Honey Locust broke my tools!

[Lee Alkureishi]

Hi all,I picked up a lot of honey locust from my local arborist the other day, and today I started working on a piece. I cut out a roughly 10" by 5" bowl blank on the bandsaw, then mounted it on the lathe. It's heavy! Probably the heaviest wood I've tried to turn so far...But, I ran into a problem. Actually, several - honey locust seems also to be the hardest wood I've turned. So much so, that I managed to break 3 of my tools trying to turn it. Check out the pictures below:1. My Square carbide cutter cracked/splintered right down the middle2. The 3/8" round bar holding my circular carbide cutter bent on a catch (not pictured)3. My 1/2" bowl gouge wings got bent out of shape... Now granted, at least part of this is technique - the blank is pretty out-of-round & unbalanced. I was getting some pretty good catches which led to these problems. But that being said, I never had this kind of problem with walnut or even maple! Lee

[robert baccus]

Learn to love green wood. however "locust" woods are tough and hard as a group. might try a tool with a 3/16" cutter for a smaller bite. outa the box but i often throw such pieces of wood into water for a-while if that's an option. HD sells 5 gal buckets with lid cheaper than buying new tools.-----good luck------old forester

[Lee Alkureishi]

I'm thinking these pieces might not be as green as I thought. They'd been sitting chopped into 4foot logs in the arborist's yard for I'm not sure how long. When I turn it, I'm getting chips rather than shavings, and no water sprays... It's definitely not bone-dry, but I think it's drier than ideal for this wood... I'm not sure my sharpening and technique are good enough yet to let me tackle this!

[Sid Matheny]

With locust or hickory I usually start out shaping with my homemade oland tool with a 1/4 or 5/16" tool bit. Get it round and starting to the shape you want then go to your other tools. Just IMHO.

Sid

[Eric Gourieux]

Did you try to sharpen the square carbide tip? It looks like you did. If so, that may account for the carbide tip breakage. The other tools...I've never heard of such a thing as a bowl gouge bending out of shape. Good luck with the rest.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Lee,
Locust is hard and you have to take very small shearing cuts with sharp tools. Looking at your blank, you chopped it from the end of the log. You didn't remove the pith or cut in deep enough to remove the end checking. That is probably the driest portion of the log because it has been exposed to the air. Throw this one out and get a fresh piece. Remove the pith because it will crack during drying anyway. Try to flatten your tail stock side better with the chain saw, start at a low speed and watch how you present the tool to the wood. Stock with light shearing cuts until you have trued the blank. Lots of us turn Honey Locust successfully, you will also. Sorry about the carbide inserts.

[Dennis Ford]

The next time you mount a blank in this orientation, try cutting from the tailstock end towards the headstock, that will allow you to cut across the side grain instead of cutting across the end grain. This will be a much easier cut. It would be a good idea to try a smaller piece first and get the technique figured out.

[Lee Alkureishi]

Interesting - I never thought to approach it from the tailstock when trying to get it round. But, it does make sense. I'll give it a go!

Thanks also for all the other suggestions. I'll give it another go with my oland tool, coming from the tailstock, with a smaller piece from a bigger/wetter log.

Eric: no, I didn't sharpen the carbide. The shiny appearance is just from the abrasive action of the locust, I guess! It's a relatively new insert, too...

Thanks again,

Lee

[Jim Underwood]

I don't think it was the locust that broke your tools...

I found in general that when you're shaping out of round or square pieces, that you can't use a wide section tool with much success. It's always better to use a smaller, rather than a larger, bowl gouge. It takes a smaller bite and is much more likely to cut rather than catch....

[Robert Henrickson]

I've been turning a dead honey locust from my brother-in-law's fencerow. It is partially spalted, and remarkably damp for having still been standing when cut. Cuts nicely. If you're getting chips, your wood must be rather dry. Definitely get rid of the pith. I've also turned dry honey locust, mostly plates from planks -- it's hard but gives nice results.

I tried using carbide tip tools for a while and now almost never use them, especially for initial rounding. I use a either a 3/8" or 1/2" bowl gouge, but then I also do a lot of basic spindle work with bowl gouges.

Working from the tailstock toward the headstock is going to make it much easier for you.

[Scott Lux]

I love honeylocust, but it is hard wood. Light cuts and sharp tools are the rule (at least for me). The wood has a warmth to it and polishes so nicely, that you don't need to put a finish on it unless you want to.

[Reed Gray]

I am with the others in that the problem comes as much from tool presentation and technique as it does from the harder wood. I prefer to start near the tailstock as well. Mostly because it is easier to get a flat spot to work outwards from rather than starting from where it is roughest and trying to gradually nibble that down to round. With harder woods, you need to go slower. Scraping cuts will work, but I can't turn Locust at speeds that I use on Madrone.

Another point others have made is the cracking. Those cracks will not turn away. I turn pieces like that into firewood, or box blanks. Just not worth the extra time.

robo hippy

[steven carter]

With locust or hickory I usually start out shaping with my homemade oland tool with a 1/4 or 5/16" tool bit. Get it round and starting to the shape you want then go to your other tools. Just IMHO.

Sid

+1 on that. Use the smaller cutter on harder more out of round.