Can OneWay Easy-Core cutters be sharpened on a CBN wheel?

[Frank Trinkle]

Getting ready to buy a coring system and leaning towards the OneWay Easy-Core system.

Realizing that their cutters need constant sharpening, I'm wondering if anyone is doing that on a CBN wheel...which is my preference. The cutters ARE HSS steel, so with the available sharpening jig, I would think there wouldn't be a problem, but I thought I'd ask here first to get a feel for whether or not I'll be spending a lot of shekels regularly on replacement cutters, and would also need a traditional wheel.

Cheers,

Frank

[Reed Gray]

They will do just fine on the CBN wheels. I would use the 180 grit wheel, and a light touch, just like standard wheels. The little jig that they sell for it works fine. I know that Woodcut has 'new and improved' their coring system by adding a 3rd larger blade, and saw some pictures of it, but I don't think it has been released in the US yet.

robo hippy

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

any additional info on that Reed? I have a Woodcut and was just about ready to sell it - I bought a McNaughton system for the added flexibility of sizes.

[Reed Gray]

I don't have any facts on it. They have been working on it for a couple of years. You will not be able to upgrade your old set up to the new one, but other than that, I haven't really been able to examine it. I had hoped they would be in Phoenix with it, but I am still waiting. I need to contact Peter (I think that is his name) and pin him down about it.

robo hippy

[George Thompson]

The new Woodcut coring system is now sold by Parker and is far better and cheaper than the One Way.
George

[Frank Trinkle]

The new Woodcut coring system is now sold by Parker and is far better and cheaper than the One Way.
George

No offense George, but simply saying something is "far better" is somewhat subjective.

How is it better? Have you used both? What does the Woodcut bring to the table that makes if "far better" than OneWay's? And WHO is Parker? You assume that anyone reading your post would automatically know? I certainly don't.

I'm new to woodturning and a total novice. I have both a Mustard Monster 3520B, and a Laguna REVO midi. I'm learning slowly.

I looked at the Woodcut, OneWay, and McNaughton systems. Immediately rejected the McNaughton due to MANY reviews about the learning curve. Probably great for experts, but I'm certainly nowhere close to that. I am leaning to the OneWay due to its flexibility...the only drawback being the cutters. I'm not that concerned with pricing issues. The Woodcut blades, while apparently maintaining sharpness for a long time, still need to either be replaced or sent back to the factory for resharpening eventually. That's a negative for me.

I would be interested in opinions regarding the systems...other than simply pricing issues.

Cheers,

Frank

[Reed Gray]

Well, the old Woodcut was a nice little system, with the emphasis on little. The big blade was a 5 inch radius. If you were coring some thing like Osage or locust, it would chatter a bit. It is screwed onto a post, and there is a jig from the back of the platform that fits into your tailstock for added stability. I don't really think it helped much. When I first heard that they were trying to add a blade, I thought the whole system would need to be beefed up because the standard platform would not handle reaching out any farther than it did. One other advantage was that you could core all the way in without having to advance the support finger that Oneway uses. The Oneway is rock solid, all the way out with the biggest coring blade, but you have to turn off the lathe for about every 2 inches of depth and advance the support finger. On a big bowl, this is 4 or 5 times. Huge time waste to me. The tips on the Woodcut should take a very long time to wear out. The material is stellite, which is almost as hard as carbide, and can be easily sharpened on standard wheels, or also easily on the CBN wheels. They are slightly concave on the top, and some one told me that part of the reason for that is that it helped eject chips better. Not sure on that one. You sharpen the face of the cutter. I would expect honing with a coarse card (220 grit would be best to raise a bigger burr). I don't really care for the Oneway tip in part because you have to dig out the shavings in the hex head screw with a push pin, take it off the blade, then put it on a jig to sharpen it. I did get them to send me one that had been hardened, but had not been ground down to the chip breaker point. I tapered the sides a bit, and put it on the blade. I think it cut a lot better/more aggressively than the standard tips, and they told me that was why it was not sold to the general public. As far as versatility, I would rate the Oneway and Woodcut the same, and way behind the McNaughton. For ease of use, I would rank the Woodcut ahead of the Oneway, and the McNaughton down on that list. Once you figure out the McNaughton, it is by far faster and easier to set up and use. But, there is that learning curve.

robo hippy

[Frank Trinkle]

Awesome! Thanks very much for that full comparison!

