making a turning tool from scratch

[maverick31]

I have read you can make your own tool out of old leaf springs. I have some old ones that I may consider trying to make one. have any of you guys ever made one? any tips or don't do this type of advise?

[sachbvn]

I know a blacksmith who has made drawknives out of leaf springs... said they worked AWESOME and kept an edge like you wouldn't believe. I have no idea about turning tools though.


Zac

[sawduster]

I know that knife makers covet leaf springs for making some very nice knives. It would also work well for other types of tools. But I think you might be disappointed with turning tools made from leaf springs.

You really want High Speed Steel for turning tools. HSS holds up much better to the heat generated in turning. You can get it in various widths and thicknesses as well as round stock in various diameters. Much less work involved in making the tools, and better results with the finished product.

[Ruffnek]

I think for most turning tools, you would be better off buying them. Harbor Freight has an 8-piece turning tool set for around $50 that is very good for the price...all HS steel, too. For bowl gouges, making one would be very difficult I would think.

FWIW, I made a turning tool yesterday. I needed a thin parting tool and didn't have one so I took a dull reciprocating saw blade, ground the snall end to the shape I wanted and wrapped a wrag around the other end for a handle. Worked great. ;D

[TDHofstetter]

One thing spring steel has all over HSS is that spring steel can be readily annealed & worked in the soft state, then rehardened & tempered... while it's nearly impossible to anneal HSS. You have to work HSS in the full-hard state, which means grinding or nothing. HSS can't even be filed without wrecking your files.

It's tough to find leaf springs thick enough to make really satisfying turning tools, though, unless you've got a means of rolling it (into gouges) or folding & hammerwelding it (into heavy scrapers). Big-truck leaf springs are sometimes heavy enough steel. You can make a really decent skew from a leaf spring because a skew doesn't need (or want) any great thickness.

Now... you CAN make just cutting TIPS from leaf-spring stock. That's a fine approach, leaving the shanks to be made from ordinary mild steel, which has all the toughness you want for shanks. You can get a heck of a lot of cutting edges & tips from a single leaf.

[tw]

I have made two skews and a parting tool from old files. Files of decent quality are made from very high carbon steel. I annealed them and ground off the teeth and cut the tang a bit longer. Then I hardened and tempered the tip and sharpened it.
No problems. They work great.

If everything works out I will have the coal forge repaired and running within a few weeks from now. I have resurfaced the anvil with hard electrodes and there is a bunch of old hammers and tongs waiting. Then there will be no limits at all. Gouges or whatever should be possible to make.....If I learn the necsessary skills.

Building a new portable forge is not too difficult. An old brake drum makes a good fireplace and an old oil burner can be converted to blower.

[triplefreak]

Dude, buy some HSS tools instead. You'll save a ton of money & frustration.

[maverick31]

thanks for the tips. the only reason I asked is cause I have heard of people doing this. The springs I have are from hd trucks that are about 1/2 thick and I have access to a plasma cutter. I have hss tools and they work great but I don't have a few different hook tools or a hd scraper. My thought was I could cut any shape I want, grind it up, then test it out and it would not cost a dime and I might learn something in the process.

[maverick31]

I may still try this out one day. It is about 2 years down on my priority list though.

[TDHofstetter]

Oho, if you've got springs like THAT... AND got (access to) a plasma cutter... Boy. I can dream up all sortsa' stuff you could do with a spare hour or two...

[tw]

I think you should do it.

Speciality turning tools are way to expensive for us ordinary people and they are not used very often so carbon steel is surely sufficient.

I turn only occasionally and all my turning tools are carbon steel.

[maverick31]

man tw, that is a nice set of tools. ;D When I do get roundtuit My final product will be very crude and elementary compared to that.

[Joe Lyddon]

tw, did you make all of those tools?

Sure look nice!