How turning tools cut
A turning tool is levered against the spinning wood over the tool rest, so its length and handle matter as much as its edge. With a gouge or skew, WEN has the bevel — the ground face behind the edge — rest on the wood so the edge slices in a shearing cut, rather than the tool being pushed straight in; scrapers cut with less finesse but less risk. Grizzly and WEN both require the tool to be on the rest before it meets the wood and to stay there for the whole cut. How the lathe and rest are set up is in the lathe guide and how to use a lathe.
High-speed steel tools
| Tool | Job, as WEN describes it | Bevel WEN illustrates | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roughing gouge | Turns square or out-of-round spindle stock into a cylinder | 45° | Spindle work; shallow coves |
| Spindle gouge | Coves, beads and free-form contours | 30–40° | Spindle detail; shallow hollows on faceplate work |
| Bowl gouge | External and internal profiles | 60–80° | Bowls, platters; shearing cuts |
| Skew chisel | Evens high and low spots, beads and V-grooves | 70° | Planing cylinders smooth |
| Parting tool | Grooves and tenons; removing stock | 30–45° | Sizing to diameter; parting off |
| Round-nose scraper | Non-aggressive shaping and smoothing | 75–90° | Spindles and bowls |
WEN's descriptions and illustrated bevels from its lathe manual. Grizzly describes the skew by its edge angle — usually 20–40° — which is a different measure from a bevel. Other makers grind their own figures. Not a ranking and not a sharpening chart.
- Steel. WEN recommends high-speed steel over ordinary carbon steel, because it holds an edge longer.
- A set. Grizzly lists an eight-piece high-speed steel set for its lathes: a 3/4 in roughing gouge, 1/4 and 1/2 in spindle gouges, a 3/8 in bowl gouge, a 3/4 in skew, a 3/16 in diamond parting tool and square and round scrapers — which shows the usual spread of shapes in a starter set.
- Skew technique. WEN uses only the centre third of a skew's edge for a smoothing cut: touching a point to the spinning work can cause a catch.
- Never start at an end. WEN cuts downhill, from the larger diameter to the smaller, and never starts a cut at the end of the work.
Carbide tools
A carbide tool has a small replaceable insert screwed to a straight bar, and Easy Wood Tools sells it as needing no sharpening: when an edge dulls, the insert is changed rather than ground. It is used differently from a gouge — held flat on the rest and level with the floor, the handle never lower than level, with the rest set so the top of the cutter is at the spindle's centre — and there is no bevel to rub. Easy Wood Tools makes three cutter shapes: a near-square rougher for removing stock and cutting tenons, a round finisher for inside curves, and a diamond-shaped detailer for small beads and coves.
| Point | High-speed steel (WEN, Grizzly) | Carbide (Easy Wood Tools) |
|---|---|---|
| Edge | Ground on the tool; resharpened | A replaceable insert; no sharpening |
| Presentation | Bevel rubbing the work for a shearing cut | Flat on the rest, level, handle never low |
| Rest height | Grizzly: about 1/8 in above centre, 1/4 in from the work | Cutter's top at spindle centre |
| Overhang | Not stated by WEN or Grizzly | No more than 2 in (mini), 3 in (mid-size) or 4 in (full-size and Pro) beyond the rest |
| Cutters | The tool is the cutter | Only the cutter made for that bar |
Each maker's own rules for its own tools; they are not interchangeable set-ups. Not a ranking.
Parting tools and parting off
A parting tool cuts a narrow groove straight in — to size a diameter with calipers, form a tenon, or separate the finished piece. Makers disagree about the last step. WEN's manual parts through, holding the piece loosely as it comes free. Easy Wood Tools says never to part completely through when working between centres, because the two halves pinch and can pull out the cutter; it cuts down to about 1/4 in and finishes with a handsaw. BenchRoot's project pages follow the more cautious instruction, with the lathe stopped before the saw is used.
Sharp tools and safe use
Safety— Sharp, on the rest, and the right tool
WEN and Grizzly both warn against dull or damaged tools: a dull tool needs more force and is more likely to catch. Keep the tool on the rest whenever it touches the work, use each tool only for the job its maker describes, and for carbide tools never exceed the maker's overhang. Sharpening high-speed steel tools needs a grinder and jig set up to the tool maker's instructions, which this page does not cover. See woodworking safety rules.
Choosing a set or individual tools is covered in how to choose turning tools. Every woodturning page is mapped in the lathe guide.
Before using a turning tool
- The right tool for the cut, as its maker describes it
- Edge sharp and undamaged, or a fresh carbide edge
- Rest set for that tool: HSS and carbide differ
- Tool on the rest before it meets the wood
- Carbide overhang within the maker's limit
- Parting between centres stopped short and finished with a saw
Sources
Bevel figures are the ones WEN illustrates for each tool in its lathe manual; Grizzly gives the skew's edge angle, which measures something different, so the two are shown side by side, not reconciled. Carbide rules are Easy Wood Tools' for its own tools. Grinding and sharpening set-ups are each maker's and are not covered; no grinding angle here is a universal figure.
- 1.
Model 34034 14" x 20" Variable Speed Wood Lathe, Instruction Manual. WEN Products (store-hosted copy), 2019.
Used for: High-speed steel tools preferred to carbon steel; the roughing gouge (illustrated with a 45° bevel) for making square stock round and shallow coves; the round-nose scraper (75–90°) for non-aggressive shaping and smoothing; the spindle gouge (30–40°) for coves, beads and free-form contours; the parting tool (30–45°) for grooves, tenons and parting; the skew chisel (70°) for planing cylinders, beads and V-grooves; the bowl gouge (60–80°) for bowls and platters; sharp, undamaged tools only; the bevel kept on the work for a shearing cut, cuts made downhill from large diameter to small, and only the centre third of a skew's edge used for smoothing.
- 2.
Model G0844 14" x 20" Benchtop Wood Lathe, Owner's Manual. Grizzly Industrial, 2019.
Used for: Turning tools in five categories — gouges, skew chisels, scrapers, parting tools and specialty tools — with the skew's edge usually at 20–40°; tools held on the rest the whole time they touch the work; Grizzly's listing of an 8-piece HSS turning set with a 3/4 in roughing gouge, 1/4 and 1/2 in spindle gouges, a 3/8 in bowl gouge, a 3/4 in skew, a 3/16 in diamond parting tool and square and round scrapers.
- 3.
Easy Turning Tools — product information and safety. Easy Wood Tools.
Used for: Carbide tools with three cutter shapes — a near-square rougher, a round finisher, a diamond detailer — held flat on the rest and level to the floor, the handle never below level, the rest set so the cutter's top is at spindle centre; cutting with one edge at a time; maximum overhang over the rest of 2 in for mini tools, 3 in for mid-size and 4 in for full-size and Pro.
- 4.
Easy Parting Tool — product information and safety. Easy Wood Tools.
Used for: A carbide parting tool kept flat on the rest; face cuts no deeper than 1/8 in without widening; no side-to-side wiggling; never parting completely through between centres — cut to about 1/4 in and finish with a handsaw.
- 5.
FAQs. Easy Wood Tools.
Used for: Cutters made for one tool only; square tool bars that keep the tool flat on the rest; a 9-1/4 in Micro and a 16 in Mini; no metalworking cutters.
About this guide
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