HSS vs Carbide for roughing

[Gordon Stump]

One of my instrument pegs requires turning down a 2 1/4" Thick x 4 3/4" long walnut blank to 5/8" on one end and 2 1/8" on the other. My 1" roughing gouge has seen better days.

Any opinions on a new carbide or hss gouge?

Thanks,

Gordon

[roger wiegand]

I use this gigantic one I bought from Alan Lacer at a class https://stores.alanswoodturningstore.com/hamlet-spindle-roughing-gouge-1-3-4-unhandled/ It's a beast, with the main advantage being a lot of cutting edge, you can just keep rotating the tool and keep cutting for a long time. It also make quite nice shearing cuts with the long, relatively straight, edges.

Increasingly I rough with my skew, it avoids having to change tools and no method I'm aware of removes wood from a spindle faster than a peeling cut with a skew. The surface is lousy from the peel, but can be quickly taken to 320 grit finish quality with the same tool.

I would think a carbide scraper would take forever for roughing, with lots of tear out. Never tried such a thing.

[Reed Gray]

For rounding the blank out, a SRG (spindle roughing gouge) is hard to beat. For turning down the ends, there is some thing called a 'sizing) tool, which is pretty much a 3/8 to 1/2 inch wide parting tool. The same cuts can be done with a skew chisel. Pretty much doing peeling cuts. Scrapers can be used as well, and they will do a fine job in making peeling cuts. Peeling cut is mostly cutting on a tangent to the cylinder rather than holding the tool level and plunging straight in, which is a scraping cut. You get a much cleaner cut with a peeling cut than you do with a scraping cut.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

I agree with Reed. I almost always use a skew for roughing spindles and shaping and switch to a spindle gouge for tight coves. But a spindle roughing gouge works well and may be easier for some. I especially like the Thompson Tools 5/8” SRG for blanks like that. Excellent 10V steel.

Another option is one of the Hunter carbide tools, MUCH cleaner cut than with the flat-top carbide and easier to control. One of my favorites is the small Hunter Hercules for a lot of turning, both spindle and face. The Hercules tool can work like a scraper or work like a bowl or spindle gouge - very versatile. (And never needs sharpening - replace the cutter if it gets dull in a year or two.)

One thing if you haven’t worked this way: for a blank that size I generally start with one a couple of inches longer and hold one end firmly in a chuck. I far prefer that to holding between centers. If turning several pieces from square blank that thick I might start with one two or three times as long, hold one end in a chuck, and support the other end with a live center, turn the cylinder round, then start turning pieces from the far end. The tailstock support is not needed for anything 8-9” long or less.

Curious: what kind of wood is it, and what kind of instrument takes a peg that big?!

JKJ

[Gordon Stump]

Curious: what kind of wood is it, and what kind of instrument takes a peg that big?!

JKJ

Hello John, The blank in question is walnut for Bb and A clarinets.

[Richard Coers]

Any gouge will work, you don't need a roughing gouge. Use your bandsaw to rough taper the blank. That's much faster than the lathe.

[roger wiegand]

Any gouge will work, you don't need a roughing gouge. Use your bandsaw to rough taper the blank. That's much faster than the lathe.

For me, it's much faster to rough something like that on the lathe than it is to move to the bandsaw to do it, but I take pretty aggressive cuts when just wasting wood.

[Gordon Stump]

Thanks for the help. I am going with a new 1" hss roughing gouge. I have used the bandsaw before and did not like how out of balance the blank became. Plus my fingers are at risk with my eyes and age. I enjoy sharpening on my homeade jig.