Lex, I've been wood turning since 2015.? I've not once seen a set of lathe chisels that the underside of the metal of lathe chisel is curved.? I do think the set of 12, 6 of the set are photographed on green are more likely carving chisels vs. lathe chisels, because two of them are curved on the underside and they are obviously a set.? ?I'm not an expert, but just an observation based upon our tool collection.??
I put a black dot on the two curved carving chisels - commonly used to carve spoons, or a recessed surface below the normal plane of the wood.
I think the angle of the grind could be different in carving tools vs. lathe chisels.? If the angle of the grind is different you could have an unhappy experience turning with a wrong grind angle on steel and wood.? All kinds of un-fun things can happen.? I'm really not going to experiment as everything in my gut says do not experiment with carving tools and a piece of wood spinning at x rpm.
Let's switch to the Unimat Desktop, and I love turning on a this size machine, but I do my normal wood turning on a wood lathe, and I've kept my unimat for metals as indicated in the post from other members, oil and wood, bad mix for the cool unimat.?These tools photographed set of 12 and 6 on green are pretty large to comfortably use on a desktop lathe the size of our Unimat / Sherline or Taig machines.? Our desktop lathes are much easier to set up to drill the insides of a pen blank.? I drill on a drill press when I use my Jet mini lathe for turning pen blanks.
I do have a small set of lathe chisels from Benjamin's best - but they were not sharp upon arrival.? When lathe chisels are not sharp, you don't get a great finish on wood, and it is tearing.
This micro set is OK, but still large for a unimat lathe.
There is a bazillion $$ industry selling stuff to us for sharpening; I have not mastered this art.? I like sharpening with stone best though.
I use my Taig Lathe for 1/12th scale wood parts or precision wood parts and use the cross slide and jewelry gravers and am happiest with this combination for wood.
I do most of my woodturning on a Jet Mini Lathe with Variable Speed, and I'm reasonably skilled at this point in my journey.? I turned 30 pair of similar lace bobbins last year.
This year, I am turning stump work tools for me and my needlework friend.? I don't use a duplicator, nothing wrong with duplicators, but I want to 'hone' my skills, subsequently I don't use a duplicator.
My first project many years ago was to turn handles for my jewelry gravers and it worked out, but I turned them on the Jet Variable Speed Mini lathe.
I have turned probably less then 10 pens, but it is fun activity for kids of all ages, so I always keep some pen kits around and I gift pens to special people in my circle.
I recently turned a tiny hat stand about 3/8" tall for a friend - kinda of a dare, and did this on my jet mini lathe and incidentally I've only turned wood for pens on the jet mini wood lathe.... you can still pen parts on a Unimat lathe, but you are not likely to get a pen mandrel off the shelf for the unimat.
What ever you use, hang on to your lathe chisels, and I run a fan behind me when I'm wood turning and my allergies have been ok.... for fine dust I do wear a mask.??
From an experience perspective, I'm happier finishing on a wood lathe then finishing off, but I love waterlox and most everything gets finished after it is parted off.
Carbide Insert tools can be re-sharpened.? I bought a 3 piece set from Rockler and love them, they are 3 of my favorite lathe tools.
FWIW, I've also, after many years finally figured out that wood curls are easier for me to make with a hand plane then a lathe chisel and spindle - I have no idea why, but that is my experience!
I love my sewing machine, but I've spent a lot more time with my lathe(s) then my sewing machine!
Tamra
Tamra