McNaughton curved blades

Re: McNaughton curved blades

Doug Trembath

>I'd hesitate to do too much alteration on the McNaughton blades. I've bent a few, through use, and without a pretty significant amount of blacksmithing experience, it would be hard to recreate the curve and maintain the smooth profile. Any deviation in flow, and you'll have to have a larger kerf, and shavings locking up inside it.

Next, I wonder that you can't get the size blank you want with the standard small set. I use two sizes, small and next to small. I heard Mike Mahoney call the larger set "assisted suicide", jokingly. Mike makes natural edge nesting bowl sets from burls that are about 1/8 in thick, and consisting of up fourteen bowls from a blank. Wonderful stuff. I cut many different sized blanks with my two. I like the flexibility of the McNaughton tools over the competition.

Email me for additional info, if you like.

Doug Trembath

Studio in the Woods

Re: McNaughton curved blades

Joe Fleming

>I agree with Doug. While it may not be obvious, the curves on the blades are circular. In other words, they are arcs of a circle. To bend one would require that the entire blade be bent the same amount through its whole length.

McNaughton has a total of 10 curved blades (not counting the straight ones) in three different sets. They all vary in radius by about one inch increments. Given the kerf of the all the blades is about 3/8", that doesn't leave much in the way of radius to work with. I would say that the given set of blades will do everything you need with very little waste.

I just finished a 5-piece deep bowl set yesterday and I use two of the large set blades and two of the standard set blades for the four cuts.

Joe Fleming - San Diego