Carbide thoughts

[Ron Spokovich]

Knowing from experience that there are many grades of carbide, there is no one grade that'll do it all. For gravers, they're made to cut, but don't tolerate impact. I'm aware of a grade that may relieve some of that, but you may have difficulty in grabbing some, unless you know someone in the shop that rebuilds "miners' which bore through the earth for coal. The front drums of the miners have teeth that are tipped with carbide, and are replaceable. They'd need to be sawn off with a diamond wheel, and segmented. I have center punched many hundreds of dimples into A36 structural steel, with my three pound hammer, quite forcibly, and never broke a tip. Small pieces of this type of carbide might serve for faceted stippling tools, or in sculpting, although I never tried it. Brazing the tips onto cold rolled, or annealed drill rod, with brass, may suffice because of its great adhesion. As for finish grinding with some degree of contour. 3M used to make a 1" x 42" flexible belt in different grades, but at a 20 years ago price of $20/belt, it'd be a costly venture. But, that type of carbide might hold up well. I may dig up what little supply I have, somewhere around the dungeon, and give it a try. It's just a thought.

 

[dlilazteca]

Ron

Go for it see how it works out. But I stand my ground on the 1.47 each round carbide from centennialcarbide.com, I've been using these exclusively for all types of metal, even stainless steel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnAoV7l_jqM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Don't want to start a tool war here, but there are others that I know, who are professionals and use these with great success.





Carlos De La O III

 

[LVVP]

Carlos,

Very good video, thank you for it

 

[monk]

well, i'm wondering- by degrees- just how much actual abuse does a standard carbide graver receive when actually engraving ? i don't think a whole lot. steeper face, very short heels, dubbed
point, combined with a wider degree graver, can solve a lot of problems. jmho

 

[Beladran]

That's an amazing price !!!

 

[dlilazteca]

That's an amazing price !!!

Buy just 2, with shipping it less than 5 bucks you'll see

Carlos De La O III

 

[Beladran]

If I'm gonna buy some I'm gonna buy 10-20 lol I mean if you buy carbide or carbalt it's $$$$$!

 

[Roger Bleile]

Ron

Go for it see how it works out. But I stand my ground on the 1.47 each round carbide from centennialcarbide.com, I've been using these exclusively for all types of metal, even stainless steel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnAoV7l_jqM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Don't want to start a tool war here, but there are others that I know, who are professionals and use these with great success.





Carlos De La O III

Carlos,

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see where you got those gravers. Can you post a web site or phone number? Also I have been told that it is not a good idea to quench carbide gravers. Apparently, they won't lose their hardness by getting hot. I understand you were quenching them because they were getting too hot to hold. Does anyone have any input about quenching carbide gravers?

Thanks,
Roger

 

[mrthe]

Roger i hsve the same Info , heating don't affect carbide during the sharpening,but quenching the carbide seem that made it more britlle expecially if become very hot, this is what i have learned about , but maybe i'm wrong , i'm curious too.

 

[dlilazteca]

Carlos,

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see where you got those gravers. Can you post a web site or phone number? Also I have been told that it is not a good idea to quench carbide gravers. Apparently, they won't lose their hardness by getting hot. I understand you were quenching them because they were getting too hot to hold. Does anyone have any input about quenching carbide gravers?

Thanks,
Roger

Roger

Sure here ya go

Centennialcarbide. Com


Carlos De La O III

 

[dlilazteca]

Roger i hsve the same Info , heating don't affect carbide during the sharpening,but quenching the carbide seem that made it more britlle expecially if become very hot, this is what i have learned about , but maybe i'm wrong , i'm curious too.

I don't let them get very hot to the touch I dip them when they're warm so I can continue to work without having to stop and wait, yes never dip them if there to hot, you guys are right you can just let them air cool.

Carlos De La O III

 

[davidshe]

I like the idea of trying these round gravers out but I have a question... I also use the Lindsay sharpening templates with carbide or HSS 3/32 sq shape gravers. Many times I like to freshen up my point with a few quick strokes on the 2000 grit sharpening block and my ceramic block. If the graver is round, how would you go about positioning the point back into the template so that it was in the exact same location as when you first created the point?

 

[dlilazteca]

I like the idea of trying these round gravers out but I have a question... I also use the Lindsay sharpening templates with carbide or HSS 3/32 sq shape gravers. Many times I like to freshen up my point with a few quick strokes on the 2000 grit sharpening block and my ceramic block. If the graver is round, how would you go about positioning the point back into the template so that it was in the exact same location as when you first created the point?

David

It's all explained in the video, you would have to index a flat to one side. That is where your graver would fit into the template screw.

After you watch it if you still have questions please feel free to ask

Carlos De La O III

 

[davidshe]

Thanks Carlos, I get it now. As you can see, although I am making progress, I am certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed

 

[monk]

roger: i've seen a machinist braze a carbide blank onto a .5" square shaft. when it cooled -maybe 2 minutes he put the tool in the tool post on his lathe and began making roughing passes on the material. i'm thinkin quenching would be contraindicated in that instance and on gravers as well. i would imagine a quench on this mtl., all hell would break loose at the mollecular level !

 

[quickcut07]

You do not want to quench carbide, when heated then quenched the shock causes micro fractures within the tool. This is seen easier if the tool is sharpened to a cutting edge. This brings us to the second problem with carbide and that is its brittle nature, naturally if it cracks the easiest place to fail is the week point or thinned surface. I am not saying that there are not carbide alloys that can't be quenched just most don't agree to it that I know of. This has been given to me by the various machinists I have worked with over the years. Kinda look at it as throwing a glass of ice water on the wife on a hot summer day, She may snap !

Eric

 

[monk]

another more time consumimg way for indexing round gravers-- grind 1 end on a bench grinder. 1/2-3/4" make it as even as possible. grind down to .062, then solder into 3/32" square brass tubing. john baraclaugh developed this using .062" drill bits. a very good way to utilize fg dental burs and drills. very easily indexed this way. i think there's a lengthy tip on this in the tips section.