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So I bought a new lathe tool

M

Mike Adams

Joined
Jan 8, 2020
Messages
189
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Location
Bloomfield, New Jersey
I picked up one of the Little Beaver's designed by Larry Martin (The Wood Whirler) from their current maker on Ebay.

I love this thing. It's like having a super roughing gouge that works with bowl blanks. It has a square, radiused carbide cutter and a serious chip deflector. The tang is 1/2 inch.

20200801-091218-1.jpg
 
Similar approach to mounting the cutter as Harrison's 90* detailer. Are you using the tool point on, or positionong the shaft 45* to the cut?
 
Mark Jundanian said:
Similar approach to mounting the cutter as Harrison's 90* detailer. Are you using the tool point on, or positionong the shaft 45* to the cut?
Click to expand...

I do have the Harrison tool. I bought a set of his full-size tools when I started experimenting with carbides some time back, right after trying a "New Edge Tools" (long since closed) carbide gouge for pens. It's okay for light duty, but the shaft is only a half inch and the tool tends to bounce around if when doing anything more than light cuts. I used mine mainly for grooves and a bit of spindle work. It's not beefy enough to be in the same league as this beast. Seriously.

I tried both presentations today. I ran it perpendicular to the work and at 45. Perpendicular was great for knocking down the corners some and then I ran it back and forth at 45 and really hogged away wood getting the pieces round. The chip deflector isn't for show, either. When hogging, the tool throws out a serious chip stream.

I've seen video of Larry using it to hollow a bowl, but haven't tried that yet.

Even if I never use it for anything but bringing blanks to round it's worth every cent to me.
 
As far as I am concerned, scrapers are the most efficient tool for removing huge amounts of stock in a hurry. I use standard scrapers. If you have a round cutter in that, more for the inside, you can sweep it back and forth, and get pretty close to final shape so one or two passes with a gouge and you are done. I don't have a chip guard, so learned to stand just slightly off to the side to turn rather than standing in the throw zone of the shavings.

robo hippy
 
Mike Adams said:
I picked up one of the Little Beaver's designed by Larry Martin (The Wood Whirler) from their current maker on Ebay.

I love this thing. It's like having a super roughing gouge that works with bowl blanks. It has a square, radiused carbide cutter and a serious chip deflector. The tang is 1/2 inch.

20200801-091218-1.jpg
Click to expand...
Do you know of any place i can buy one of these tools
 
Check out my video 'Scary Scrapers' on You Tube. As far as I am concerned, 1 inch wide by 5/16 thick is ideal. Grinder burr from a 180 grit CBN wheel works great for both heavy stock removal and shear scraping. The M42 HSS, for reasons unknown to me, goes from 1/4 to 5/32, then up to 3/8 inch thick. 3/8 is too thick, or thicker than you need. The Big Ugly tool is also a good substitute. Yes, you have to sharpen it, but it takes a great edge...

robo hippy
 
Robo Hippy,
I've seen your videos about the Big Ugly. As I recall there are D.I.Y. videos on making one but for those of us that don't have the equipment is there a place we can buy one? Is anyone making these to sell?
robo hippy said:
Check out my video 'Scary Scrapers' on You Tube. As far as I am concerned, 1 inch wide by 5/16 thick is ideal. Grinder burr from a 180 grit CBN wheel works great for both heavy stock removal and shear scraping. The M42 HSS, for reasons unknown to me, goes from 1/4 to 5/32, then up to 3/8 inch thick. 3/8 is too thick, or thicker than you need.
Click to expand...
 
Not that I know of. Some one did ask me a bunch of questions about making them, and was thinking about making them, but never heard any updates. I do think some one should make them. I very useful tool.

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
As far as I am concerned, 1 inch wide by 5/16 thick is ideal.
Click to expand...

