Lathe chisels

[TexasJack]

Anyone around KNet that makes their own lathe tools?

I managed to get a Jet mini-lathe at a very good price when a local store went out of business. Unfortunately, store regulars hit the tools before I got there. I have some basic lathe chisels, but the prices for good ones are steep. Most seem to be pretty simple - though there are a few with lasers and such. Turn a handle, grind a bit of steel, heat treat.

I've been told that most lathe chisels are made from M3. Wouldn't D2 work pretty well for the same application?

Looking for some input/direction.

[Ray Rogers]

You talking about a wood lathe? Grinding your own cutting tools for metal lathes is very common but making your own gouges for wood lathes is less common. No reason you can't make your own if you want to though. The set I have seems more like 10xx tool steel than anything else. If I were to make any, I think that's where I would start.....

[cdent]

For wood lathe gouges, a site called woodcentral had an excellent articles section. It had good pics of the different cross sections and gring profiles. It's not fresh on my mind, but it may help?
Good luck, Craig

[B.Finnigan]

I make alot of my lathe chisels and 01 A1 etc does a pretty good job and not too hard to re-sharpen. My daughter does alot of beading and I made a few specialty chisels that will cut several different shapes of beads out of hardwood dowells. It takes about 7-10 seconds to cut one after boring out a hole in teh dowell.

But I also really like the disposable indexing TiN coated cobalt bits. They cost around $7 a piece and you get three edges to rotate through.