will never be made because they break. I'll look into this steel again but the cost was very high in the past, if there is enough interest I'll make a batch of 1/2 and 5/8 diameter bowl gouges

I still remember when Gordon wanted a shallower detail for offset turning, he decided what he wanted and we walked into the shop and made one. That is how a tool is created from a need to solve a problem.

[Bill Blasic]

Doug,
You know me, you make them (V15) and I'll buy at least one of each!
Bill

[Hilel Salomon]

Mike, Gordon,

As a profligate tool junkie myself, I went to Louisville in order to see and get a Glaser. I had called him and he told me that he had retired and that Hi-tec was making them. At the show there were literally dozens of Hi-tec reps, but to a man, they badmouthed the Glasers and talked up their own cryogenic tools. If I would have had my "arrogance meter" I might have been able to compare them to the owner of Laguna. In any case, their attitude suggested to me that they were not going to worry much about quality control, and I'm guessing that their absence in Richmond corroborates this. Thompson makes great tools, but I'm also very happy w/Hamlet and most Crown stuff.
Regards, Hilel.

[Mike Minto]

i heard about glaser tools late in their game - i've only been turning a little over a couple of years. i, too, am a tool junkie, early PC hardware adopter, etc, so if i could have found one, i'm sure i'd have tried a V15 just for the sake of having one on the tool rack. as it is now, i'll have two V10 glasers as of tomorrow when the bedan arrives; wish i had bought more gouges when i got the one i did, last year, as i said. oh, well - doug thompson does make excellent tools, as most folks here have said - hopefully, he'll be making them for a good, long time. lastly, based on what the fellow at highland said about no response to the problem with some of the screw chucks from the 'new' hitec, and what others have said here, i won't be looking into any of the new companies tools, even if offered for sale. mike

[Gordon Seto]

I remember them in Louisville Symposium. They came with style, very impressive. Their booth took up a very large section of the vendors area. Unfortunately they are over promise, under delivery. I have heard some people eventually cancel the orders after waiting an extended period of time.

Looking back, if they could deliver the orders they got at the Symposium, we may not have Thompson Tools now. It seems to me they have a production problem. Last year, I order the Glaser screw chucks with extra screws from Highland in January. Highland shipped the in stock screws to me by FedEx immediately, but no approximate date for the chuck. I posted the screw chuck availability problem in another Forum. The new owner responded that they were under production and plenty would be available soon in May. Eventually I got it in August. I doubt it would take that long to manufacture the screw chucks. For a $100 retail chuck, it was averaging a $1 a day for 3 months!

[Doug Thompson]

I'm also a tool junkie with 11 old glaser tools with 4 still in the original package, this was started to fill that need. It sounds like fun to start a business around your hobby and it is fun but the fact is it's still a business. The fact is it takes more time to take care of the business with the phone calls, running around, paperwork, shipping etc etc than you have to manufacture the product. What most of us see is a manufacture at a symposium in a booth talking to everyone, what you don't see is all the prep work done before and after. The national symposium is a good example, the prep work started 3 months before and the last 3 weeks was non-stop.

I understand why manufactures in our hobby stop producing, it takes a lot of time that comes after family and a real job which is more important. One day you'll start a thread about Thompson Lathe Tools going out of business, it's a cycle that will happen in our small world... if I don't stop smoking real soon it will happen sooner than later.

[Mike Minto]

[/QUOTE - D. THOMPSON]I understand why manufactures in our hobby stop producing, it takes a lot of time that comes after family and a real job which is more important. One day you'll start a thread about Thompson Lathe Tools going out of business, it's a cycle that will happen in our small world... if I don't stop smoking real soon it will happen sooner than later.[/QUOTE]

i understand what doug is saying, and believe it. funny, though, i've seen threads such as this regarding problems with a manufacturer actually spur a business to improve it's performance - if they read the forum - they will remain nameless, but i've seen it happen here. mike

[Mike Minto]

never mind...