Carbide Tip

"Jamrelliot" wrote: (clip) Seems like the carbide would be much harder or is it too hard, and likely break. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Carbide is very hard, so it holds an edge for a long time, but it is also brittle, so it will not survive if it is ground to a fine edge. IOW, you can never make it as sharp as a steel edge.

Metal turning is an excellent task for carbide bits. Scraping wood is fine, as well, since you don't need a thin cutting edge.

For something like the Oland tool you'd braze the carbide onto a tougher steel backing. Something similar to the Sorby coring tool setup would work.

Precisely. If you want a tool that will cut not quite as well as a steel tool for a long time, carbide is the ticket. If you want a decent cut, it's not.

Hi Jim, Carbon steel tool edges have a short but sharp life. Carbide tool edges have a long but dull life.

For turning wood, I think that carbide tipped turning tools are like independent jaw chucks. If you have a green wheel and some carbide inserted bits, use them as scrapers if you want to, but don't go out and buy them.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

I used to turn urns from oak. Each urn had more than 200 cubin inches removed from the inside. I made a carbide tiped tool for this. Even though carbide wouldn't maintain a razors edge, a useable edge will last much longer with the carbide. I could hog out three urns before resharpening with a diamond file, regrinding after about 10. HSS wouldn't last even one urn with out regrinding.

Great for industrial use but if you're a hobby turner not much point.