Vortex tool - Cindy Drozda - questions.....

[John Keeton]

John - also check out Cindy's website. She has some more info on all of her tools...

Brian, just did that! Thanks for the suggestion. I guess a little effort on my part would have figured that out - but, much easier to have friends do the work!

John make you a round skew. It works well on finials also.

I have thought about that, Bernie, and may do that if I decide to make one of these. Just didn't realize the cost of the HSS, and the shipping would be so much. Even getting the 8" pieces Dan suggested, the shipping is almost $14, although the stock is relatively cheap. I could get 4 pieces of 1/4" and a couple of 3/8" pieces for about $34 total.

John I ordered a 1/4" X 36" bar of W1 tool steel from McMaster-Carr a couple of months ago for $2.64 along with some other bar stock and shipping was about $8 for the whole order. You can heat W1 enough with a MAPP torch for hardening after it is formed and just dip it in water. It is not as deep hardening as O1 or A1 but a lot easier to harden. I used it to make a skew and point tool. Just a thought.

Sid

Sid, I don't have a MAPP torch, and I hesitate to get one as I rarely use the little propane torch I have. Heat treating has never held my interest much, and I really know so little about it. I guess that is why I am drawn to the HSS idea.

By the time I buy some HSS, and spend a couple hours making this tool and handle, I am just about at the point where the $45 looks like a good deal. I like woodworking, but the rest of it seems a lot like work - even making the handles is minimally fun for me.

I may just have to order one of them - sounds like from Ken's description, getting the tool profile would be tricky without having one to go by.

[Mike Minto]

In watching the Cindy Drozda DVD on the Finial Star, she is using a "Vortex" tool. This looks to be nothing more than a piece of drill rod that has been honed with a flat surface at an angle to the center of the rod, and then ground with swept back wings, and undercut to get rid of the excess heel. She uses the tool for crisp cuts on small details with great success.

I have looked for a source without luck, but it seems one could make a "Vortex" tool easily enough. Any experience with this little tool?

John, Packard Woodworks carries 5 tools of Cindy's, including the 'vortex'.

[Mark Hubl]

John, John, John,

Making tools is another level of the Vortex! It is wise of you to beware!

Personally I have had great fun making tools. And the more challenging the pieces I am creating the more I see having a custom tool part of the job. If you change your mind, like Sid said, check out McMaster-Carr. A 3' O1 is $2.76 and I have found their shipping to be very reasonable compared to others.

[Jeff Nicol]

Did a little surfing around - to buy a piece of 1/4" HSS rod 36" long looks like about $24, plus shipping. That would make 3 tools, but what to do with the rest of it? I guess there are other configurations one could make, but I think I would want some bigger rod for other tools.

Makes the Drozda tool at $45 sound better!

John, You can buy it in shorter lengths than that. I have bought 6"-8" and 12" pieces. You can get a 36" length of drill rod cheaper and temper it yourself too. Check out Enco and Wholesale tool and I think it is called US steel is another place that is not to bad. Just bought a bunch of carbide inserts of different styles to play with.

Jeff

[Jim Slovik]

John,
Doug Thompson sells 6" x 3/8" blanks of his steel. Maybe he would sell you a 1/4" piece before he finishes it into a gouge. It's worth a try.
Jim

[Paul Maue]

I went to HF and bought a set of 24" long drill bits to make a 1/4" round skew gouge. There are three rods in the pack 1/4", 3/8" & 1/2" diameter. I don't remember what I paid but it wasn't much.
The actual drill bit is only 8" long so when I cut the rod in half, I used half for my skew and the other half is a long 1/4" drill bit.

[Chris Stolicky]

John,
Doug Thompson sells 6" x 3/8" blanks of his steel. Maybe he would sell you a 1/4" piece before he finishes it into a gouge. It's worth a try.
Jim

Now that sounds like a good idea. Imagine how long the edge would last when used as a hollowing tool. Man, the ideas and the 'I wanna try that' list just never ends!!

[John Keeton]

John,
Doug Thompson sells 6" x 3/8" blanks of his steel. Maybe he would sell you a 1/4" piece before he finishes it into a gouge. It's worth a try.
Jim

Excellent!!

[Salvatore Buscemi]

I know this is an old thread, but it came up in a search. Did you end up making or buying one? And what kind of angles are ground?

[Scott Hackler]

John, our local club had a tool making day and one of the tools was a three sided point tool. It is somewhat similar to Drozdas vortex tool. Very nice to have and I use it on every finial to enhance the dividing lines. We used drill rod. It was very inexpensive. I don't worry about the hole HSS aspect as this is a detail tool.

[John Keeton]

Scott, I have seen the point tools, and they look like they would work for several things.

Salvatore, I did end up making a couple out of some Benjamin Best spindle gouges I no longer use. This pics were taken shortly after making them, and I have since cleaned up the grind on the underside, and removed more stock. I use these only for very deep undercuts in finial work, and it is absolutely critical that you not enter the piece above center with one of these! You will only do it once! I now use Thompson 1/4" detail gouges for 95% of the detail work on finials.

I thought I had posted some pics previously, but don't recall the thread, and too lazy to look thru my list of attachments - too many! Excuse the hair in the pic - didn't notice it until I looked at these.

[Salvatore Buscemi]

Ok, thanks. On a whim I ordered the 3/8" blank from Doug Thompson when I bought some gouges. I was just looking for the best use for it.

Sal

[charlie knighton]

John, our local club had a tool making day and one of the tools was a three sided point tool. It is somewhat similar to Drozdas vortex tool. Very nice to have and I use it on every finial to enhance the dividing lines. We used drill rod. It was very inexpensive. I don't worry about the hole HSS aspect as this is a detail tool.

Scott Hackler, i wonder if you could post a picture of this tool, thanks

[John Keeton]

Ok, thanks. On a whim I ordered the 3/8" blank from Doug Thompson when I bought some gouges. I was just looking for the best use for it.

Sal

Salvatore, I would suggest you do a vortex type tool on one end, and a 3 point tool on the other. These tools are used with such light pressure, you could make a handle with a 3/8" hole, and simply have the tool so you could flip ends. In fact, were it not for the fact that the tools I use are very sharp (honed with 600 grit sandpaper on a flat surface) you could use the rod unhandled.

[Wally Dickerman]

Lots of replies here John. I bought one of Cindy's tools from Cindy. She was demontrating turning finials at the Packard booth at the Albuquerque symposium in 2008. She showed me how she used it, but my memory is short. I've used it a couple of times but not enough yet to pass an educated opinion on it. Aww heck...if Cindy can do it, so can I....?

Wally