I am getting back into turning after many years. I have a set of Wards PowrKraft turning chisels I bought back in the late 70s - early 80s for using on my Shopsmith. I am guessing they are only carbon steel and not HSS. There are two gouges, one is 1" outside and the other 3/4" outside. Inside the flutes they are 1/8" less. What I want to know is whether the larger one can be re-ground to 45 degrees and used as a dedicated roughing gouge. I won't need this larger size for anything I can think of now and have already bought some middle price range HSS bowl and spindle tools to use on my Delta midi lathe.
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Old tool question
- Thread starter Roger Petrella
- Start date
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Yes as a.spindle roughing gouge not for bowls. However it wont hold an edge very long so i would buy a good spindle roughing gouge and just use those as spindle.gouges until you can buy a good HSS gouge.
Roughing through bark and stuff has great dulling potential, so you want a tougher steel like high speed or powdered metal for these tasks. Carbon steel can take a very fine but not long-lasting edge, so I'd keep both as finishing tools. Regrinding to any profile you desire is simple but you do need to keep the tool from getting so hot in the reshaping that the steel begins to color-change indicating it's temper is being affected. If the steel near the tip is too hot to touch, you need to dip in water more often. This is where a coarse grit wheel is valuable.
Stick those old gouges against the grinder and watch the sparks coming off, bright exploding/burning sparks indicate carbon steel, darker red sparks indicate HSS.
Old carbon tools can still be used, like a flat chisel can be a skew with a fine edge for the occasional use others can be ground for special uses.
But yes good quality HSS or particle steel will keep you turning longer without having to sharpen as often, the large gouge can be used as a spindle roughing gouge, do not use them on bowl blanks.
My guess is that is probably a continental gouge stamped from flat steel. That's not as versatile as a real spindle roughing gouge. With a spindle roughing gouge you can work on the straight wings and use it a bit like a skew. With the continental you don't have that and I really don't see what you would gain by grinding the bevel at the flat 45 degree bevel. It won't work that well for spindle work