I have a friend who turns a LOT of Norwiegan ale bowls (2 or 3 a day at
the MN state fair every year, for instance)with a spring pole lathe and
he uses mostly hook tools. He is emulating 1600's and 1700's usually,
so he uses only 1095 for tools (since that's what would have been
available). He forges out the Hook on the end of a roughly 1/2" round
bar about 15 inches long and fits a handle that is another 15 to 24
inches long. He does fully harden them and temper them back to medium
straw, but they do require a fair amount of sharpening ( a quick
stoning). We full hardened one without tempering once, and it stayed
sharp a long time, until it broke when it caught one day. He
demonstrates before the public often and gives classes, too.

I'd favor forging over grinding. You only need to work the last couple
of inches of stock, so it shouldn't take more than a half dozen heats to
draw it down. Come on over and use a power hammer if you want. (If I
can ever find the forge again). I think I have a bunch of 1/2" round
1095 to save you some time.

Pete Stanaitis
-----------------

Prometheus wrote:

Hello all-

We're having a little break from the heat this weekend in my neck of
the woods, so I'm contemplating firing up the forge and making myself
a few more turning tools. (I didn't realise when I made it, but a gas
forge is a bad option when the weather turns hot when compared to a
coal one, and I haven't had the fortitude to use it much this summer!)

The psuedo-Oland type tool I've got in mind (with a toolbit inserted
into the end of a bar rather than through the side) should be easy
enough, but the hook tool raises a question or two in my mind.

The way I see it, there are two ways for me to make one of these- I
can either draw out the end of a bar, chamfer it, and then fold it
over to literally make a hook, or I can just hammer the end of some
flat stock into a circle shape, drill or punch a hole in the center,
then finish forming it by countersinking before I heat treat it.

In either case, I'll probably be sharpening with a grinding point in
the die-grinder or dremel tool, but I'm just wondering if one design
would work better than the other for some reason. The material will
be 1095 high-carbon steel (also known as W1 tool steel) because that
is what I have, and it takes a nice sharp edge after hardening and
tempering.

I intend to just leave the remainder of the bar on the end of the hook
as the handle, so that I can reforge it when it eventually wears out.
It'll most likely be 3/8-1/2" thick, and about 3/4" in diameter, as
that would involve the least amount of hammering (1095 is tough stuff,
even when hot.)

So, if anyone has any preferences or thoughts about these two styles,
I'd appreciate a quick review! Either one will take some time and
effort to make properly, so I'd like to go with the best design I can.