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

[John Keeton]

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

Wally, Cindy does some nice work, but let there be no confusion on which of you is the master!!!

[Harvey Schneider]

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.

Typically the shank of the drill bit isn't hardened. You will probably have to harden and temper the working end of the tool.

[Dahl Troy Perry]

John I hope your wife has dark hair because that hair in the picture is way to dark to be yours

[John Keeton]

Must just be the light, Dahl!! While Ms. Keeton has a few dark ones left, they are....well, outnumbered!!

My guess would be that it is from one of my granddaughters as these pics were taken during the summer, and they frequent the shop sometimes.

[Roger Chandler]

Must just be the light, Dahl!! While Ms. Keeton has a few dark ones left, they are....well, outnumbered!!

My guess would be that it is from one of my granddaughters as these pics were taken during the summer, and they frequent the shop sometimes.

I don't mind so much that they turn white, but I object to so cotton-pikkin' many turnin' loose!

[Ryan Baker]

I've finally found a video clip that gives a decent view of the shape of Cindy's vortex tool. This is one of Cindy's videos showing how to sharpen the vortex as sold by Packard. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/user/cindydro.../2/k4xSSBJVzUY . The HD version gives a pretty clear view of the shape ... good enough to take a shot at making a good copy.

[John Keeton]

Ryan, I had seen this video prior to making my tools, and originally had the two underside bevels on mine. Cindy uses this tool kind of like a skew in her work, and the extra bevel on the underside certainly would help for that purpose. For what I do with mine, the bevel is obstructive, and so I removed it. Otherwise, I basically copied the angles from this video when making mine.

Cindy's tool is really a 3 point tool with much more acute angles than normally seen on these tools. Dale Miner, a member here, and an excellent turner, uses a 3 point tool for some of his platter work, etc. He has done an excellent job making his, and the angles are much more obtuse.

[charlie knighton]

thanks Ryan, that's an interesting tool, i have a piece of 1/4 drill rod left over, now if it will only warm up enough to shape and harden it

[Michael Mills]

If you have a WT Tool local (or you can order) they have ¼ HHS for about $5 for either a 6 or 8 inch length. Plenty long enough for light work.
I bought a couple of them and other diameters to swap out in my handle with a chuck. Or is that my chuck with a handle?

[Dale Miner]

John,

Pardon me while I let out my hat band a size or two.

Thanks for the plug.

The point tool works very well for doing beads and vee cuts in both spindle grain and face grain. The more obtuse angle (to me at least) gives some shear to the cut when in use, and in so doing, reduces the amount of tear out that typically comes from using a scraper type cutting action. I did see a Vortex tool that Stuart Batty uses when he did a demo for our club. It definately has a more acute shape, and would be better suited for making the deep narrow details found on finials. I have a piece of 3/8" steel from Doug Thompson for the purpose, but haven't gotten a round tuit yet.

Later,
Dale M

[Ryan Baker]

The only solution is to make all of them!!

I definitely want to try out a very acute version like Cindy's for fine finial details. I've seen her tool shown a number of times, but it is just one of those shapes that you can't get a good video or still view of. The link above is the first time I found a really good view of the bevels on the bottom. It's actually a bit different than what I had expected. Now I just need to pull out some steel and get to the toolmaking. Every design has something it is perfect for. The good news is that if you try it and don't like it, it only takes a quick trip to the grinder to try something else!

[Mark Hubl]

These tools are pretty easy to make. Here are a couple of pics of my point tools and my version of the "vortex" tool. I made the smaller point and the vortex. The larger point is a Jet tool. The vortex comes in handy for finial details, but I have not quite figured out how to use it for shearing. The point tools are nice for detail and beading, like on the bottom of a platter. If you make a point tool use the hex nut sharpening secret. Get a hex nut that fits nicely over the size of the stock you are using. Drill and tap a hole in one of the sides of the hex nut for a set/grub screw. Set your grinder up for the angle you want, I think mine are around 40. Then by using every other side of the hex nut on your grinders table you will get a nice evenly spaced point tool.

Don't ask about the grind on the vortex tool. It is based on the Drozda/Packard version, loosely. I have never seen it except in the video. And if you watch CD's video's her early models were a bit different. I just put some serious angles on the under side and ground the top flat with a slight angle. I am sharpening it as Cindy describes in her video.