skew question

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
I originally posted this by misteak as a response to another thread. Now here as it's own topic.

My current skew is an old, 1" Buck Bros. 'cast steel' . It doesn't hold an edge well at all, I'm constantly touching it up, sometimes three times for a single pen. I'm considering another skew that will do better. But, in shopping, I see a puzzling trend. The following do not even offer a regular, flat, skew a/k/a 'skew chisle', they all offer rounded, curved, etc. but not flat. They are: Kyro; Raffan; Taylor; Hamlet or P&N.
Sorby does offer but only in M2 steel. Artisan does offer but, also, only in M2 steel.
Crow does offer in powdered steel but only at 3/4".
Wassup? I thought the flat 1" skew was the most popular, most used turning tool there is.
Two questions: Well, now only one, I already asked "Wassup?"
Other, in practical terms (not what advertising copy says) is powdered steel really 3X or 5X better than M2? Same question for the cryogenic treated (Kyro) steels which are supposed to be zillion times better. Are they?
I'm not accustomed to dropping a C note for one small tool and want to make the right choice. Or, I might have to start trolling the garage sales again.
 
frank,
i`ve never used any cryo tools or powdered metal ones.....but my moulder runs m-2 for it`s knifes and cutting soft stuff like kd white oak i`ll get 2500-4000 lineal feet before sharpening, sometimes more.
my "new" lathe tools are m-2, my older ones are hss......i don`t turn enough to justify any upgrades at the present time.....

doing the math, 10" diameterx3.14x 1500rpm= lotsa ft. per min? might be something to the new metalurgy.....interested to hear from the guys-n-gals using the new stuff?
 
Frank, I've got several of the powdered metal/cryo treated lathe tools from Doug Thompson (www.thompsonlathetools.com) and in my experience they really do hold an edge longer. He's got a flat 1" skew right here. They're not cheap, but Doug has the best prices I've seen for tools with the high-end metal.
 
Frank, I have and use several lathe tools of the varieties you mention. The M2 steel sharpens well, and holds an edge pretty well. The PM tools I have sharpen well, and hold an edge much longer than the M2 tools. I have a couple Cryo. treated PM tools, and to be quite honest, I don't feel they hold an edge better or longer than the non-cryo treated PM gouges, at least not a big enough difference to justify the additional cost, IMO. (With that being said, the Thompson tools Vaughn mentioned are a good value for the money, so that would be a valid consideration for me on future purchases.)
 
Frank...one suggestion......if you get a "flat" skew.....knock off the sharp corners on it using your grinder. I found the sharp corners tend to put dings in my tool rest.
 
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