Homemade Carbide Turning Tool

[Tom Baugues]

I have been reading all winter long about people using these carbide tools to make pens. Well its finally getting warm outside and I'm back in the shop so I decided to try to make one myself. I decided to try a round cutter first. I looked around on e-bay and bought a 12mm cutter ($4.00 shipped to my door). I then found a 3/8" stainless steel shaft and cut a recess on the end and drilled and tapped hole for cutter screw. Gathered up some scrap wood from my shop (Sassafras, Padauk and Purpleheart). Turned the wood to shape, drilled a hole for the shaft and glued in with epoxy. Added a copper plumbing fitting (.58 cents) and finished with some clear shellac. The Padauk and Purpleheart got much darker than I had hoped for but in the end It looks like it should work well. Overall length is about 17" with about 6" of shaft sticking out
I hope to try it out this weekend.
Total cost to build....less than $5.00. Love it when a plan comes together!
Next up is a square radius cutter and maybe some larger cutters on 1/2" shafts for cutting out bowls.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Looks good, Tom. Great job! I think you'll find the square (slight radius) cutters will be easier for pens, since getting an even, semi-flat surface with the round ones is a bit more challenging to do. But the small round cutters are handy for a lot of stuff, too.

It's been a few years since I was involved in field testing carbide cutters for EZ Wood Tools, but I learned then that not all cutters are created equal. The cutters that EZ Wood Tools sells are sharper and seem to keep that sharpness longer than others I've tried, including the 6 or 7 ones they sent me to compare, as well as some I've bought in bulk on eBay. So I's suggest experimenting with cutters from different companies. I suspect you'll find some that you like better than others.

 

[Tom Baugues]

Looks good, Tom. Great job! I think you'll find the square (slight radius) cutters will be easier for pens, since getting an even, semi-flat surface with the round ones is a bit more challenging to do. But the small round cutters are handy for a lot of stuff, too.

It's been a few years since I was involved in field testing carbide cutters for EZ Wood Tools, but I learned then that not all cutters are created equal. The cutters that EZ Wood Tools sells are sharper and seem to keep that sharpness longer than others I've tried, including the 6 or 7 ones they sent me to compare, as well as some I've bought in bulk on eBay. So I's suggest experimenting with cutters from different companies. I suspect you'll find some that you like better than others.

Vaughn, you may be right about the quality of the cutters themselves which is why I only bought one to start with. I’m sure I’ll learn more as I use it. It does get confusing though when every retailer claims that there cutters are sharper and last longer than any others. So I’ll start with the cheapest one I could find then maybe buy a better one and compare the two. Time will tell. I do want to order a square radius cutter now and make another one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Charlie Plesums]

The slight curve on the EZ-Wood cutters is very helpful. I have one made locally using carbides from a planer, totally square, and it is a challenge to not leave lines at the corners.

 

[Darren Wright]

Looks really good Tom, look forward to hearing how it works.

 

[Frank Fusco]

I have made a bunch of carbide turning tools. None as nice looking as Tom's but serviceable. I was able to sell them for $10.00 at a profit. The cutters I used were from Grizzly. They are replacement cutters for their planers. I never compared one carbide cutter to another so have no opinion on that. Just will say, mine seem to be just fine. I used square cutters which allowed turning to a new edge if needed. Never have needed yet.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

I thought the first carbide tools I used were OK too, until I used really good (but stupidly expensive) cutters. Sort of like thinking your hand plane is good until you use one that's been properly sharpened and set up.