Woodturning gouge from an old file

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgBuqErn9Us

Here is my first video on youtube. In this video I make a woodturning gouge out of an old file using angle grinder, homemade belt sander, bench grinder and a homemade lathe that my grandfather built long time ago. The first part where I make the steel is filmed in my garage which is really cramped while the other part is filmed in my grandfathers workshop. About me, I'm 17 years old and I'm going to high school in Croatia which is where I'm from and where I live. Expect more videos like this soon to come. Also I'm just learning video editing and I apologize for sound lagging a bit in some parts of the video.

Thanks Garage workshop! I've added your Woodturning Gouge to our Woodturning category, as well as to your builder page: Garage workshop's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/woodturning-gouge"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/123387/woodturning-gouge.jpeg" /></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/woodturning-gouge">Woodturning Gouge</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/Garage+workshop">Garage workshop</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/file">file</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/turning">turning</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/gouge">gouge</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Hmm, that's a good reuse for a tool that would have been relegated to the bottom of the toolbox.

Yes, old files are a great source of tool steel.

Great way to repurpose a dull file. Looking forward to more toolmaking videos!

Al

Thank you! A lot more toolmaking videos are coming.

That's nicely done, but be very careful; files are brittle and can fail unexpectedly. As long as you use your newly made gouge only for spindle work you will probably be just fine, but don't ever use it for bowl turning. Not only is the file brittle, but you have a small tang going into the handle and that is a weak area. If you were to use the gouge for turning a bowl and got a catch, the gouge itself could fracture or the tang could snap off.

Files are not ideal for lathe tools as stated above. If the overhang is large and the tool catches a knot or similar, a missile comes flying off at about the linear speed of the job. A sure recipe for suicide. You could try softening the file by correcting the temper - a lathe chisel does not need to be all that hard, it just needs to retain its cutting edge.

The only wood turning chisel's I own are all made out of beat files. Another handy one is the round nose with no gouge in it. A vee and you've got all you need.

Contrary to popular misconceptions file tangs are not hard. People that make tools aren't idiots. That is the domain of Internet commenters.

There was a lot of controversy here in Australia during the early 70's as many turners were injured by bits of brittle reconstrued files. Agood friend of mine gave up on them when narrowly escaped injury but he was turning for hours every day (big saving on gouges that need sharpening regularly). Keep up your good work. I think we will see lots from you in the future especially with two workshops to use. Thanks.

Please be careful. Files have a very different metallurgy to cutting chisels. They are brittle and can snap sending out bits of metal at high speed. You only have two eyes.

I just saw some files-turned-gouges at the Habitat for Humanity Restore near me. Not as nice looking as these, though.

File tangs may be softer tempered but files are hardened metal and as such, given the right forces, can and often do act as something brittle and splinter into dangerous projectiles. Catching a knothole or nail/screw in a fast turning piece can cause a properly tempered wood turning chisel to go flying. Doing so with a file turned into a wood turning chisel CAN work, as long as you accept the danger.

This is what I thought of gouges made from files as well. Although I made a few myself when I was a youngster and never experience a file tool to bite me. Have anyone else experience a file gouge to break dangerously?

That is great. Maybe you were lucky or otherwise. When you change the metallurgy charactics, anything can happen. When contract mowing I decided not to hardface my blades as a few injuries had occured and I had serious concerns over insurance claims as well as the safety of my own children wgen mowing at home. Instead I opted, once only, to hace ceramic impregnation of new blades as I did alot of maintenance in sandy beach areas. Cost of blades was $130 set. ceramics cost a further $130. At the end of the working day the treated blades could not be sharpened even with a 9" angle grinder wfereas the original blades wood last 3 to 5 resharpened times/days of sharpening on a bench grinder & linisher: so my efforts were a waste of money.
cheers go make some swarf or shavings.