Cheap Turning Tools

[Kent Reisdorph]

My wife bought me these (unfortunately):



While considered garbage, I can grind some of them into specialty tools. What I don't know is what "tempered steel" means vs. HSS. Google wasn't much help. Any ideas?

 

[Mike Novak]

I bought those as my first set. I wanted something I wouldn’t mind ruining as I learned to sharpen. Replaced with Sorby pretty quickly. I ground one of the scrapers to make tenons. The rest live in a drawer now.

In hindsight, I should have gone straight to Sorby. I didn’t waste much steel learning to sharpen using the Tormek jigs.

 

[Paul May]

I have an old POS point tool like the one on the far right. I keep it sharp and use it to profile tenons to an angle before mounting the piece in a chuck.

 

[John K Jordan]

A quick google search shows one with the same brand name, but part #69723, at least claims to be HSS:
(screen capture)


But unless I see HSS on the tool I assume it's some type of carbon steel, hardened and tempered. This means, of course, you can loose the hardness at the edge if overheated when grinding to reshape or even when sharpening. I’d sharpen gently with much cooling unless using a water wheel like the Tormek.

You could potentially waste one and test to see if it's HSS: heat tip to red with grinder or torch, let cool in air, then test for hardness with a file. (I use a small triangular file.)

I save many tools and I bought cheap or were given to me and grind them into special tools or give to beginners. I test all unmarked tools with the file - hardened will skid, unhardened will cut. It’s surprising at how short the heat treating is on some old/cheap tools - I seen a bunch that were hardened for just a few inches from the tip.

I’ve made things from O1 oil-quenched tool steel (heat till a magnet won’t stick then cool quickly in oil, then temper at 400F for toughness.)
Some stuff about tool steels for the incurably curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_steel

If interested in more, a knife-making forum might be interesting browsing.
But it’s probably not worth the effort! Just tell your wife “thanks” and take her out to dinner! 🙂 (Maybe next year ask if she would like a wish list! We've been doing that.)

JKJ

 

[Richard Coers]

HSS is a broad term for an alloy (recipe) of the steel. Tempered describes part of the heat treating process for carbon steel

 

[Rick Moreton]

I have the deluxe "Professional" version as my first set (HSS and dyed handles). I still use them plus a Benjamin's Best bowl gouge for most of my turning. The ones I have are fine other than sharpening a little more often. I take classes at the local community college and while they have some nicer tools, it's a crapshoot if they are sharpened correctly, if at all. I sometimes wish I brought these from home rather than dealing with the school's. They are also nice to try out new grinds without worrying about ruining a good tool. HF seems to be phasing out this line and these are now in the clearance section. The Bauer set they are selling now looks like it might be an improvement over these, at least it comes with a bowl gouge.

 

[john lucas]

You can tell if it's HSS using the spark test. Just google it and you can find youtube videos on how to tell the difference. They could simply be hardened high carbon steel which many turners used for a long time before High speed steel became available.

 

[Curt Fuller]

Those will make great detail tools. I use a couple of similar harbor fright tools like those that I can sharpen to a particular need when turning fine spindles and such. Probably don't remove a handful of wood shavings with them but they've worked great when needed.

 

[Terry Vaughan]

But unless I see HSS on the tool I assume it's some type of carbon steel, hardened and tempered. This means, of course, you can loose the hardness at the edge if overheated when grinding to reshape or even when sharpening.


JKJ

HSS etched on the tool is no guarantee. I’ve seen turning tools, and drill bits, marked as HSS but actually carbon steel. It doesn’t mean the tool is useless, but dishonest claims by the manufacturer don’t inspire confidence.

The spark test can work well to tell you what the steel is, but there is a spectrum of carbon content and sometimes the result can be less clear cut.

 

[Bill Blasic]

The only tools that I have heard of being marked HSS that ended up not being so were some Benjamin Best tools early on (probably not heat treated fully or wrong). Have not heard anything more about that as the problem was probably fixed.

 

[Tim Hunter]

Two different kits are shown above…the first (and subject of the OP) is a set of sub-size small cheap tools, most likely just Q&T carbon steel. In contrast, the set John posted is a full-size set of better tools that I suspect really are HSS. The cheapies might still be handy to have for occasionally needed speciality-ground detail tools (but likely nothing that couldn’t be done with typical tools.)

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

You can tell if it's HSS using the spark test. Just google it and you can find youtube videos on how to tell the difference. They could simply be hardened high carbon steel which many turners used for a long time before High speed steel became available.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about the spark test.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Thanks all for the comments. I'm sure I can grind some of those into useful tools.