I love the Hunter Tools/cutters. Also have a number of used/dull cutters. Has anyone found a way to sharpen the cutters? I am just about due for a new Tormek wheel and see that they now have a 600 grit diamond wheel. Tormek also has a accessory jig that is included with their gouge jig that Tormek says can be used with carbide cutters/scrapers. Anyone tried this on the Hunter circular cutters? I also have a Rikon with a couple of CBN wheels, but I understand that diamond is better on carbide. Thanks in advance.
Unlike other carbide cutters the Hunter carbide is nanograin carbide. I had a very high end machine shop try to sharpen them with a half-million dollar machine they used for military contract work. He could not bring it back to the razor sharp edge produced in the manufacturing process. They last so long and are cheap to replace. I treat them as disposable and inexpensive to use.
>>>I love the Hunter Tools/cutters. Also have a number of used/dull cutters. Has anyone found a way to sharpen the cutters? I am just about due for a new Tormek wheel and see that they now have a 600 grit diamond wheel. Tormek also has a accessory jig that is included with their gouge jig that Tormek says can be used with carbide cutters/scrapers. Anyone tried this on the Hunter circular cutters? I also have a Rikon with a couple of CBN wheels, but I understand that diamond is better on carbide. Thanks in advance.
I can't even touch up a bad small spot. Maybe a diamond lapping plate such as used for gems would work with diamond paste compound but the jig would be hard to hold, especially for the tiny #1 cutters that I use the most.
After using one for a while I look at it with my stereo microscope - it's easy to see the edge wear and tiny chips (even with a loupe and no microscope). Although I rotate the cutters to distribute the wear, I'll sometimes find a spot that is still sharp so I mark it and move it to where I can cut some more. Usually, though, they are worn all the way around.
Fortunately, they last a long time if the cutter is carefully protected from touching anything but the wood. (I make cutter protectors from short lengths of clear plastic tubing.) I just keep a supply of new cutters on hand. I replaced the cutters on some Hercules tools just this morning in prep for some demos.
The way I use it, on an angle and slicing mode, it works really well for longer than usually when scraping. The microscopic chips are still relatively still sharp. I don't notice the degradation until I put a new one on and see how it is supposed to be. Its hard to tell when to replace it, using it 360 degrees will take a long time.
I had a cutter that was horribly chipped. When I magnified it and looked the gullets of the chips were sharp much like Knapped flint. Not all of them but enough so the cutter still cut clean.
