Heavy wood turning chisel

[Jacob]

I want to make a set of indian clubs. I can do it with the kit I've got but not fast.
Whats this chisel called that R Findley is using and is it as good/fast as it looks?


PS Is this it? Richard Findley Signature tool - The Turner's Workshop
Or perhaps a 10mm "Bedan" chisel bevelled both sides?

 

[Paul Hannaby]

It's a 10mm or 3/8" beading and parting tool. Several of the tool manufacturers sell them. Richard uses his like a skew (square) chisel. I have a round chisel I use to do similar cuts. That one has the advantage of not pivoting on a corner so is easier to control.

 

[hlvd]

Looks like a Parting Tool but used as a Skew Chisel.

 

[Jacob]

Thanks. I see they are all over the place now I know what they are called! Ordered one from Vintage Shop | Fenland Tools.

 

[Richard_C]

I've seen Richard Findlay demonstrate - excellent. He is a production turner so speed matters, and doubtless he has had many years of spending more hours in a week on a lathe than most of us get in a year. It's not just the tool that makes him fast and accurate! I suspect that if you were to hand him a blunt gouge and a rusty nail he would still be faster and better than most of us.

AWGB has a series of videos each on a single tool - I don't think you have to register as a member to see them.

www.awgb.co.uk, read, awgb educational videos, the first one is Richard Findlay sharpening and using that tool.

Well worth watching.

 

[Jacob]

I've seen Richard Findlay demonstrate - excellent. He is a production turner so speed matters, and doubtless he has had many years of spending more hours in a week on a lathe than most of us get in a year. It's not just the tool that makes him fast and accurate! I suspect that if you were to hand him a blunt gouge and a rusty nail he would still be faster and better than most of us.

AWGB has a series of videos each on a single tool - I don't think you have to register as a member to see them.

www.awgb.co.uk, read, awgb educational videos, the first one is Richard Findlay sharpening and using that tool.

Well worth watching.

Thanks for that.
Very good video. AWGB Educational Videos – AWGB
He sharpens to an included angle about 45º. My 10mm "Bedan" chisel is about 45º but one bevel, so I'll be experimenting to find out the difference in use.

 

[Argus]

It's exactly as Paul Hannaby says.

It could appear a complete heresy these days of obsessive sharpening, but one thing that was stressed when I started turning, that you went straight from the grinding wheel to the work at the highest practical speed - grinding the edge lightly.

It then involved a twin approach where the wood was cut and burnished at the same time.

For that type of curved work shown, the parting tool was typically sharpened on a fine grinding wheel, the resulting slightly concave face was used immediately behind the cut to burnish the surface..... then finished with a rubbing handful of shavings.


.

 

[Jacob]

It's exactly as Paul Hannaby says.

It could appear a complete heresy these days of obsessive sharpening, but one thing that was stressed when I started turning, that you went straight from the grinding wheel to the work at the highest practical speed - grinding the edge lightly.

It then involved a twin approach where the wood was cut and burnished at the same time.

For that type of curved work shown, the parting tool was typically sharpened on a fine grinding wheel, the resulting slightly concave face was used immediately behind the cut to burnish the surface..... then finished with a rubbing handful of shavings.


.

Not trying to start a sharpening thread - but I've resorted to freehand oil stone for wood turning. Just a quick and very frequent touch up on a "medium" grit, but took some time to be able to do it reliably. Flat/convex bevels burnish too.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just a quick and very frequent touch up on a "medium" grit ...

If you can point me to one ..... just one ...... pro turner who does it, I might believe it's worthwhile.

 

[Argus]

........ It's all about skinning cats.

Apparently, the cat is rotated in the opposite direction south of the Equator.

 

[Jacob]

Just a quick and very frequent touch up on a "medium" grit ...

If you can point me to one ..... just one ...... pro turner who does it, I might believe it's worthwhile.

Why would I bother? Do it your own way but don't worry or get over excited if somebody does it differently!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Do it your own way, certainly, but the fact that thousands of people better than you don't do it should make you think about it.
You are quick enough to make your views known when someone expresses a preference for diamond plates or waterstones over oilstones - that it suits them doesn't matter, they're wrong.

 

[Jacob]

Do it your own way, certainly, but the fact that thousands of people better than you don't do it should make you think about it.
You are quick enough to make your views known when someone expresses a preference for diamond plates or waterstones over oilstones - that it suits them doesn't matter, they're wrong.

You are getting over excited again! Can't be good for you.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I can assure you nothing you post excites me to any degree.

 

[Jacob]

Do it your own way, certainly, but the fact that thousands of people better than you don't do it should make you think about it.
.......

Actually, what makes me think about it is that over the years millions of people better than you or me have done it freehand e.g. as instructed by Percy Blandford and others in all the old books. Worth investigating.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

They did it freehand because they had no option, not because it was best. The tools they used were much simpler, made of softer steel and easier to sharpen freehand.

 

[Jacob]

They did it freehand because they had no option, not because it was best. The tools they used were much simpler, made of softer steel and easier to sharpen freehand.

I didn't say it was "best".
But it is quite convenient and I like doing it, so "preferred" would be a better word, for the time being at least!
There are people reviving the use of pole and treadle lathes, but they aren't saying they are "best" either.
There are others working with CNC and copy lathes, but neither are they "best" for everybody.