Are carbide woodturning tools any good?

Carbide woodturning tools have become increasingly popular among woodturners in recent years. They offer some potential advantages over traditional high speed steel (HSS) turning tools, but also have some drawbacks. In this article we’ll examine the key pros and cons of carbide woodturning tools to help you decide if they are a good option for your needs.

What are carbide woodturning tools?

Carbide tools utilize small cutters made from tungsten carbide brazed to a steel or stainless steel body. The incredibly hard carbide cutters are able to retain a sharp edge much longer than standard HSS turning tools. Most carbide turning tools have replaceable cutters that can be switched out when worn or damaged.

While HSS tools require frequent sharpening to maintain a keen edge, carbide cutters can go many hours of turning without needing to be sharpened. The cutters are simply replaced or rotated when worn down. This makes carbide tools very appealing to woodturners looking to spend less time sharpening tools and more time turning.

Key advantages of carbide woodturning tools

Here are some of the main benefits that carbide turning tools can offer:

• Long lasting sharp cutting edges – Carbide cutters stay sharp dramatically longer than HSS tools. Less time spent sharpening tools.
• Easy to “sharpen” – Replacing or rotating the carbide cutter takes just seconds. No bench grinder or sharpening jigs required.
• Consistent cutting edges – Factory made carbide cutters offer uniform and repeatable cutting performance.
• Durable cutters – Carbide is extremely wear resistant and can handle cutting hard woods and abrasive burls.
• Lower risk of catches – The sharp cutters are less prone to catching in wood than traditional bevel edged tools.
• Cuts many materials – Carbide tools can cut wood, plastic, acrylics, fiberglass, and even metals.
• Lower cutting forces – The keen cutters slice through wood more easily with less cutting resistance.

Potential limitations of carbide turning tools

While carbide tools do have some important advantages, they also come with some limitations to be aware of:

• Higher costs – Both the initial purchase price and ongoing costs of replacement cutters is higher.
• More limited range – Most carbide tools are specialized for specific tasks like roughing or finishing.
• Less control – The cutters typically have no bevel angle so are less controllable.
• Increased chatter – The sharpened cutters may cause vibration or chatter in some cuts.
• Difficult fine details – Detailed cuts and fine finishing can be more difficult with carbide tools.
• Brittle cutters – Carbide cutters are prone to chipping if dropped or abused.
• Special sharpening needed – While simple to change out, actually sharpening carbide cutters requires special diamond abrasives.

So while carbide turning tools have some excellent strengths, they aren’t a magic bullet suitable for all turning tasks. Consider both their advantages and disadvantages when deciding if they are right for your workshop.

Are carbide woodturning tools good for beginners?

Carbide woodturning tools can be a good option for beginners for a few key reasons:

• Forgiving cutting edges help prevent catches
• Easy to maintain sharpness by replacing cutters
• Durable cutters can handle occasional mistakes
• Cuts aggressively with lower cutting forces
• Safer cutting edges reduce risk of injury

The sharp carbide cutters slice through wood cleanly rather than scraping like a traditional roughing gouge. This helps prevent the tool from catching abruptly in the wood while learning how to properly control cuts.

The convenience of simply replacing a worn cutter rather than learning sharpening skills right away is also an advantage for beginners. Carbide tools allow you to spend more time turning while you build core skills and confidence at the lathe.

However, carbide tools do have some limitations in versatility and fine cutting ability. So it can be beneficial for new turners to eventually transition to using traditional bevel edged turning tools as well. Starting out with quality carbide tools allows you to gain experience with less frustration, but consider adding HSS tools to your kit over time.

What are the best carbide woodturning tools for beginners?

Here are some top carbide woodturning tools to consider for beginners:

Roughing Gouges

• Easy Wood Tools Carbide Roughing Gouge
• Hurricane Carbide Roughing Gouge
• Rockler Carbide Roughing Gouge

A carbide roughing gouge is a great first tool for beginning woodturners. The sharp cutters make quick work of removing material when facing off a blank or rounding a square workpiece. Roughing gouges excel at hogging off material efficiently.

Detailer/Finisher

• Easy Wood Tools Carbide Detailer
• Hurricane Mini Carbide Turning Tool
• Rockler Carbide Detailer

A carbide detailer or finisher has a rounded cutter shape optimized for making light finishing cuts and cutting details. The smooth cutting action helps achieve a nice finished surface.

Square End Carbide Tool

• Easy Wood Tools Midi Carbide Square End Tool
• Rockler Carbide Square End Turning Tool

A square carbide cutter excels at planing cuts across the face of a workpiece. This allows cleanly squaring the ends of a blank. The square cutter can also be used to make beading cuts.

Parting Tool

• Hurricane Mini Carbide Parting Tool
• Rockler Carbide-Tipped Parting Tool

A carbide parting tool has a narrow rectangular cutter for slicing through a workpiece to separate pieces. The sharp cutters allow cleanly cutting off bowls, boxes, and other turned parts with minimal effort.

What types of woodturning can carbide tools handle?

