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Rockwell tools

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I inherited a Rockwell lathe and tools, probably 60s vintage. I’ve been turning a bit with it for a few years and recently started researching in more detail the brands and types of tools on the market.
I’m curious where on the spectrum the basic Rockwell tools lie.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
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Peter, when you say "basic Rockwell tools" are you asking about Rockwell tools such as bowl gouges, parting tools, roughing gouges etc.? Or asking, where does a "Rockwell lathe" stack up against todays lathes on the market?
 
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Ps. I see you're in Earlysville... Google says you're 48 minutes away from Fishersville...
Shameless plug...
Virginia Woodturning Symposium 2020
“Shape Your Vision”
November 7‐8, 2020
Expoland – Fishersville, Virginia
 
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Here's the history. http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=698
There really isn't a comparison between vintage lathes and today's lathes. Early woodturning as a hobby was mainly about making spindles. Maybe someone would make a nut bowl, a candy dish, a cake stand, but very little inspiration to do decorative work. So heavy bearings and big spindles weren't a requirement to meet the demand. The machinery was good for the time.
 
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Peter, when you say "basic Rockwell tools" are you asking about Rockwell tools such as bowl gouges, parting tools, roughing gouges etc.? Or asking, where does a "Rockwell lathe" stack up against todays lathes on the market?

The lathe is a Rockwell 46-111, and the turning tools are also Rockwell. Couple of roughing gouges, parting, skews.
 
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Ps. I see you're in Earlysville... Google says you're 48 minutes away from Fishersville...
Shameless plug...
Virginia Woodturning Symposium 2020
“Shape Your Vision”
November 7‐8, 2020
Expoland – Fishersville, Virginia
Thanks for the info, yeah Fishersville is nearby, I’ll mark my calendar.
 

Bill Boehme

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Almost all turning tools from that time were high carbon tool steel. While the tools are OK, they don't hold an edge very long. So you will get lots of experience sharpening tools compared to modern high speed steel tools. If one of your "roughing" gouges has a shallow flute, it might be a spindle gouge.
 
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Almost all turning tools from that time were high carbon tool steel. While the tools are OK, they don't hold an edge very long. So you will get lots of experience sharpening tools compared to modern high speed steel tools. If one of your "roughing" gouges has a shallow flute, it might be a spindle gouge.

These are the tools. And I’ve noticed the gouge needs frequent sharpening.
860D6E94-F5D8-4141-B5C0-F0709F9F0EBB.jpeg
 
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Those lathe tools look almost unused. Those will be good tools to learn on. Looks like you have 3 different skews. Good luck with those demons. The only difference is how often you have to sharpen. Since your Rockwell 46-111 has the 4 step pulley, your slow speed is about 900 rpm. I think that's too fast for any rough bowl blanks. It's a pretty good spindle turning lathe. I started on the same lathe with a set of antique Craftsman lathe tools. I still have the Rockwell lathe. I installed the Beale buffing system on it and use it occasionally as a disk sander.
 
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In the way back of the 1960's sets of lathe tools only had a gouge. Not a bowl gouge, a roughing gouge or a spindle gouge. There was just a gouge. From roughing to spindles to bowls it did all. As mentioned earlier, folks made lamps and candle sticks not bowls, and lidded boxes were unusual as well. That gouge because of the thin shank into the handle is weak at that point. Getting the tool extended over the tool rest too far and then having a catch will snap it off and send it sailing across the room, hopefully without your face catching it. Be very careful of that thing if you do any bowls. I still have the Craftsman set I bought in the late 1960's and I still turn predominantly with them. raftsman was probably a better steel when they were made. It is easier to sharpen a skew and most other tools the modern bowl gouge and modern spindle gouge are the primary ones , than to sharpen a bowl gouge.
 
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I don't see a spindle roughing gouge in the bunch. Looks like a couple continental style spindle gouges to me. A spindle roughing gouge is a full half circle or more.

Back 50 years ago, there was just a gouge there were no roughing gouges, no spindle gouges, no bowl gouges. All three operations were performed with just that single gouge. As mentioned not many made bowls back then. I made bowls, lots of them, although they were small and made from teak, a rather soft wood anyway. Yep we also used that for bowls. Considered dangerous now, and it is dangerous when extended too far over the tool rest. I made a 12 inch walnut bowl a year ago and used such a gouge for everything.
 

hockenbery

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I don't see a spindle roughing gouge in the bunch. Looks like a couple continental style spindle gouges to me. A spindle roughing gouge is a full half circle or more.

