Carbide Inserts for Turning...Difficult

[John K Jordan]

..I switch to a normal bowl gouge to leave a better finish. You can't really ride the bevel with a carbide tool..

Hi Steve,

Just wondering, have you tried the Hunter Osprey and Hercules tools? Riding the bevel like you would with a bowl gouge works well. You can make extremely fine cuts, presumably because the shape of the carbide insert itself (a deep cup, extremely sharp), the angle it is mounted in the tool, and the shape of the tool.

Here are a few of the Hunter tools I use that have the cutter mounted on an angle:
HUNTER4_side_IMG_20160803_1.jpg HUNTER4_top_IMG_20160803_10.jpg
The bottom one is the new "Clewes Mate". The angle is different and I'm still getting used to it but for now I find it more aggressive than the others. It's made on a wide, flat bar which beginners find easier to control when used as a scraper - just plant it firmly flat on the tool rest and hog away.

John Lucas and others have made some videos about using the Hunter tools in the bevel-rubbing mode.

This video starts with a closeup of the Hunter cutter which might be interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfp2kvhH6Mo

I find the Hercules and Osprey easier to control than the tools with the cutters mounted flat. Here John shows the Hercules tool used as a scraper for roughing, as a gouge in the bevel-rubbing mode for clean cuts, and as a shear scraper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzrLN8SQ8ms

And this one on the Osprey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnFdDo0jxGU

This short video shows an end grain cut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4m7yybTStQ

I've been turning colored acrylic lately (another thread) and when I use the Osprey and Hercules in the bevel-rubbing mode the finish is amazing - it's so clean it looks polished. Scraping cuts work on this material as well but leave the surface rough. In the bevel-rubbing mode with acrylic I can start with 600 or finer sandpaper unless my hand is not steady. Like other carbide inserts, the cutter can be rotated to a sharp section when worn or (ack!) if chipped.

I have a small set of Mike Hunter's tools good for hollowing smaller vessels, boxes, and such and some much larger I use with massive handles for bigger things. This picture (which I took to show some texturing on handles and some tool-holder inserts I make) shows one of the swan neck tools:

textured_handles_hunterIMG_.jpg

In case this sounds like an advertisement for Hunter, my position is only that of a satisfied customer. (Although I have known Mike for a long time and have sent him a lot of money!)

The tools with round cutters you mentioned are probably like the round steel cutters popular some years back. Big catches are indeed likely unless the angle is just right (can be used like a shear scraper) AND like other scrapers, the cutter positioned so it is deflected away from instead of into the wood. I don't use the round cutters any more but I do use a couple of sizes of teardrop-shaped HSS cutters as shear scrapers on the inside of things.

JKJ