Carbide woodturning tools can handle most general turning tasks on a variety of wood species:

Spindle Turning

Carbide tools work great for spindle turning projects like table legs, balusters, candlesticks, and more. The durable cutters make quick work of spindle roughing. Carbide detailers and profilers then make light finishing cuts.

Faceplate Turning

Bowl and platter turning can also be done effectively with carbide tools. The cutters have the wear resistance for the frequent interrupted cuts faced when hollowing end grain bowls.

Hardwoods

The long lasting sharp edges of carbide cutters make them ideal for dense hardwoods that quickly dull standard HSS edges. Woods like maple, oak, walnut, and purpleheart are no problem for carbide.

Exotic Woods

Carbide tools are excellent choices for working challenging exotic woods with abrasive grains and natural oils that prematurely wear uncoated HSS tools. Woods like rosewood, ebony, and lignum vitae turn well with carbide cutters.

Burls

Burls have wildly chaotic grain that wreak havoc on cutting edges. But the durable carbide cutters and strong tool bodies stand up well to burls. Carbide tools handle tricky burl turning jobs efficiently.

What are the limitations of carbide woodturning tools?

While carbide woodturning tools excel for many general turning operations on a variety of woods, they do have some limitations:

• Difficulty with fine finishing cuts – Traditional HSS tools often leave a smoother finish.
• Not ideal for intricate details – Bevel edged HSS tools allow more control for delicate cuts.
• Can leave nagging tool marks – The shape of the cutter imprints directly on the surface.
• Less versatility – Most carbide tools only work well for specific tasks.
• Brittle cutters – Carbide edges chip if dropped or abused.
• Higher cost – Both initial purchase price and ongoing cutter costs are higher.

Carbide woodturning tools excel at fast material removal and durable general purpose turning. But most turners will still want traditional bevel edged tools like skews and gouges for finesse turning jobs. Think of carbide as powerful additions to round out your toolkit, rather than as wholesale replacements for quality HSS tools.

What are the most popular brands of carbide turning tools?

Here are some of the most popular and reputable carbide woodturning tool brands on the market today:

Easy Wood Tools

Easy Wood Tools offer an extensive range of quality carbide turning tools including roughers, finishers, cutters, hollowing tools, and more. They are known for good performance and ease of use.

Rockler

Rockler manufactures a wide selection of carbide woodturning tools. They offer standard roughing and finishing tools as well as sets and specialty tools. Rockler carbide tools are very cost competitive.

Hurricane Woodturning Tools

Hurricane is one of the original pioneers in carbide turning tools. They make carbide tipped versions of standard styles like roughing gouges, skew chisels, parting tools, and V-shaped form tools.

Hamlet Big Foot Carbide Tools

Big Foot Tools specialize in large specialty carbide woodturning tools optimized for power turning giant bowls and platters up to 6 feet in diameter.

Hunter Tool Systems

Hunter offers interchangeable carbide cutter packs that allow their versatile tool handles to be configured for different cutting needs. Great for maximizing flexibility.

Woodcut Carbide Tools

Based in New Zealand, Woodcut Tools focuses on CNC ground carbide cutters mounted in ergonomic handles. They offer roughers, finishers, square cutters, parting tools, and specialty tools.

Crown Hand Tools

Crown provides good quality standard carbide turning tools including roughers, square cutters, bowl gouges, and fingernail profiled form tools. Cost effective tools made in China.

How much do carbide woodturning tools cost?

Carbide woodturning tools range in cost from budget-friendly sets under $100 to premium individual tools over $200. Here are some typical price ranges you can expect:

Starter Sets

Basic carbide starter sets with 3-5 pieces: $60-$120

Individual Tools

Single carbide roughing or finishing tools: $35-$100

Specialty/Premium Tools

Carbide hollowing systems, bowl coring tools, multi-tip sets: $150-$500

Replacement Cutters

Individual double or triple sided indexable carbide cutters: $15-$50

Keep in mind that while the initial tool costs are higher than comparable HSS tools, the extended edge life reduces long term costs. For the average turner, carbide tools can be a very cost effective option over years of use.

Are carbide turning tools worth the money?

For many woodturners, the advantages of carbide tools make them well worth the higher costs. Let’s recap the key benefits that justify the price for many buyers:

• Cutting edges last exponentially longer than standard HSS tools
• Greatly reduced sharpening time and hassle
• Aggressive and safe cutting action
• Handles exotic woods and problem materials with ease
• Durable construction stands up to heavy use
• Ideal for production turning work
• Saves money long term over continually replacing HSS tools

While not inexpensive, good carbide woodturning tools are a high value, high performance addition to any shop. The cutting edge technology and advanced materials make them well worth considering.

Conclusion

Carbide tipped woodturning tools offer important benefits like extended edge life, reduced sharpening, and durability that make them valuable additions for most woodturners. They excel at fast roughing cuts, smoothing finishes, and handling problem woods. While best supplemented with some traditional bevel edged tools for finesse work, carbide tools are widely considered must-have items for contemporary woodturning. Brands like Easy Wood Tools, Hurricane, and Rockler provide high performance carbide tools at reasonable prices that offer great value for woodturners looking to reduce sharpening time and improve efficiency.