Hello again all ,I have questions as usual...

[Steve Russell tucker]

Hey everyone hope all is well , I am looking for some input on Bedan tools / parting tools? I have a set of lathe tools that to be honest aren't very good but I'm working on upgrading asap so for now the worst of the bunch is the parting tool . I have some key steel 5/8 square laying around what i want to know is has anyone tried to make one on their own? Ive seen a few videos and they look like a mortise chisel essentially so could I just grind that down and put a handle on it ? is there a huge down side to doing that ? and if not does anyone have some guidance on what angle I should grind it to?.
as always thank you all very much .!
Thanks again,
S.

[John Keeton]

I consider a parting tool and a bedan two separate animals. I prefer a thin parting tool and love the D-Way tool. For my bedan, which I use for a variety of tasks, I use a piece of 3/8" HSS stock. I think 5/8" might be too large - it certainly is for me.

In light of Reed's post, I should add that I have a tapered bedan, but I actually prefer the 3/8" square tool "for what I use it for." It is double beveled and I use it for beading, forming tenons, as a small skew, etc. It gets used quite a bit. Conversely, I rarely use the tapered bedan.

[Reed Gray]

A bedan tool is usually tapered, so if you use your stock, then you would be 5/8 wide on the top side, and 1/2 or less on the bottom. this mostly makes for side clearance as you to a peeling cut. There is a beading and parting tool, which is square stock about 1/4 to 3/8 inch, and a double bevel, which is similar to a standard parting tool, but much wider, some times called a 'sizing' tool when you use it in a peeling cut to take a spindle down to a desired diameter. They can be very tricky to use as a beading tool, which is why most prefer a spindle or detail gouge. With a 5/8 inch square bar, that would make for a big sizing tool.

robo hippy

[Brice Rogers]

I didn't fully understand your comment, "I have some key steel 5/8 square laying around...". If this is regular hot roll or cold roll, it will be fairly soft and it will not hold an edge. It is possible to case harden it but the hardening thickness is shallow and would eventually wear away when sharpening.

Were you talking about standard garden variety steel? Did your work "key" refer to a hardened steel that would be used as a keyway?

[Steve Russell tucker]

Thanks for the info Sirs ,first I was mistaken when I said 5/8 it is only 1/2 stock and I just called it key steel because when I bought it that's what the guy said when he handed it to me , (I'm not that familiar with metal) but I can say it was pretty hard to grind, I just put a 45 degree angle on it to use mainly just as a parting tool to cut tenons with . It seems to do the job (at the very least its no worse than the cheap parting tool I have now) & this one feels better in my hand I believe i could cut another bevel on the other side if that would help ,as always thank you all for your help I appreciate it greatly .
S.

[Dennis Ford]

I like home-made tools and consider a bedan fairly easy to make so this could be a good project. With that said, an unknown type steel is not a good choice in my opinion.

[philip labre]

Capn Eddie Castelin has a couple videos on how to make a parting tool. One from an edger blade and the other from a saws all blade.

[Brice Rogers]

Hello Steven,
I looked it up and key steel is an unalloyed medium carbon steel. It is supposedly fairly easy to machine, and file.

But if you find that it works good for parting, then that is great.

Because it is not hardened steel, it WILL tend to dull a bit faster and need resharpening more often. But it will still work, especially for a non demanding task like parting.

Phillip had a good suggestion about Capn Eddie's videos.

To do a quick test for hardness of steel, just run a file over it. The file will dig in and leave marks on soft steel and will "skitter" off on hard steel. I sometimes make special tools with a high carbon steel that I have removed the hardness. After I work it to the right shape, I re-heat treat it to make it hard (but not brittle). I use the file test to check its hardness.