indexable tooling would be one of my last choices for wood - carbide
is brittle and abslutely will not take a sharp edge - medium sharp
yes, but not sharp - try an experiment - get a carbide tipped tool (I
have some carbide tipped gouges and whatnot), a HSS tool of similar
shape, and a carbon steel tool - sharepen each as well as you can and
cut some shavings - you will find

the carbide will kinda cut and you can get a poor and torn surface
finish

the HSS will cut pretty well and you can get a nice finsh

the carbon steel will cut like a razor and give you an almost polished
finish

BUT

The carbon steel will dull quickly

The HSS will last for much much longer

The carbide, if you don't break it, will last several days of
continuous turning

But the longevity of carbide does not make up for its inabilty to take
a sharp enough edge

Now, if you are cutting steel, and it is not an interrupted cut,
carbide is great



On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 16:17:25 -0500, "George" George@least wrote:


"charlie b" wrote in message
...
Going through the Airgas - Rutland Tool catalogue looking for
end mills for cutting mortises, I come upon page after page
after page of "Insert Tooling" "Inserts". There are carbide
cutters in more shapes than you can shake a stick at and tool
holders for all kinds of uses. To top it off, much of this stuff
is relatively inexpensive - I mean relative to the price of
some of the "signature" gouges in the wood turning catalogues.

Now I understand that many turning tools are very versatile
-because they can be rolled and angled while making a cut
to create a range of shapes. But for roughing to round or
boring to hollow something out carbide would stay sharp
a LOT longer than HSS and with an isocoles triangle "insert",
chaning to a new sharp edge takes only a minute or so and
you're back at the wood creating chips and curlies.

They work just dandy - as scrapers. I used old ones from the machinist up
the way on my Sorby. The tool steel pieces are easily sharpened and pretty
tough, the carbide has to be a fairly thick section to work without
breaking. Pretty brittle. I have had edges chip from knots in maple.

Since it's so much easier on the turner and the turning to cut, they're
relegated to those angles and places where cutting's impossible.

Bill

www.wbnoble.com

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