The Beast bites back.

[Bill Wyko]

Well, I got started on an 8lb burl for my beast over the weekend. I wanted to save the center for a lid on another piece so I was cutting in at a 45 degree angle to save the center for a cap. Unfortunately there was a knot I couldn't see. I had plenty of room for the tool to fit. My parting tool caught and literally snapped in 2. Since I had plenty of room, I tried with my bowl gouge and snapped it off at the handle. At this point, needless to say, I'm pissed. I grabbed my Glaser 15V and finally motored right through the knott. It made me realize it really is worth it to just buy the best tools and never look back. Having a metal handle really makes all the difference. When I looked at the Crown Powder metal gouge, I realized that there's almost no wood surrounding the tool. It really didn't take much to snap it in 1/2. You may have heard the old saying "Money is only a way of keeping score" If that's the case, I'm loosing the game now.

[Andrew Kertesz]

At least with the bowl gouge you can purchase a handle and the tool is still useable. Doesn't look like it was inset into the handle very deep either. From the picture it almost looks like the wood around the tool was like a tenon inserted into the handle.

[Bill Wyko]

I agree, I was surprised that it only went into the handle a little more than an inch. IMHO that's why it broke there. From now on I'm just going to spend the money and buy the Glaser tools. If either of those pieces were to have come full circle, there would be no face shield that would stop them from going right through and into my mug or anywhere else in my body. Definitely could be lethal. Plus I just love the Glaser stuff.

[Andrew Kertesz]

I have the Glaser 1/2" 15v Oval bowl gouge and as I rookie I can tell the difference when using that compared to the other lower quality tools I have.

[Scott Hackler]

Holy moly Bill! That crown gouge was not done very well in assembly. The shank should have had 2" into the wood for stability, but I am guessing from the size of the handle that that particular tool was made for smaller stuff and of course less stress. Glaser makes (what appears to be) some nice stuff, but I dont think that the other brands are too slack (even with wood handles)!

I once broke a spindle gouge at the shank / handle point, not because it was a piece of junk.. but because i was using it for a bowl gouge and had the whole darn thing off the tool rest while hollowing! DOH!

[Bill Wyko]

The PM tool is a full size tool, the parting tool was a bit smaller. Either way though, this could have sent me to the hospital. The Crown Pro PM tools are incredible, they stay sharp for a long time but if they are going to join it to the handle like that, I'm not comfortable with that.

[curtis rosche]

can we see a picture of what you were turning? what speed where you at that it had the power to do that?

[David DeCristoforo]

Breaking the parting tool must have been scary. Having the gouge break right after that would have sent me into the house for the rest of the day. Maybe even the rest of the week! I have to second (or is that "fifth"?) the thought that the gouge only penetrating the handle to a little more than the depth of the ferrule is cheesy and an invitation for exactly what you experienced. Trying to save a few inches of steel?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dang Bill that is a bummer.

[Curt Fuller]

Be careful Bill. When you're breaking tools you're coming awfully close to breaking Bill!

[charlie knighton]

scary, glad you came through it, a knot huh, i will remember that, wonder what it would have done to a band saw?

[Jim Burr]

I haven't read thru the previous threads, but I'd be inclined to go with faulty wood. Pitch pocket, wind shake, something. I've had a few catches on my old CSUSA set...like 10 yrs old and never had a break. Since the weak point in a tool is usually the wood, I'd look at that first. Hope that helps and glad you made it out in one piece!

[Harvey Ghesser]

"It made me realize it really is worth it to just buy the best tools and never look back. Having a metal handle really makes all the difference."

I agree with what you said about the Glaser tools. When we turn wood we are at risk. We should at least minimize our chances of injury. I believe that the well engineered Glaser tools not only help mitigate injury but certainly allow our creativity to shine.

Glad you're safe, Bill.

[Jeff Nicol]

Well I guess I will be the one to say it, I don't think either of those tools were meant to be used as you were using them. When you cut in at a 45 with th parting tool all it takes is a little bit of dust and chips to jam it and get a giant catch! You found this out the hard way, for that type of cutting you need a longer handled tool to be able to control the leverage and preferably with a wider cutter compared to the blade/bar to allow for chip removal. Then when you chose that gouge to slide it into a slot at a 45 in a burl, well that is just asking for trouble, no matter if the shaft was only in a 1 1/2", to snap it off like that the leverage and force applied was enormous!

So in my opinion it is not the tools fault at all and it was operator error, you are very lucky that you were not hurt and that is the main thing. But it should be a lesson to everyone, that tools are made to be used in certain applications, and as Scott said when you use them for something they are not designed for, bad things happen.

I guess this is the "Tough Love" thing my Mom always told me about, stay safe everyone,

Jeff

[Joe Landon]

Life is too short to be using inferior tools. I am glad you were not injured, Bill. Tools simply should not fail like this.

There is more to the Glaser tools than the metal handles. I have used other tools with metal handles, but they were only as secure as the couple of set screws that "secured" them into place. The Glaser tools are extremely well engineered. The length of the handle, balance, weight, anti-vibration, position of grips, shape of handle, geometry of the blades, composition of metal, treatment of metal,...

In my honest opinion, they are the best tools available.