Can someone recommend a lathe \ turning tool I can use the round out some blocks of cork (or rings glued together as well)? Someone in the past has recommended a Round Nosed Scraper.

Thanks,

Tony

I use a roughing gouge followed by a round nose scraper. Some folks use a skew and obtain great results.

Stanley Shur Form tool makes quick work of rounding cork or EVA then finish with sandpaper on a wood block

[www.qualitydist.net] (not an endorsement for the company, just a pic of the tool) Any good sized hardware store will have it

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2010 07:16PM by Mike Barkley.

I use the Surform as well. Cork doesn't cut exactly like wood. I rough it down with the Surform and them use the round nose scraper to get it concentric. Then sandpaper to shape and finish.

The exotic type cork rings are harder than regular cork and might indeed respond well to a roughing gouge. Worth a try. Jim says he does it so I'm sure it can be done.

.............

I wonder if anyone has tried a Microplane® from the kitchen. I've been dying to try but can't get it past the wife. It's like a Shur Form but razor sharp.

I believe that our resident cajun uses a callus remover ... looks like a zest grater. Most drugstores have them for around $10. That sounds much cheaper than getting caught with the kitchen implements in your workshop.

Tony,
As the other folks have mentioned, Cork is a different material than wood.
Wood is composed of long fibers that may be cut with turning tools, and the rest of the wood stays in place.
Cork however, which is the bark of a cork tree, is more chunk like on composition. i.e rather than long fibers as is the case with wood, more in the vein of small chunks of cork deposits to form the material.

As a result, the typical lathe sharp chisel and or cutting tool is more likely to dig out the cork, rather than just trimming off piece of the cork.

That is why the comments about the use of the Stanley surform planer, the cheese grater, a bastard file, coarse sandpaper tends to work much better than a sharp single edged cutting tool.

As the other posters commented, you do need a fixed tool to get the block concentric.
If you just use sand paper, you will likely end up with an irregular shaped smooth block.

You need to use one of the files, graters or others to get the block uniform before using the various grades of sandpaper to achieve the final finish.

One thing that helps to maintain the shape of the handle and or cork when working on it with sandpaper is to use backing blocks or boards on the sandpaper. The backing boards insure that the sandpaper remains flat as it is used against the cork.

If you don't use the backing boards or blocks you can quickly develop hollows or tapers on the piece that you really don't want to have in place.


If you are finishing a handle containing dissimilar materials it is very very important to use the backing boards on the sandpaper when doing the final finish. If you don't use the backing boards, you will quickly cut away and remove the softer material of the dissimilar materials before achieving the shape of the harder materials.

Take care
Roger

tony i use my regular lathe tools. i have used the surform file, but i find it can take out chunks on the composite corks. you have to be careful with any tool. i stop well short of the finish size and use sandpaper to get the last 1/8" or so depending on the material. you should have my cell and you can call me if you have aqny questions. hope things are going well with you

Steve,
You can google Microplane and find Microplane blades that will fit your Surform plane as well as other individual tools. As I understand the story, Microplane started making these tools for wood working not as kitchen utensils. I use a short Microplane tool similar to block plane and a Surform plane fitted with a Microplane blade. Because they cut with smaller pieces, they are bit smoother to use when getting to a cylinder shape.

Mike Blomme

Michael,

I didn't know they made just the blades. I'll have to look into that. Thanks,

Steve