I think I'm still leaning towards the OneWay. I'm not a production shop, and bowls are a very small piece of my woodworking hobby. So, having to advance the support, while a pain, is not a big issue for me. What concerned me about the Woodcut is the limited size and wasn't impressed by their video talking about having to use your left hand on top of the cutter to reduce chatter.

Thanks again Reed!

Cheers,

Frank

[Reed Gray]

I really wish I had one of their new systems in hand to compare it to the old one. I did send them an e-mail asking to get one at least by the Oregon Woodturning Symposium in March.

robo hippy

[Frank Trinkle]

One benefit that I also like about the OneWay vs the Woodcut is the ability to slide the tailstock to the wood, not the coring unit. Keeps the cored bowl from potentially flying out of the outer bowl and landing on hard ground.

I'm pretty much settled on the OneWay for now. I might consider the McNaughton somewhere down the road when I have a LOT more experience on the lathe. Anybody want to chime in on the best place (Outside of Florida to avoid sales tax) to purchase the OneWay?

Thanks for all the replies!

Cheers,

Frank

[Dave Fritz]

The new Woodcut coring system is now sold by Parker and is far better and cheaper than the One Way.

Do you have a link to the Parker that sells the new system?

Thanks for your input too Reed, as always, very useful.

Dave Fritz

[Reed Gray]

Now, I am trying to remember, I think the guy that runs Woodcut is Peter Helmsley or some thing like that. I sent them an e-mail a day or two ago asking about it, and haven't heard back from them. I also sent one before the AAW Symposium, and didn't hear back then either.

As far as cores running wild across the shop, it hasn't been a problem for me, but then I have learned to work around it. Mostly when it gets close to being cut all the way off, I turn my speed down. With the Oneway, the way the blade set up goes when you get to the end, it pretty much traps the blank inside the bowl. With the Woodcut, pretty similar. With the McNaughton, it isn't trapped, but I was a Hacky Sack champion in my younger years, and can ease them down to the floor with a foot catch. If I don't and they go wild, the part of the rim that gets dented is always cut off any way. I do take the biggest core first, and work my way down. Turning the speed down is probably the best bet though.

robo hippy

[George Thompson]

Sorry to drop a quick note on coring but have been real busy the last weeks trying to get caught up on some of my orders. Yes I have used all three of the coring systems and for what I do the new Woodcut is the best I have ever used and it will pay for it's self the first time you core a burl. We have three McNaughton systems in the guild here one has been sold and replaced with the woodcut and the member with the Oneway is trying to sell his. After the first setup with the Woodcut it only takes minutes put it back in your banjo and cut an other bowl. The company in the USA that handles it is Packard Woodworks in NC.
Sorry again I got that wrong in the first post I think it is sold for around $500.00. Hope this helps a little more and also it is a single knife and will core from 17" to a 4" bowl I have in the past year cored about 70 bowls with it.

[Reed Gray]

I really don't like that 'more replies below current depth thing..... Arrgh!

Any way, I looked on the Packard Tools web site and didn't see it there. I will call Brad on Monday morning and get the scoop...

robo hippy

[Hugh Buttrum]

Frank,
I learned something from Mike Mahoney at a demo last year.......Heat on the cutting arm will soften the arm enough for the arm to bend. Mike was talking about the McNaughton system, but it is true also for the Oneway system. When Mike gets part way into the cut, he moves the cutter and makes the kerf a bit wider so he does not get the friction. I have the Oneway coring system and love it. I like it better now that I make the kerf wider. Less problems.
Hugh

[Reed Gray]

Hmm, I will have to ponder that one a bit. I really wanted to talk to Mike down in Phoenix, but he wasn't there. He will be at our Oregon Woodturning Symposium this coming March, so I plan on cornering him and talking about this.

