Mitch Cholewinski

This is a spindle gouge I made, with a 6" flute. I haven't hardened it yet but will tomorrow. I made a few but with shorter flutes so I know they harden well and cut well. What I want to learn from this gouge is, will it stand up to the abuse of heavy turning and whether I will experience any chattering. If I do chatter I am going to try making the same thing with a 5/8" rod to see what I get. The second picture is the same gouge and a 3/16"x 1" wide piece of flat steel. I ground out a parting tool and it works good even before it is hardened. Need to make a handle for both. Anyone else on this forum interested in making your own tools? Mitch

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Robocop

Looks good Mitch, keep us posted on how it works

firehawkmph

Mitch,
I don't know if it the picture or what, but the gouge looks like the metal left is very thin. Is it an optical illusion? If it is that thin, I can't see it holding up too well. Normally the flute is a lot smaller.
Mike Hawkins

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Mitch Cholewinski

Robocop
Thanks and I will. Mitch

Mitch Cholewinski

firehawkmph
Thanks for the reply. This is a 1/2" rod ground with a side grind. Your compareing apples to oranges. Looks like your showing us a 5/8" Doug Thompson bowl gouge , with a completely different grind. Mine is milled to be a spindle gouge. The flute should be just below the half way mark of the rod diameter. Mine is even a little higher. I made several but the flute was never six inches and believe me it cuts and holds up well. I made this one to see how it holds up with a 6"flute, which is the length of my Sorby spindle gouge flute. I agree it looks thin in the picture but I was shooting down at the flute with the camera. My concern with this gouge is whether or not I get any chatter. My next gouge is going to be a bowl gouge with a standard grind, you will see the difference between the two gouges. Mitch

Gordon Seto

I don't know what sizes they are. But I don't think they are 5/8" Thompson bowl gouges, because I don't think he has made any of my favorite detail & shallow detail gouges in 5/8".
They are (from left):
V bowl gouge
U bowl gouge
spindle gouge
detail gouge
shallow detail gouge

They looks like different gouges in the same size to me.

Handyman

Mitch Looks good to me. It either will or wont work, but you don't know until you try. Keep up the good work.

__________________
Collector of Old Tools
Fixer of all things broke
Expert = Drip under pressure

Mitch Cholewinski

Handyman
Thank you my friend. Your right, it will either cut or it won't, but I am here to tell you it isn't the first I made before posting this picture. It cuts very well. Kind of disappointed that it would be compared to a real professional tool makerlike Doug Thompson is. He has all the tooling and best steels money buys. I am just a turner trying to make my own tools for the fun of it only. I was thinking that is the way it would be viewed. thanks again, Mitch

Handyman

Mitch I can appreciate a good hand made tool. And you are right, how can it be compared to expensive factory made tools. NO way. yours is better because you took the time to make something that filled a need. I am no turner, but I turned 3 goblets out of some old legs that came off a coutch using a drill press and a sharpened screwdriver and a couple of Morticing chisles. I have a shop full of handmade tools. My hats off to you.

__________________
Collector of Old Tools
Fixer of all things broke
Expert = Drip under pressure

Mitch Cholewinski

Gordon
Thanks for your input Gordon about what Doug turns. It looks like 5/8" rods to me with Dougs grind, but I know you have an interest in making tools and you might be right. I saw a couple that you made yourself elsewhere on a different forum. I need to get a 5/8" endmill then I am going to turn a few bowl gouges. The flutes will look different than the v, u, and different bottoms Doug makes. Mine is just a ball shaped endmill. Thanks again. Mitch

Mitch Cholewinski

Handyman
Thanks again, sounds like you and I are alike in trying to make tools we could use or tools to see how they stack up against factory tools. I would like to see some of the tools you have made. Why not post a picture? I don't think any of the guys here would mind. Mitch

john lucas

Mitch Obviously it's all about fun and making your own tools. We can't make tools like Doug's because we don't have the steel or the high quality mills and grinders.
Doug has 2 spindle gouges. The detail gouges have a very shallow flute, maybe 1/4 of the rod diameter maybe less. It is designed so that you have a lot of metal under the flute so that you can hang it way over the tool rest with no chatter. I have 2 and they are really great. His spindle gouges have a flute that is below center. These were designed to take a keener edge and fit into tighter areas.
His bowl gouges come in a variety of thicknesses from 3/8" to 1" although the 3/4 and 1" are specialty made. I have the 1/2" V flute and love it. I will probably invest in a 5/8" in the near future.
He will sell you blank steel and heat treat it for you if you write him. I probably won't have time to do that for a while. I need to experiment with shapes and grinds to see what I like before I invest in good steel.

