Carving Bit Life?

[djarboe]

What's the best way to tell if a bit is getting dull? I have about 120 hours of carving time on my machine. Been carving a little bit of everything: pine, pecan, maple, cherry, and just a little amount of walnut.

Don't really see any problems yet, except fuzzies. But, have always had some fuzzies.

[Ike]

The best way to tell if a bit is dull is talk to it and see what if it has any exciting topics! Lol sorry couldn't resist! Seriously look for burn marks on the bit and when it carves. If you see burnt areas in the carving the bit is shot! When you see it on the bit it could be sap and can be clean or it is heating up because of being dull.

Best thing is to keep the bits clean, and if you know how to see if a pocket knife blade is sharp it works the same with bits. You can feel the dullness. The sure thing is poor quality carvings or the start of seeing sections burnt under normal use.

Ike

[dbfletcher]

What's the best way to tell if a bit is getting dull? I have about 120 hours of carving time on my machine. Been carving a little bit of everything: pine, pecan, maple, cherry, and just a little amount of walnut.

Don't really see any problems yet, except fuzzies. But, have always had some fuzzies.

for the carving bit I mostly just monitor the leading edge of the carve. With a new sharp carving bit, the leading edge seems to get cut cleanly with very little "roll up" on that edge. As the bit gets less sharp, I start to see more and more shaving curl on that leading edge.

[djarboe]

The best way to tell if a bit is dull is talk to it and see what if it has any exciting topics! Lol sorry couldn't resist! Seriously look for burn marks on the bit and when it carves. If you see burnt areas in the carving the bit is shot! When you see it on the bit it could be sap and can be clean or it is heating up because of being dull.

Best thing is to keep the bits clean, and if you know how to see if a pocket knife blade is sharp it works the same with bits. You can feel the dullness. The sure thing is poor quality carvings or the start of seeing sections burnt under normal use.

Ike
Thanks for the feedback! Your first sentence reminded me of something a friend always says... "Never use a tool that is sharper than you are."

[Ike]

Lol sorry I couldn't resist! Mostly I check the bit the way my dad taught me to check a knife blade.

Ike