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Delta factory chisel sets

It probably depends on the specific product you are looking at. The set of Delta mini turning tools a few years back was actually made by Sorby. Good HSS material and nice little tools.
 
Regarding carbon steel knives.... Way back I got into automatic turning when I rescued a1930's automatic lathe on the way to the metal scrap recycler.

It used carbon steel knives I made from auto leaf springs. After forming they were heat treated using a torch.. They were very high shear and lasted for hundred (or thousands) of small knob and handle turnings in hard Maple without sharpening.. After running a day's parts they would be honed for another day, never ground. The cutting edge was sharp with a small included angle similar to the cutting edge of a kitchen knife. The knives peeled the wood by passing over the top of the turning. Largest diameters were cut first with the knife shearing down to the smaller diameters. The only reason I can account for how long a carbon steel knife lasted is because of the shear.

The parts usually needed minimal sanding which was done in a 5 gal plastic bucket like a rock tumbler with small squares of wood using sand paper glued to them. If the they needed a finish that was done in a 5 gal metal bucket same as the sanding except the paint or finish material was poured in and as they spun all the finish ended up on the parts. Hard wax could also coat the parts in the same way.

A typical part's length was done with single formed knife in one pass over the workpiece. I grabbed a few shots from a video showing this type tuning.

skive 1.JPG

skive 2.JPG

skive 3.JPG

skive 4.JPG

You can see the part's end as the knife passes over the part.
 
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