Tool Steel

[Dan Swaim]

Any idea which steel the Crown Pro PM tools are made of? Perhaps M4 or A11/Cpm 10V?

 

[Bill Boehme]

It's M4.

 

[Dan Swaim]

Thanks. Will the standard Tormek wet stone handle sharpening. Although the bowl gouge seems to hold up well, it doesn't seem to take. Really sharp edge for finish cuts. By the way, th walking sun bowl was very nice,

 

[RichColvin]

Dan,

I use the SB stone on the Tormek for such steels. It works well, though the SG stone will also ... it just won’t last as long.

Kind regards,
Rich

 

[Bill Boehme]

Thanks. Will the standard Tormek wet stone handle sharpening. Although the bowl gouge seems to hold up well, it doesn't seem to take. Really sharp edge for finish cuts. By the way, th walking sun bowl was very nice,

I use a Tormek almost exclusively for sharpening bowl gouges. I have several tools of each of the following steels: M2, M4, M42, CPM 10V (A11), and a Henry Taylor Kryo that I don't know what steel is used. I can sharpen all of them to an equally sharp edge, but how well they work for finishing cuts and how long they hold an edge is dependent on numerous factors so it amounts to splitting frogs hair to say what is better. Some of the factors that I would rate more important that the steel alloy include:

• sharpening skill in getting a good edge
• skill in using the tool
• shape of the flute
  
• wood species and characteristics of an individual piece of wood
• how acute is the cutting edge ... it's a balancing act between acute angle for better slicing and shorter edge life versus wider angle for longer edge life and not quite as clean a cut.
• Since all my bowl gouges have slightly different grinds, trying to compare one steel against another is somewhat of an apples and oranges comparison. No tool is going to make you a better woodturner despite the slogan on one of my t-shirts (I'm just one tool away from greatness)

I really like my Crown Pro PM bowl gouges. If you are concerned about sharpening them on a Tormek, it's not a problem.

I primarily use the SG (gray stone) and can't say that any of my bowl gouges causes more wear than the others. I don't have much experience with the SB (black stone) and have mostly used it for heavier shaping.