Which steel gets sharper. *LINK*

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

George Balock

Good article John. It seems to me that there is little difference between the different metals. So the question is, does this make a difference in metal choice? IMHO, no. But if edge durability is a factor, I'd choose the Thompson tool every time.

The carbide does seem to be duller, but I don't use my Hunter tool when I am looking for a fine finish.

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

john lucas

then your missing the boat. The Hunter tool is sharper out of the box than my spindle gouge that I sharpened and honed. It also has a more acute cutting tip. Whenever I need a really fine finish or have wood that tears out I reach for the Hunters. Granted it wasn't as sharp as I got the other tools but then how many of you sharpen your turning tools to 2000 grit and strop afterwords.

As far as edge holding I simply couldn't test that. It would take too much time, too many tools and too much money. I can tell you that my Thompson tools will hold a decent edge longer than my other tools. I cannot tell you that it will necessarily hold a really sharp edge any longer. It seems like it does when using it daily against some other tools that are HSS but I have never done a really serious test.

Nice Article John

Jake Niedling

Appreciate the time you took to investigate and write-up the article for the rest of us. Well done.

I sharpened my tools once last year, but I guess now I need to go sharpen my tools for this years turnings.

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

Reed Gray

You forgot to test an obsidian chip where the edge goes down to 1 molecule thin, sharper than surgical scalpels.... As for edge durability, the V11 (I thought it was V10, or did Doug take it up a point??) and M42, they hold an edge far longer than M2. I bought 2 signature gouges to try the flute shape, and couldn't figure out what was wrong with them, because they would go dull so fast. I forgot that they were not the better metals which were the only tools I have cut with for years. I have a friend who can give a weather forecast for the next week depending on how his myrtle wood cuts (700 plus small plates/trays for 25 or more years), and he could detect no difference between the D Way and the Thompson tools.

I tried a 300X camera thing that hooks up to the computer, and couldn't get good enough resolution. Thanks for your efforts.

robo hippy

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

Bill Blasic

Reed, It is AISI A11 or CPM 10V steel.

Outstanding !

Don Orr

Very well done article and thanks for posting for us non-subscribers.

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

Mike Brazeau

Excellent work John. I was looking forward to seeing this. SEM produces amazing image at 5000X.

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

Reed Gray

Hey John, I never see you at Sawmill Creek, but they would be very interested in seeing this there. I could copy and paste, or you could post it over there. Good information source here...

robo hippy

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

mikeee12345

John,

Great article, interesting to see how the different metals sharpened out. It would be

interesting to see what honing with a diamond card looks like compared to lapping an

edge with compound, along with stropping a blade before and after. The straight blade

aficionado's all have their own methods for getting an extremely sharp blade.

Re: Which steel gets sharper.

John C Lucas

I sharpened up to 2000 grit which is beyond what most people do honing with a diamond hone. Then i power.stropped using my Tormek.with a leather wheel. You can go farther but i was t necessarily trying to prove how sharp. Mostly i wanted.to see if one metal was superior to a other. To go further i would have had to use diamond powder to further refine the edge before stropping. Not sure i would gain much since the stropping itself improved the quality of the surface.