Pros and cons of carbide tools

[Randy Heinemann]

I started out using carbide tools (mostly Easy Wood). They are good solid tools and I still use them for some work like creating a tenon with the square and diamond cutters. Hunter tools makes great carbide tools and there are other good quality carbides also.

However, I think you'll find that the finish you can produce with HSS tools is superior to most carbide tools once you develop your skills to a certain level. Hunter tools do seem to produce a superior cut, but I have found that HSS bowl gouges are the most versatile of my turning tools and I get the best results for most work.

The biggest advantages to carbide are no sharpening and they tend to be extremely easy to use. I think that makes them very desirable to beginners. However, from experience, I would advise you to just do types and designs of bowls you want to do and you'll find that, over time, you'll just get better. Read some books on technique, watch some videos, and, if possible, take an in-person class with a known professional. Then, practice, practice, practice.

As another responded, all turners have their preferences of tools and techniques. There is no one way, but there are some basics, which I found it was extremely helpful to know, that will give a solid starting point.

[Neil Strong]

However, I think you'll find that the finish you can produce with HSS tools is superior to most carbide tools once you develop your skills to a certain level. Hunter tools do seem to produce a superior cut, but I have found that HSS bowl gouges are the most versatile of my turning tools and I get the best results for most work.

I much prefer to turn with traditional style bowl gouges myself. I have no objection to carbide, per se, just the style of tool they come in.

I couldn't find anyone who is making a traditional bowl gouge made from tungsten carbide, so I've been making my own...

TC tip after polishing flute with diamond.jpg

It cuts, at least, two to three times longer than my 10% vanadium or M42 HSS gouges.

TC vs HSS - Push cut in Eucalypt.png

[David Walser]

Tim -- The kind of bowl with an undercut rim can be turned with conventional tools. If you look at woodturning magazines from more than 20 years ago, you'll see the turners from yesteryear were making such bowls without the aid of carbide tools.

We are in a golden age for woodturners. We have an abundance of tools and technologies that weren't available to prior generations. Yet, there's really nothing that we make today that wasn't being made back then. My recommendation is to learn how to use traditional turning tools before trying carbide. As others have said, with most materials, you can get a better result with a traditional tool than with carbide. So, it pays to learn how to use traditional tools. (It's really not that hard. If it were, most of us wouldn't be able to use them!)

Having said that, there is a place for carbide tools in my shop. I use them when turning something that's particularly abrasive -- such as wood that has a high silica content or when turning off the bark. Carbide stands up to such abuse better than my HSS tools. But, I still use my traditional tools to finalize the shape and make the finishing cuts. I also use carbide when turning resins. Most resins respond to scraping better than bevel rubbing cuts. (My theory is the heat from rubbing of the bevel softens the plastic, causing it to tear rather than cut.) With the exception of Hunter tools, carbide tools are scrapers. So, they work well when turning resin. This is particularly true of the new negative rake carbide inserts from EWT.

HTH