I already have a thread running on tangential tools but this post is about lathe tools generally. I have a Minilor TR-1 mini lathe/mill and after three years have collected lots of tool steel / lathe tools which would just about fit in a cornflakes box. But out of all that lot I do most of my work with just half a dozen tools.

One of these bits is 1/4" square and I use it for turning and facing. But it is not like all the other ground and shiny tool steels, it looks brown and dull and un-ground. Appearances are deceptive though, a normal bit of bog standard HSS tool steel will produce quite a bright spark when sharpened but this stuff hardly produces a spark at all and tough? – it leaves HSS standing performance wise. What might this stuff be?

Here's another one, years ago when I worked doing this sort of stuff for a living I did a stint in the machine shop of a brick making company. In many ways it was like travelling back in time given what I had been used to up till then. No jig borers here or temperature controlled environments, not a comparator or sine bar in sight. No sir! Precision here was often achieved with hammer, chisel and sledge hammer.

But I digress. Back then the lathe tools that were popularly used (and maybe still are) had soft shanks with the business end only being hard and tough. I stand corrected but I seem to remember these were described as "brazed tip". Once the tip had been ground away the tool was useless. Its been a long time so maybe I'm wrong. (I don't care though – I don't have to punch a clock any more!!)

In the workshop I had noticed that some of the machine cutting tools looked quite ancient, even as if they had been hand made by a blacksmith (maybe they had) but talking to Harry on the long bed lathe one day I asked him about these old tools. He told me "forget about all the other modern stuff, when I'm after the best finish on these shafts then its them I use."

Do I remember the word "forged" being used to describe these old tools? If so I'd not be surprised if the technology behind them dates back to the industrial revolution. I don't know – but I bet someone does!

ATB

Stuart