I also recommend a SRG in the starting tool kit unless someone gets instruction with a side-ground bowl gouge which can rough spindles almost as fast as an SRG

However, a 1 1/4 to 2” continental gouge is excellent for roughing spindles to round.
Its not something for newbies to try as it doesn’t like to be off the bevel
I think it removes wood faster than the SRG and it is easy to work down the edge so that you are using a sharp part of the tool.

A friend who does production lamp posts (12-15 footers) uses a big continental for almost all the post turning.
Has a big skew for some details.
 
Last edited:
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Ps. I see you're in Earlysville... Google says you're 48 minutes away from Fishersville...
Shameless plug...
Virginia Woodturning Symposium 2020
“Shape Your Vision”
November 7‐8, 2020
Expoland – Fishersville, Virginia
If you have the time to attend the symposium, I highly recommend it. There are always great demonstrators. You might consider carrying a minimum of cash and leaving your credit cards at home. AMHIK.
 
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I also recommend a SRG in the starting tool kit unless someone gets instruction with a side-ground bowl gouge which can rough spindles almost as fast as an SRG

However, a 1 1/4 to 2” continental gouge is excellent for roughing spindles to round.
Its not something for newbies to try as it doesn’t like to be off the bevel
I think it removes wood faster than the SRG and it is easy to work down the edge so that you are using a sharp part of the tool.

A friend who does production lamp posts (12-15 footers) uses a big continental for almost all the post turning.
Has a big skew for some details.
At the first symposium in St.Paul I was assistant to Allan Batty who was using a 2" shallow gouge for roughing and I was convinced that was the way to go. Some years later I did a demo on thin wall goblets at Dakota woodturners and they had a silent auction of items members had donated, so for $20.00 I scored a Sorby 2" "Continental gouge".
 
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To the OP, by grinding these tools you can determine if they are HSS or Carbon steel, and they could be HSS, as that has been around a long time.

Peter Child is the one that invented and got into production with Henry Tailor tools, making the new deep super flute bowl gouge.

He wrote a book about this first in 1971, a couple pictures I have here out of that book, I took them from my book.

Of course not everyone was or is aware that the bowl gouge was available or even existed, like where I was turning with carbon steel tools (scrapers) a dozen years before this, and yes I did use HSS for some of he scrapers as I used metal lathe tools in our metal shop, but they where still scrapers :)

High Speed Steel turning tools.jpg

Bowl gouge birth.jpg
The new bowl gouge long and strong.jpg

The shape of the cutting edge changed a lot, especially when Michael O’Donnell developed the Irish grind with the long bevel we all now know by various names ;)
 
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My wife keeps asking when I'm going to get a cheap hobby. Anyone know of one?
Turning has been better than cheap for me. After about year 10 I started selling my work. Never made it a full time job, but more than paid for all my machinery and tools. Didn't seem cheap when I bought my Oneway, but it and free wood made it like printing money for a while. That's certainly gone in this world right now. Even last Christmas was way off for me.
 
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Looking to get into the local museum gift gallery this fall. There is a juried event in July, if I recall the month. Missed January.
 

john lucas

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I dont know how to do a hobby cheaply. I gave up pistol shooting at one point because it was too.expensive with ammo and range fees. Bought my self a long bow for $25 thinking this would be a cheap.hobby. I mean you have re usable ammo and can shoot in your back yard. Skip forward 4 years. I had a state of the art rake down now with sights, stabilizers, releases etc. I was building my own arrows and now strings sights and releases. Even got into leather work to make my quivers and arm guards. I dont know how to do a hobby cheaply. I swear if I got into Pea shooting I'd probably have my peas made in space so they would be perfectly round and have a custom made carbon fiber shooter complete with custom case.
I got into turning because I didnt have money to buy wood and had a Shopsmith. A friend taught me about green wood turning and I lived in the woods. Free wood. Now I have 2 lathes a giant bandsaw 3 chainsaws and a 24 x30 foot shop totally full of e ery kind of tool you can imagine. I have 220.clamps and lose to 100 turning tools.
 
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