5160 for Wood Bowl turning?

J

JasonSCarter

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So I have my first paying job for my forge. A co-worker wants me to make him a bowl turning gouge. I didnt realize this thing was so huge! 10-12" long blade, x 1.5-2" wide x 3/8"-1/2" thick! the only stuff I have even close to that size is a 15" piece of 1" W1 drill rod i could hammer, and a few pieces of 5160 flats. So would 5160 be ok to use on a lathe turning tool? would it stand up to the abuse as good as say 01 or even the W1?

Jason
 
I have made some of my own turning gouges out of leaf spring in the past. Whether or not it was 5160, it seemed to hold up just fine in service. Temper them a little harder than you would a knife, because they have to hold an edge well and flexibility is not all that important. From what I have seen, typically lathe chisels don't have very thin edges and are less likely to chip out at higher hardness. Maybe ask the guy if he would rather have to sharpen less often with more difficuly or more often with less difficuly... and temper accordingly.
 
$.02
a hard ish spring steel would likely work well in wood turning
as said edge would not be overly thin and the steel woill be semi shock friendly

that shock thing is to be thought about when making custom turning tools of that size cause you are turning monster blocks of wood
 
It's been awhile, but my father does lathe turnings and I made him a gouge out of 52100, after quench it got a little upward curve to it, but it works great.
 
I'd like to see a 1 % carbon steel for wear resistance. W-1,W-2, O-1, and the nicest A-2 !
 
Most of the turning tools I have made are from steels like W-1 and 1095. A turning tool has to take and hold a really good edge. I wouldn't use 5160. It would work, but would need constant edge dressing. 1" W-1 drill rod would be perfect to forge a 40-50mm gouge out of. Other good choices would be T-1 and M-2, and CPM M-4. These would need professional HT, and do not forge easily.

If you have a swedge block available to use, it will be your friend when forging flutes. If not, you might want to make a simple swedge hardie. (BTW, 41XX steels make great hardies, and can be hardened to the mid Rc30's)

If using W-1 or 1095,you can do your own HT.
Make the tool and have your friend check it out before hardening. He should hold it on his lathe and see how it sits and feels. Once all the end angles and curves are adjusted, cycle heat the end 6" ,finishing at 1200F. Then austenitize and hold for 5-10 minutes, quenching in fast oil. Temper twice at 400F. Sand it up to 400 grit, then draw the shank with a torch. Start at the tang, and go toward the cutting edge ,watching the colors walk toward the end, and stick it in water to stop the temper when the straw color is 1" from the edge. This should give you a cutting edge around Rc62-64 and a tough shank.

Only other advise is to make it BIG and ROBUST. The bigger the better with a bowl gouge. It has to be able to absorb the force of the cutting without any chatter. I have seen 50mm bowl gouges 4 feet long with 3/4" thick shanks. The handle is usually about 2-3 times the length of the exposed blade. A 50mm bowl gouge is about 36-40" OAL, including handle. Make the flute at least the last 4-6" of the gouge, and round the bottom of the shank back all the way to the taper toward the tang. The tang needs to be at least as long as the shank. So, for your size (40-50mm gouge) that would be a 24" piece of stock with 10-12" of shank, a 12-14" tang, and a 24-30" handle. The owner will probably want to turn his own handle, but it will probably be about 1.25-1.5" round ( at the widest places).A good size ferrule is a must on the handle.
Stacy
 
Wow guys thanks! W1 it is.
Stacey: So you've made a couple of these a time or 2 huh? lol, Thank you very much for the detailed post, I 'll use it as a guide. :D I do have a swedge block. :thumbup: But I made a goof in my nomenclature:foot: It's a scraper not a gouge so no flutes involved :) Your right he does want to turn his own handle. I was thinkin of using a 1" copper pipe endcap for a ferrule, would that be a good choice?

Mete: thanx for your input as well, I was hoping for it. My thoughts were, and I'm no metallurgist, since there is about 1% of Chromium in 5160, and it's a tough carbide maker wouldnt it take up were the carbon left off in wear resistance? and equal out to greater than or equal to W1/W2/O1 wear resistance?

Will, Butch, & Vorpal thank you for your input it did not fall on blind eyes.

Here is a pic of what it should look like.
10571.jpg
 
The fastenal in Kokomo has 3/8" O1 in stock that is discounted a little. I feel like it's still insanely expensive, but it is a possibility.
 
The turning tool in the picture is called a "Scraper". I have made wood turning tools out of O1. Most of the lathe tools you buy out of wood turning stores, Like the Robert Sorby brand in the picture, are made of M2 steel.
 
i was thinking a bit bigger so i might not be in line
i have a turner in the fam that is setting up for BIG stuff
think 2 inch pipe handles
 
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