Now that I have my foot in the door, the questions will start rolling. Actually I find most info using search.

Im using Sorby skew, gouge, and parting tool. I turned a few dowels just to get the hang of the lathe (its been since High School), and then turned a few needles and a popper (white cedar). Went to turn another plug (Im addicted) and cant even get these things to bite a little. Seem really dull. Question...is it normal for the tools to dull that quickly? Just thought they would go a little longer.

Didnt know if Im going to have to sharpen after every few plugs (which I have to figure out how to do).

Thanks

I wish I owned some Sorby chisels and could report 1st hand. They have a top notch reputation and mine are inferior yet I get about 15 plugs with mine before resharpening is necessary. This wasn't always the case. I had an experience similar to yours. I failed to complete all tooling on the workpiece prior to sanding. I figured that abrasive particles were being transfered from the sandpaper and becoming embedded in the wood. 2 or 3 plugs and the tools were rendered childsafe. Nowdays, once I touch the wood with sandpaper, the plug never sees steel again.
If just 1 tool was going dull on you I'd say i'ts possible that it was improperly tempered, but all 3? what are the chances? Guess stranger things have happened. I'm fresh out of ideas maybe others can help.
Good luck, keep at it.

Originally posted by Lower

Didnt know if Im going to have to sharpen after every few plugs (which I have to figure out how to do).

Thanks

Build a duplicator with carbide bit...Problem solved.

Only other thing I thought of last night that didnt cross my mind. One of the pieces of cedar was primed. I knocked the primer off with the gauge and chisel. Maybe that caused the problem?

fishaholic...duplictor comes next year. I'm flat out of money from buying all the crap for this little hobby!

Build yourself=Cheap.
Do a search for info.

You could have overheated them when you ground them and pulled the temper out of them. A few more sharpenigns without turnign them blue and you should be back into hard steel.

Where is your tool rest set in relation to the horizontal centerline of the blank.
Besure that you are cutting the wood and not letting the spinning blank burnish the edge of the tool. This will happen if you are below center by too much. The more you turn with the tool tipped down (as opposed to flat or slightly up) the quicker the cutting edge will go dull. my .02
Good luck.

Wow, Sea-5 that could defiantly be the problem. I was playing with different rest heights and ended up being below center. It worked, but may be causing the problem. Well, I'll sharpen my tools and get that rest height up. See what happens.

oil primer will eat carbide,,so think of what it's doing to plain steel.

Primer will also eat the tip off your airbrush. I know.

Originally posted by fishaholic18
Build a duplicator with carbide bit...Problem solved.
Fishaholic,
Where are you buying your flat carbide bits? Are they pre-sharpened or blanks?
Thanks.

justplugit I sent you a PM. Paul

I go along with the tool rest height suggestions. This happens to me all the time until I remember that I messed with the tool rest, and voila!, they're sharp again after adjusting.

As the wood turns into the tool, it should rub on the bevel and the edge should meet the wood at a tangent so wood fibers pass evenly over and under the edge. If you lift the tool too much, wood will start to scrape across the edge and the edge will dull very quickly.

Build a duplicator with carbide bit...Problem solved.

did you build one?

i have got in the back of my head that i want to do one with a router.
not sure how to go about it:spin:

my excellent carpenter brother...
showed me how you take a belt sander with a fine cloth on it...

and clamp it upside down in the vise ...then at a fairly low speed
he'd touch up his chisels holding the chisel to the curve of belt sander
he'd hollow out some meat and get an extra sharp chisel every time.

Be careful here. Turning tools cut better when ground flat, not hollow ground with a secondary bevel like a woodworking chisel. Using a belt sander to sharpen tools works, but also be careful about hot metal sparks and dust piles.

Where is your tool rest set in relation to the horizontal centerline of the blank.
Besure that you are cutting the wood and not letting the spinning blank burnish the edge of the tool. This will happen if you are below center by too much. The more you turn with the tool tipped down (as opposed to flat or slightly up) the quicker the cutting edge will go dull. my .02
Good luck.

That is good to know - thanks Charelston!

That is good to know - thanks Charleston!


Here's a way to understand it better;
If you set the toolrest right at horizontal dead center on the round blank, as you look at it, the top half of the circumference is coming towards you and the bottom half is going away.
You can't cut something that is going away. The blank (wood) must be coming into the tool.
A slight incline into the cutting plane and your tools will last allot longer.
:buds: