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Robert Collom

R

Robert Collom

Joined
Feb 23, 2026
Messages
5
Likes
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Location
Atlanta, GA
Greetings All. I'm Robert in Atlanta. I'm an old newbie. I've been distracted with work for too many years and have decided it's time to recommit to wood turning. I was an AAW member over 20 years ago. I thought that I might give it a go turning a set of chess pieces. I have a collection of rare and exotic woods to choose from - "Ironwood" being the overall description of what I'd like to turn. I see that we now have M42 turning tools (Carter & Sons). I understand that M42 will do better with turning very hard woods. I've read that carbide does more of a scraping type of turning - not giving such a clean finish. I'd like to do as little sanding as possible. Am I on the right track - or is there another type of turning tool steel that I should consider? Looking at the folks in India turning tournament chess sets - I see that they are using customized turning tools that turn each chess piece in moments with the profile carved into the steel. I've got a collection of old slick type timber framing chisels (2-3 inches wide) that I thought I would try to profile into chess piece tools. If so, any recommendations on what to use to profile the old steel? Does all this sound like a good idea? Thank you for any and all advice.
 
Hi Robert, Greg here in Washington State. If they are using purpose-made tools with shape profiles, they must be basically scraping, which can be done fairly cleanly with hard, tropical woods which have very tight (or almost no) grain. I'd like to see their tools to see how they've crafted them. An issue with grinding the negative profile into some heavy steel is the heat generated by the grinding, and losing the temper (hardness) necessary to maintain an edge. You would probably have to re-temper the steel when finished, as old timber framing chisels would not be high speed steel alloy. You'd probably also want to make sure that you have a very clean edge when finished and hone the top of the scraper kind of like you do with the back of a chisel for woodworking. It's a big challenge, for sure. Maybe easier to get some instruction using a spindle gouge and small skew, which would make quick work of making a chess piece, at least the ones mostly round. Another alternative for tools is D-Way tools which also has M42 steel. Jimmy, the owner, is a member of our AAW chapter and the tools are first rate. Not cheap, that good tool steel, but well worth the money. Make sure you get CBN wheels on a slow speed grinder for precise, effective and efficient sharpening. Again, not cheap, but well worth the investment. And join a local AAW affiliated club and ask for some mentoring from experienced members; you'll find that your learning curve will be significantly flattened with some guidance. We don't have to reinvent the wheel, and club members with lots of experience are generally generous with their time and knowledge.
 
Work? Watch your language. There might be children on the forum. Anyway, welcome to the forum.
Lived in Atlanta mid 60s when Marietta was out in the sticks.
 
Greg Lease said:
Hi Robert, Greg here in Washington State. If they are using purpose-made tools with shape profiles, they must be basically scraping, which can be done fairly cleanly with hard, tropical woods which have very tight (or almost no) grain. I'd like to see their tools to see how they've crafted them. An issue with grinding the negative profile into some heavy steel is the heat generated by the grinding, and losing the temper (hardness) necessary to maintain an edge. You would probably have to re-temper the steel when finished, as old timber framing chisels would not be high speed steel alloy. You'd probably also want to make sure that you have a very clean edge when finished and hone the top of the scraper kind of like you do with the back of a chisel for woodworking. It's a big challenge, for sure. Maybe easier to get some instruction using a spindle gouge and small skew, which would make quick work of making a chess piece, at least the ones mostly round. Another alternative for tools is D-Way tools which also has M42 steel. Jimmy, the owner, is a member of our AAW chapter and the tools are first rate. Not cheap, that good tool steel, but well worth the money. Make sure you get CBN wheels on a slow speed grinder for precise, effective and efficient sharpening. Again, not cheap, but well worth the investment. And join a local AAW affiliated club and ask for some mentoring from experienced members; you'll find that your learning curve will be significantly flattened with some guidance. We don't have to reinvent the wheel, and club members with lots of experience are generally generous with their time and knowledge.
Click to expand...
Hi Greg. Thank you for your thoughts and advice. Here is a video of the folks in India making the chess pieces with their ground profile tools: https://www.facebook.com/DiscoveryUK/videos/how-do-they-do-it-chess-pieces/875186079568123/

It looks like the Indians are using a slow turning water cooled sharpening wheel to grind the chess piece profiles. I was thinking of maybe using a 1/8" diamond wheel that is made to sharpen chainsaw blades.

I will check into the D-way Tools.

What are the pros and cons of CBN wheels over diamond.

Unfortunately it appears that my local AAW turning club is no longer meeting. Hopefully I can find someone local who can do a little mentoring.

I agree that using turning tools will work well to make chess pieces. But the repeatability of custom-made profiling tools will give me both speed and ensure the pieces are all the same.

Thank you again for your kind reply. Robert
 
Welcome to the AAW forum, Robert. The flat topped scraping carbide tools will do a decent job as long as they are sharp. There are also carbide tools that have a cupped cutting edge from Hunter Tools that can be used like a gouge and leave a very clean finish on the wood. You could also use powdered metal vanadium steel from Thompson Tools that are as good, if not better than M42.
 
Hello Sir. Thank you for the information. I had not heard of either Hunter or Thompson. I have looked over both websites. The cupped carbide tools made by Hunter Tools seems intriguing. I was under the impression that carbide was a shearing cut in lieu of a slicing cut. But the cupped carbide tools seems like it could be a slicing cut. Have you used Hunter Tools? If so, what is your impression? The Thompson tools are powder metal at 62-64 Rockwell. The M42 steel used by Carter tools are 68 Rockwell. Thank you again for your advice.
 
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