I bought two lathe duplicators at an auction this week. The Grizzly has never been used and I am going to sell it. The one that I am keeping is an old Toolmark Co. lathe duplicator model 3010.
The cutter is a piece of 1/4 x 1/4″ steel. I bought some hss square stock and ground a cutter for it. The cutter with it was a worn out carbide cutter.
The cut was quite rough on the piece I duplicated. What have you done to get a decent cut with a duplicator and how have you ground and sharpened the cutter?
Many Thanks,
Sid
Replies
Morning Sid ,
When I apprenticed we had an old manual duplicator that also used machine lathe cutters .We only used a few for most details but sharpened them with a fine and white if you have one grinder wheel .
We used a round nose and a skew shaped one and straight cutters mostly.
Try and follow the shape and angles already there , imo absolute perfection in the cutter is not that paramount , as long as the contacting edge is close to sharp.
regards dusty
I have a medium and a fine white wheel on my 8" grinder. Is grinding, such as one uses on a scraper for a lathe, sufficient? Would raising a burr on the cutter help, much like on a scraper?I cleaned and lubricated it tonight and I am very impressed with the quality and simplicity of the duplicator. I will try to remember to photograph it and put it on the Knots discussion board.Sid
No burr is needed for lathe tools .
"No burr is needed for lathe tools ."Huh?
Morning RJ ,
Let me clarify that statement , I was answering the OPs question whether the scraper tooling on the lathe needed to have a burr much like a cabinet scraper .
Although some style lathe tools are called scrapers not gouges , they do not require a burr raised on the edge to use on the lathe.
Hope that is more clear regards dusty
I'm going to have to politely disagree with that. The burr on a scraper is what does the cutting, doesn't it? It's basically the same thing as a cabinet scraper, only thicker and comes with its own handle. When the burr goes away on those, you turn a new one with a burnisher. Same thing with a lathe scraper. I use my Tormek grinding away from the edge to sharpen and produce a burr. I would agree that a non-burred scraper will scrape away wood, but it certainly won't cut very well. I can't see where tooling on a duplicator would be any different. Rich
First off I think we need to accept the fact that there are so many ways of doing things ,some more efficient some more crude , never the less these ways get the job done . Just because in over 40 years of lathe experience I have never put a burr on a lathe tool doesn't mean anything. If burring works better for you and the type of works you do then why not .
I am no expert on scraper burrs but ,,, with a cabinet scraper I have always pulled the burr against the surface to be scraped , how would that work on the lathe , would you turn the tool upside down ?
it would be interesting to see and understand
Do you have any pictures of your burred lathe cutters or are you kidding
regards dusty
Dusty,Different ways of doing things, yes, and thankfully so. Pretty boring life without that, eh?Well, I push a cabinet scraper more than I pull it, so that would be the same motion as with the lathe, only tool-going-to-wood vs. wood-coming-to-tool.Here's some good info on scrapers. http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/profile-scrapers.htmlAlso, scroll down to "Other uses of honing equipment" here: http://www.alanlacer.com/articles/honingturningtools.htmYou want a picture of a scraper burr? Try this: https://www.finewoodworking.com/fwnpdf/011208072.pdfI'll see if I can get a pic of one of my scrapers with a burr, not sure my camera will do that or not. Stay tuned.Rich
I see the scrapers designed for bowls and tight areas they look sweet and are capable cutters for certain . But these tools are designed for a burred edge , not so with all lathe tool cutters , thats what I was trying to tell the OP . You know the difference . Some traditional lathe tools called scraping tools do not utilize a burr as you know .
There are so many ways to cut turning wood , thanks for showing a few more
thanks for the helpful links regards dusty
And I am not sure if cutters on a duplicator work the same as a "standard" scraper, but I would think they would. Interesting thread.................Rich
OK, here are some pics. Sorry, my big camera is on the fritz, this is my pocket one.You can see a fairly rough burr on pic # 49. #54 is the same scraper, can't see the burr, but you can see fibers that caught on the burr when I wiped the water off of it. #56 is a different scraper, you can make out the burr pretty well where the side of the tool joins the edge.I do hone/polish the tops of the scrapers on the Tormek, seems to help some. Did this lidded box a few days ago, hollowing done with a bowl gouge, then finished with a scraper. If I do my part well, sanding is pretty easy.Rich
Rich ,
Very nice turnings and the box is super .
The pics were hard to see clear try a Irfranview free download as a great photo editor system .
I now realize that a burr may have been present on my lathe tools even though I never use a burnisher on them . mine look like yours ground with relief .
I usually hone them on a stone to sharpen and keep sharp in use .The grinder wheel is great for shaping the steel .
So ,,, I eat Crow Stew , looks like a burr is what cut even without burnishing , it must be there .
thanks for your tolerance , you are a patient witness
regards dusty ,boxmaker
Mr. D, Correct, I don't use a burnisher either, just use whatever burr is made straight off the grinder.Rich
Rich ,
That is the part that gets confusing .
I always thought a burr was raised or created by using a burnishing tool .
Funny timing is everything , after this mornings exchanges I read some of the newest FWW mag an article by Mr. Conover on the very subject we speak , but in great detail . Mr Conover goes into intricate explanation that even a curmudgeon as myself can understand .
I also think sometimes different areas have names all different for similar things , rebate , rabbet , notch .
Sounds like we sharpen our lathe scrapers the same basically , sans burnisher .
regards dusty
how little I have known for such a long time about these things , dang good thang all them wood turnins I made didn't know how little I knew
Hi Dusty just out of interest LV market a turning scraper burnisher with a conical carbide rod to turn a burr on a scraper.My own experience with was that it made the scraper too agressive.If I backed off on the burr then it was the same as grinding towards the edge using a pink or white stone stone but adding another process.I played with it and returned it deeming it a waste of time.I find that shear scraping gives a better surface anyway.Back to the O.P. I vaguely remember many years ago (15-20) looking at a duplicator cutter that was like looking down on a bow of a ship and the top surface was hollowed out, might have been Delta. Just as an aside to this I recently found a turning I started in 1968 which flew off the lathe and hid under a pile of debris in my parents garage till May this year.I thought it was a piece of walnut (dumb kid!!) then but it turns out to be Brazilian Rosewood from an antique bun foot. I turned a tiny box out of it to celebrate :-))
".....LV market a turning scraper burnisher with a conical carbide rod to turn a burr on a scraper.My own experience with was that it made the scraper too agressive.If I backed off on the burr then it was the same as grinding towards the edge using a pink or white stone stone but adding another process.I played with it and returned it deeming it a waste of time"Ditto, didn't keep mine long at all, either.Rich
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