Howdy robo.....😉

I am also using wide and thick scrapers when they can apply to a specific task, and the reason they are more effective is because of the weight of the tool itself. I've tested this hypothesis by using a 1/2" x 1/2 square scraper that was having trouble with getting the best cut, and then replacing it with a 1" x 1/2" scraper for the exact same cut.....nothing else different, other than double the weight.....rpm the same, shape of the cutting edge the same, same piece of wood at the same time, everything the same. The cut improved by simply substituting the heavier tool for the lighter tool! Sometimes the circumstances of the moment necessitates the use of a lighter/thinner tool for maneuverability, so they will always have their applications too....

robo hippy said:
Not that I know of. Some one did ask me a bunch of questions about making them, and was thinking about making them, but never heard any updates. I do think some one should make them. I very useful tool.

robo hippy
Click to expand...

BTW: If someone did produce your "big ugly", I'm sure it would have a dedicated following of turners who would use it regularly.......just like your excellent, now out-of-production tool rests with the hardened rod welded, rather than epoxied to the top.......I really love mine! 🙂

-o-
 
Robo, the big ugly is one of my favorite tools. I don't think anything can take the wood off as fast. As you say, staying out of the line of shavings flying off can sometimes be a task.
The tantung stays sharp a long time. Have wondered about getting a smaller piece and fabricating a hollowing tool with a heavy bar. Just haven't got around to it.
 
Okay-Thanks, Rusty-My search was in inches. I tried that search in mm too, and can't find anything near that size. I've looked at a lot of the steel supply sites, and it seems most have pretty high minimum orders that cater to production shops and bigger operations rather than hobbyists. I definitely want to make a very large, heavy-bodied square scraper, and I'd rather not pay a couple-hundred for one commercially made. I'll keep looking unless anyone else has a magic link.
 
Go to Thompson or D Way. They both have good scraper blanks. I have not noticed any difference in how the metals cut or durability of the edges. Some claim otherwise. Makes me think of the old Miller Beer commercials, less filling/tastes great..... I don't like scrapers over about 1 inch wide. They are just too heavy for day long use.

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
don't like scrapers over about 1 inch wide. They are just too heavy for day long use.
Click to expand...
I don’t like heavy tools either.
My favorite round nose is a 1 1/4. I just use it on the bottoms of bowls that don’t cut cleanly with a gouge.
when I turn NE bowls from crotches 20-25% will have figure that turns up enough to make me bring out the scraper.
The way I use it it is 3 minutes or less on a problem bottom
 
rkriet said:
Aaron - you can get a blank on Amazon that is 10mm x 30mm x 200mm, if that is big enough for you.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Ron-I've seen those, but 200mm is just shy of 8 inches. Even if I only sink an inch or two in a handle, that is way too short a tool, I think. I'll keep looking, but thanks again for the rec.
 
Mike Adams said:
I picked up one of the Little Beaver's designed by Larry Martin (The Wood Whirler) from their current maker on Ebay.

I love this thing. It's like having a super roughing gouge that works with bowl blanks. It has a square, radiused carbide cutter and a serious chip deflector. The tang is 1/2 inch.

20200801-091218-1.jpg
Click to expand...
Neat tool. Are they expensive? do they provide a warranty?
 
Aaron Harris said:
Okay-Thanks, Rusty-My search was in inches. I tried that search in mm too, and can't find anything near that size. I've looked at a lot of the steel supply sites, and it seems most have pretty high minimum orders that cater to production shops and bigger operations rather than hobbyists. I definitely want to make a very large, heavy-bodied square scraper, and I'd rather not pay a couple-hundred for one commercially made. I'll keep looking unless anyone else has a magic link.
Click to expand...
I would recommend 1/2” thick. A friend of mine uses scrapers for everything and he likes my 1/2” better than his 3/8”.
 
Aaron Harris said:
Thanks, Ron-I've seen those, but 200mm is just shy of 8 inches. Even if I only sink an inch or two in a handle, that is way too short a tool, I think. I'll keep looking, but thanks again for the rec.
Click to expand...
There is one on Amazon. Type in HSS tool blank 10mm by 30mm by 300mm. I tried to post a link but I can’t take my personal info out of it.
 
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