# Home Made Turning Tools



## sooty (1 Oct 2007)

Has anyone made their own turning tools I want to make a tool for parting the rings you make on babys rattles and on goblet stems?

I have also heard you can make cutting tools from old drill bits has anyone done it if yes how did you make them? do you have any pic's showing what was done


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## jasonB (1 Oct 2007)

I've made several long hollowing tools. Used a length of 12mm stainless rod, drilled a hole to take a length of 3/16 round HSS tool steel and retained it with a grub screw.

Will take some pics later and post.

Jason


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## AndyT (1 Oct 2007)

I've had pretty good results with home-made scrapers from cheap Chinese chisels. Ground on an ordinary bench grinder and rehandled to give a bit more control. No need to worry if they are so cheap that they are not flat.


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## Paul.J (1 Oct 2007)

Haven't made any myself but i have a pair of old planer knives and have been thinking of using these to make some tools,but would they be suitable :?: 
Paul.J.


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## Stu in Tokyo (1 Oct 2007)

Yep, I even have a forge, and a tempering oven, but I won't show you, as it would not past health and safety :lol:


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## jasonB (1 Oct 2007)

Here you go, hollowing tools inspired by Bob Chapmans book







The flat scraper tip is a Sorbey spare others are ground fromHSS tools steel blanks






Shafts are 10" long with 14" handles.

If you intend to make your cutters from old twist drills you will need some form of holder like these as you can only use the shank which would be too small to hold otherwise. 

To Use HSS twist drills cut off the fluted part with a dremel then harden the soft shank by heating to cherry red then quenching in water, as its HSS there is no need to temper afterwards, just grind to the profile you want making sure not to overheat.

Jason


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## Anonymous (1 Oct 2007)

sooty":14iftq4r said:


> Has anyone made their own turning tools I want to make a tool for parting the rings you make on babys rattles and on goblet stems?


 
Yes... a suitably ground allen key makes a good tool for undercutting rings and doesn't usually need tempering if you're careful when grinding to shape.

The commercial captive ring tools are a good starting point for profile experimentation...


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## Bodrighy (1 Oct 2007)

I've got a set of miniature tools I made from old chisels, the ones with flat profiles. Just ground them to different shape scrapers for different cuts. Found them ideal for really small work as there isn't the forces involved. Suspect that you would have to be a bit more carful about the steedl used if it was for bigger tools. Some people use old files but the metal on them is vey brittle and I wuldn't try it myself. lso have a couple of parting tools ground from a couple of those heavy duty hacksaw blades you can get. 

Pete


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## davebrac (1 Oct 2007)

Stu in Tokyo":3vygict9 said:


> Yep, I even have a forge, and a tempering oven, but I won't show you, as it would not past health and safety :lol:



Too late I've seen it

Daveb


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## Woodmagnet (2 Oct 2007)

Hi Daveb, welcome to the forum, now tell all! :lol:


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## Anonymous (2 Oct 2007)

Hi Kevin... your tools, do you mackem yourself? ( :lol: )


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## sooty (3 Oct 2007)

Thanks for the replies folks
I intend having a go at making some sort of tool for myself, like the idea of using an old allen key for undercutting rings.
But It will have to wait till I have made my new bench to put my lathe on?


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## NickWelford (3 Oct 2007)

Have a look at these instructions for making a hook tool
http://www.aroundthewoods.com/hooktool.shtml


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## Woodmagnet (3 Oct 2007)

oldsoke":2mx6ltrf said:


> Hi Kevin... your tools, do you mackem yourself? ( :lol: )



:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## davebrac (3 Oct 2007)

kevin":16ahsel4 said:


> Hi Daveb, welcome to the forum, now tell all! :lol:



I know Stu from the Wood works forum and he posted a few items on the forge there. the forge is quite inventive like most of Stu's projects


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## Paul.J (5 Oct 2007)

Thought i'd have a go at making my own captive ring tool and came up with this idea,as in the piccys.
It is an old screwdriver,with the flat head ground off to make the shape shown.It seemed to work but just couldn't get the cuts smooth,as you can see in the 3rd piccy.
Any thoughts as to if i should stick with this or grind it another way or just give up with it and try something else,or just buy one :roll: 
Click on piccys.

Ground down old screw driver.








The results


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## Bodrighy (5 Oct 2007)

I had this problem with a Sorby tool that I had borrowed and realised that I had to make sure all the smoothing and sanding was done prior to the final cut freeing the ring. If you then wrap a piece of wet & dry around the main shaft you can sand the inside of the ring down. 

Have a look at the Sorby ring tool for basic design, maybe a flat profile as in an old chisel would be better, yours looks a bit vicious :lol: 

Hope this helps
Pete


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