First cuts with the lathe

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

Re: HSS

I think you have the right attitude, at least for now. Learning how to grind a decent cutter is more than a rite of passage, it’s a skill that will repay itself many times over. Not just in the lathe, understanding cutter geometry will be beneficial in almost all metal working.

In time most people end up with carbide as their primary tool, and for good reason. Not only can you cut for longer at higher speeds, you can also cut harder materials. I’ve even milled HSS tool bits with a carbide end mill to make a custom form cutter, it’s that much harder. But sooner or later you’ll end up with a job where none of the carbide inserts will fit.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If you ever need a special form tool, there will not be a tip available, and a diamond wheel on a cutter grinder would be needed to modify an existing carbide tip.

In which case HSS has to be the material, so knowing how to grind it will be a necessity, not to mention being a basic skill that is useful to have mastered.

Plus, you can regrind a HSS tool at 9:00 pm on a Saturday night after you have chipped your last carbide tip!

Howard

[Andrew CrowParticipant @andrewcrow91475]

As an old dinosaur if I ever need to make special tools I still use Silver steel or gauge plate then harden and temper it. In actual fact you can get a much sharper edge than with HSS or Carbide, but obviously you do have to run much slower.

Andy.

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