EXPERT KNOWLEDGE WOODTURNING GOUGES TURNING TOOLS BY MANUFACTURER

Which turning tools to buy?

In addition to a lathe, lathes are part of a woodturner's basic equipment. The range of tools for woodturning is diverse and almost unmanageable. To give you an overview, we have sorted them by Manufacturer, which we would like to briefly introduce to you:

• Crown: all tools are made by hand in Sheffield, England in the Lengthy tradition of using high quality Steel. The blade material used is the stable M2-HSS as well as M42-HSS and PRO-PM steel for Hardness and Longest tool life. Crown turning tools with oiled ash handle (also available as a set) and ready-to-use Bevel are available exclusively from DICTUM.
• DICTUM: after an extensive test phase, we offer standard turning tools*, boring tools and scrapers as individual tools or as a set at a good price-performance ratio. We use cryogenically hardened M2 HSS (approx. 65 HRC), with up to five times the service life of conventional HSS, and replaceable carbide cutting edges for Hollowing tools and Blade scrapers.
• Easy Wood Tools: the US-based company offers easy-to-use woodturning tools with replaceable carbide cutting edges. These are designed for effortless material removal. Their ease of use and superior results make these tools ideal for beginners and occasional users. However, professionals also appreciate the properties of carbide cutting tools.
• Hattori offers solid turning tools with a good price-performance ratio made of heat-resistant HSS (63 HRC) with ergonomically shaped hardwood handles, finely ground surfaces, "softened" edges and sturdily dimensioned brass ferrules. Exclusively standard turning tools* in sets.
• Henry Taylor, also based in Sheffield, has been producing the finest quality chisels for over 150 years. Traditional manufacturing methods such as hand forging are combined with modern hardness and tempering processes. The best Sheffield Steel (HSS) is used for all turning tools, which are mounted to the robust, dark-stained hardwood handles using solid brass ferrules. Henry Taylor has developed some of his tools in collaboration with well-known woodturners such as Roy Child, Richard Raffan, Dale and Darrel Nishi and David Ellsworth.
• Hamlet Craft Tools: Under this brand name, Henry Taylor mainly manufactures hollowing tools such as the Stuart Mortimer tube with good value for money. The blades are made from extremely durable M2 HSS.

* Standard turning tools: common turning tools that are part of the basic equipment, such as Roughing-out gouges, Turning chisels, Bowl gouges, Parting tools etc.

Which HS steels are used for turning tools?

• M2-HSS: High Speed Steel (HSS) is an alloy with chromium, molybdenum, tungsten and vanadium, a heat-resistant steel with high abrasion resistance up to approx. 570 °C. Most manufacturers of turning tools use the extremely durable M2-HSS as the material for their standard versions.
• M42-HSS: originally developed for metalworking, it cuts even exotic hardwoods or composite materials with ease. The M42-HSS owes its exceptionally long tool life to the ten per cent addition of cobalt. This doubles the tool life compared to Standard M2-HSS and results in a very fine cutting edge.

What is PM Steel?

PM stands for "powder metallurgy". The alloying of steels has natural limits due to the different melting points of the components and other properties. In order to be able to produce steel grades that are customised for special applications, so-called "sintering" is used. This is a process in which a solid body is pressed from a fine-grained mixture of steel powders at high temperatures. It can also be used to bring together alloy components that are virtually immiscible in a liquid state, such as tungsten alloys.

What is the difference between so-called cryogenic rotary irons?

Cryogenic hardening is a complex process in which the chisels are additionally cooled down to minus 185 °C after hardening, but before tempering. This treatment results in the formation of significantly finer carbides, which do not occur during normal hardness. Cryo-steel combines outstanding properties such as a longer service life and fine cutting edge formation with low burr formation and easier sharpening.

What do I need to consider when sharpening the different types of steel?

Sharpening higher alloyed steels takes more time than with standard HSS. However, the increased sharpening effort is justified by the longer tool life of the chisels. Low-speed chisels with CBN discs remove Material quickly and effectively, so the differences are nowhere near as significant as when sharpening on wet sharpening machines. All of the steel types mentioned above, including cryogenically hardened steels, can be sharpened on conventional sharpening systems. For Recommended steels (HSS and PM), we recommend the Tormek Blackstone Silicon SB-250 grinding wheel and the DICTUM CBN grinding wheels Black Crystal.

Blade scrapers made from cryogenically hardened steel are an exception when sharpening. Normal blade scrapers cut through a burr that forms automatically on the cutting edge during sharpening or that is subsequently tightened, similar to a scraper blade. Turning tools made of cryogenically hardened steel, however, hardly form a burr during sharpening, which is highly desirable for Roughing-out gouges, turning tools, Roughing-out gouges and Parting-out tools. Blade scrapers made from cryogenically hardened steel always require an additional work step to tighten the burr. The fine cutting edge design and subsequent tightening make the burr very even. As most wood turners shy away from the additional work step, we at DICTUM only offer cryogenically hardened blade scrapers as a special order.