HLW

Hi Mitch and everyone. I'm impressed that you guys are able to make gouges of any kind. My question is this. How do you make the flutes in the gouges? Do you use a special grinding tool or just use a hand held side grinder or something very basic that I'm missing out on? I've made some turning tools(you can do a lot with old drill bits) but not gouges. Also where do you buy the high speed steel to make them? Thanks.

john lucas

I'm not sure what cutter Mitch used but he used a milling machine. That is also how I did mine. I have done one using an angle grinder and cutoff wheel. I've also seen it done with a modified stone on a standard grinder. It takes a lot of time and skill with the grinders. With the Mill it's just a matter of aligning everything and then making the cuts.
You can also do it the old Blacksmith way by taking a flat piece of steel and shaping it over a curved piece. I'm not very good at that and left an awful lot of hand work after the hammering. I'm sure someone with the smithing skills could do it a lot better.

Mitch Cholewinski

John Lucas
Thank you for the response John. As usual your observations are right on the money.Far as I am concerned your very first sentence says it all for me. I am just into making tools for fun and enjoyment and I want to assure Doug I won't try to run him out of business.Of course I am kidding here. John, another reason I always look forward to your responses is the fact that I always learn something in them that i want to know. Example, I have been worrying how I could get into making HSS gouges somewhere down the line but realize I can"t harden it properly, so what to do? You answered it for me, ask Doug to do it. Does that mean anyone can write him John? I remember him making you that offer once a while back. I ordered a 5/8" ball endmill and intend to make a couple bowl gouges soon. Right now I need to stop the tool making, my oldest girl asked me in her best pleading voice to make her a bird house she wants to put up in her new yard. Birdhouse looks like a mansion. Thanks again John. Mitch

Mitch Cholewinski

HLW
Thanks for the reply. I inserted a picture of the mini mill I used to mill my flutes. Take the drill bit out and installed a round ball bottomed end mill, line it up and center and turn the table right to left. I wrote you a long message but lost it posting the picture. How about posting pictures of what you made from drill bits. I would like to see them I have a bunch of scrapers I made from old files. If you want to make a chisel with flutes you can do like John suggests or buy a 1/2" surface grinder 7" wheel for about $8.00 and you can make some nice flutes. If your interested write me back and I will tell where and how to get started. Same thing about where to get HSS. Don't want to write all that unless your interested for sure. Keep in touch.

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HLW

Mitch, What I made from old drill bits was a couple of "Oland" tools. I cut the bits off at the bottom of the twist ( drill bits are made of HSS) and ground them off to the angle I wanted. I then inserted it into a 12"drill bit extension. These have two set screws that will hold the bit in place and it seems to work fine for me. Also the bits are easily replaced. Use the handle of choice to slide over the other end of the extension. Sorry I don't have pictures. Since I'm a new member I haven't figured out how to post them? When I do, I'll post them. Regards,HLW.

The woodsman

I 'm with you Mitch,I would rather make a tool than buy one.I make a lot of my own tools.One reason is its fun to do an the other is I am cheap and would rather spend a few hours making a tool than spending 200.00 bucks for it.Just wish I had a milling mach.I could get into all kinds of trouble then Keep up the good work an be sure and let us know how it goes.

john lucas

Mitch I think you will find Doug Thompson is a hell of a guy. Give him a buzz and ask. I believe he made that offer on the AAW website. If it's like my offers on handouts and stuff very few people actually take you up on it.
I read up on HSS hardening and you need a pretty expensive furnace to do that. You also need a lot of know how. Doug actually sends all of his stuff off to be hardened and cryogenic treated.
He may be at the TAW symposium next weekend. If he is I'll ask him. I know Mike Hunter is going to be there so we'll discuss what the Hunter tools are up to, but I don't remember if Doug said he would be there or not.

Mitch Cholewinski

John Lucas
John, that would be fantastic if you could ask Doug how a guy like you and I could make gouges from HSS and get them hardened properly and an educated guess of what the cost for steel and hardening would be. I want to make the Hunter tool like you made a while back but that will be later. I figured I could ask you exactly how you did yours, I am pretty positive I won't have any problem making the Hunter but why not ask a guy who knows? Thanks for writing me and letting me know these things. Your tops in my book.
Something I wanted to ask you for a couple months now but keep forgetting John. Do you remember my posting pictures of scrapers I ground from 2" old files? Well in my travels, surfing the internet I ran across a guy that said a guy named John Lucas once wrote an excellent article for American woodturner, I believe it was. Is this the John Lucas I know? Reason I ask is I remember asking was a guy I met your father. Also he told me that a guy named Bob Rosand or something similiar wrote about making HSS gouges.Do you know anything about these articles and did you write the one about making woodturning tools from old files springs etc? Thanks again and enjoy the symposium. Mitch