Alumilite turning

[onewaywood]

I'm wondering if I mixed wrong or my carbide tool is dull. When I first turned a sample of my second casting. (notice I have never talked about first casting) it turned great,now on another blank
from the same batch I noticed the broken glass effect. Any ideas ?

 

[onewaywood]

Really, I never thought of that, Thanks.

 

[HamTurns]

Really, I never thought of that, Thanks.

Hi Rich - Was it a dull carbide bit?

What did you figure out was happening?

Tom

 

[HamTurns]

I'm wondering if I mixed wrong or my carbide tool is dull. When I first turned a sample of my second casting. (notice I have never talked about first casting) it turned great,now on another blank
from the same batch I noticed the broken glass effect. Any ideas ?

I have found that either my Hunter or Easy Wood carbide's tend to get a little aggressive and without paying very close attention will grab and give that broken glass effect.

So, what I've done is I almost always use my HSS tools instead. I use Alumilite and find that a roughing gouge does most of the work just fine. I start with a 1" roughing gouge, bring the ends down to the bushings with a parting tool, and smooth out the turned blank with a skew in scraping mode. That's it for turning, then I move on to sanding and finishing.

If I get too aggressive with the parting tool I can still get the broken glass effect, but it's easier to back off a little and rub the bevel while taking a small cut to clean up the broken glass effect.

Try switching to some nice sharp HSS tools and see if that works for you.

Or come on over and we'll work it out.

Tom

 

[onewaywood]

Thanks Tom, I new I could count on you. Thats pretty much what
I thought.Sorry, I thought you were going to call me.

 

[HamTurns]

Thanks Tom, I new I could count on you. Thats pretty much what
I thought.Sorry, I thought you were going to call me.

Hey!

That's a good idea, I'll try that the next time.