If you're doing it simply because you can then great, but I should think
that the carbon steel would hold a better edge. Problem is, your friend
is going to ruin them pretty quickly when he tries to sharpen them. Upon
ruining them he'll never get a clean cut and may perhaps become
disillusioned with this hobby. Buy him a cheap set of HSS tools from HF
or someplace like that if you want to be nice to the guy, and try making
your own carbon and stainless tools for yourself. Sounds like fun, and a
nice use of scrap material.

J.

Prometheus wrote:
Hello all,

As I've been contemplating selling my Midi lathe, and want to give the
guy who is interested in it sort of a head start on using it, I've
been contemplating making a starter set of turning tools at work to
send along with the lathe.

There are a couple of big questions, and I'm hoping at least one or
two of you have some ideas about this.

First off, the material choices are pretty much limited to cold rolled
steel, stainless steel and aluminum. I'm thinking Aluminum can be
safely dismissed as a suitable material for a cutting tool, and I know
the steel would work- but I'm really most interested in the idea of
using 7 ga. stainless. The flutes for the gouges will be pressed on
a 100 ton brake, and probably not tempered, unless I get really
abitious and feel like playing with my torch. Cutting the steel is
trivial, so no worries there. I'll probably just make a thin wedge
similar to a file on the end to press it into the handles. The gouges
*could* be milled, but that would require purchasing material and then
wasting a good bit of it milling it out.

I know that I could buy HSS or some other tool steel, but the carbon
steel and the stainless can be had for free from the scrap bin, which
is very appealing in something I intend to give away as a starter set.

So does anyone have any stainless steel cutting tools? I'm interested
in how well they hold an edge, and how sharp they get, as well as any
other points of interest about it. I don't recall ever seeing SST
turning tools for sale, but they might be nice- especially considering
the fact that they won't rust if set in a pile of damp shavings.

Of course, I'm contemplating making another set for myself as well-
but if there is some particular reason I'm not aware of regarding the
material and why it might be poorly suited to the task, I may as well
not waste it and stick with the carbon steel that I know will take a
keen edge.

I'm fairly sure it would work great- but it's always good to bounce
ideas off someone else.