Recommended Sources for Round Carbide Cutters

[Tom Giacomo]

I have ordered several times from Capt. Eddie, he sells his cutters in packages of three at a very good price.

[Doug Rasmussen]

Any of these sell micrograin cutters with not a top flat surface? They sometimes call it a chipbreaker. I want one that will cut, not scrape.

What you want is generally known as a "high positive" insert. If you're in a large metropolitan area look for industrial tooling suppliers. They'll have an assortment of sizes/shapes. Don't get hung up on it being micrograin. Carbide inserts have gone up substantially in recent years so I've found most suppliers are willing to sell singles now. For wood you'll want an uncoated grade (for coating adhesion micro dulling the cutting edges is sometimes required). The ideal one will literally be razor sharp.

Since I became aware of insert turning tools I've wondered why they most all use flat top inserts (scrapers). The answer is the high positive inserts are too aggressive with a tendency to dig into the work.

[Brice Rogers]

Have you tried sharpening the ones that you have?

The flat round scrapers are pretty easy to sharpen. I'm not sure if they are as sharp as new, but they are useable and better than before.

I bought a bunch of square 0.4 inch planer cutters and they are so cheap that I haven't attempted to sharpen them.

I use a carbide grinder (HF) and usually grind the round scrapers still attached to the tool. I am only touching up the flat top. I have also used a diamond file and sharpened the top by hand. In fact, I think that if a person removed the round scraper insert from the tool and rubbed it flat against the diamond file with their fingers that it would work okay.

I have done some touch up sharpening on the positive rake tips with a diamond file and very careful deliberate strokes. It helped. I also made a shaft that was tapped at the end to affix the positive rake insert and attempted to file it on the lathe, holding the file stationary. It appeared to remove the diamond from that part of the file. Not sure why.

[Dok Yager]

I too have purchased from Capt. Eddie and AZ Carbide. I will continue to purchase from AZ Carbide as he updates his cutters and has a good quality product and reasonable freight.

[Greg Just]

A lot of people recommend Captain Eddie: http://www.eddiecastelin.com/

I have not purchased from him but will give him a try next time. I didn't think azcarbide had very good customer service. I was supposed to get a wrench with my order and never got it. No one ever responded to my emails.

Update - In the mail the other day I finally received the wrench and 2 new cutters. It took awhile, but they made good.

[Jay Mullins]

I have bought cutters from Captain Eddie, and was pleasedwith the cutters and price. CaptainEddie has good customer service.
I have bought cutters from Carbide Depot, the cutters weregood and price was good as well. Theshipping is a little high though, $9.95 for ten cutters.
I have also bought cutters from Walmart……..Yes Walmart……………..Search for Walmart.com, then type in carbide cutters, you may have to scrolldown a few pages to find them. I boughtten cutters at two bucks each and shipping was under $4.oo.The cutters are good.Walmart sells lots of products that aredrop-shipped from suppliers or mfg’ers.So far Walmart has the best prices I’ve seen, though not a lot of sizesto choose from.
Jay