For now, I will say that for sure, the McNaughton cutting arms get hot when coring. This is not a problem with the Oneway at all. I have 'discussed' this with Kel several times and he does not agree with me at all. The last time I talked to Mike about it, he said, 'Hmm, you might have some thing there'. I now, never touch the blades when I am done coring. Yes they get hot, maybe hot enough to leave a blister if I keep my fingers on it too long. I would have a hard time being convinced that they get hot enough to weaken them to the point of it being the cause of them bending. For sure, with a lot of heavy use, they develop a twist bend in them to the point where the tip can be much lower than the original set height. If you have watched my DVD (now on You Tube), you can see me bend one back straight. So, why does it bend? First reason is there is flex built into the system and blade. This is so that when you have some of those catches, it bends but doesn't break. If you have ever tried to cut off the nub left in the center after you break a core out, when you engage the tip, it drops down as much as an inch on a large bowl. This is because of the flex in the system. So, what generates the heat??? As far as I am concerned, it is because the blade does not run in a true arc all the way to the tip. They are stamped, and because of the flanged tip, the last inch or so of the blade does not fit into the form, and it goes straight. I have checked this out with a number of the blades I have on those big plastic templates with circles up to 20 inch diameter or so). This means that when you are coring, the blade will follow the tip rather than the arc of the blade. When coring small bowls, it isn't as much of a problem. When coring a larger bowl, by the time you get 6 or more inches off the tool rest, you can be off to the side a half inch or so. 1/16 of an inch isn't much on a 3 inch arc, but on an 8 inch arc, it can be a lot. The coring blades ALWAYS drift to the outside of the cut. This means you have a kerf of one arc, and a blade with a slightly different one, and that is why the blade binds in the cut, heat is generated, and you have to open up the kerf some more, either on the top outside, or the bottom inside, so the blade can finish the cut. I do have one blade where I tweaked the tip in a hair, and it actually pulls to the inside of the cut. The Oneway and Woodcut blades are true arcs of a circle. They do not drift or bind when you cut. One of my round-to-it projects will be to make a blade for the McNaughton that is a perfect arc, put a cutter on it and see how true it tracks....

robo hippy

[Frank Trinkle]

Reed,

Found a couple of Pics of the WoodCut Max proto on a Canadian site. Copied below.

Still think I'll go with the OneWay for now, especially since the Max is still not available for purchase or demo.

Cheers,
Frank

294091

294092

[Reed Gray]

Well, they really beefed up the plate it sits on, and the attachment to the tailstock. That should really help with the vibration part. The whole thing looks much more sturdy.

robo hippy

[Dave Fritz]

I wonder if it has other blade sizes or is it one blade per unit?

Dave Fritz

[George Thompson]

The pictures are mine and yes they have really beefed every thing up and there is no vibrations. Dave there is only one knife which is all you need will cut out a 17" to a 4" core the depth is 6 1/2".
George

[Reed Gray]

Well, I just got off the phone with Brad at Packard tools. He had the bigger Woodcut coring blade in stock, but I bought the last one he has at present so I can take it for a test drive. Chatting with him got me a few new thoughts. The big blade is made for removing cores up to 17 inch diameter (core, not bowl size), and down to 12 inch diameter. It seems that Woodcut is planning on us wanting both of their coring systems. This would make it comparable to the Oneway in performance and price if you get the whole set of each. I am not sure when I will get around to testing it out. I will be getting a new knee Sept 4. I will have it for display at the Oregon Woodturning Symposium in March next year.

robo hippy

[Frank Trinkle]

I am not sure when I will get around to testing it out. I will be getting a new knee Sept 4. I will have it for display at the Oregon Woodturning Symposium in March next year.

robo hippy

Not sure I want to see your knee at a Symposium! :D

Cheers,

Frank

[Reed Gray]

Well, with my hips, they told me I would be back to normal in 6 to 9 months. I made it in about 4. Swimming 5 miles a week, and years of Tai Chi really helped. I have braces now, and have lost 20 pounds. Heck, I may end up with abs....

robo hippy