"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On 15 Oct 2003 14:49:56 -0700, jim rozen
wrote:

I tend to use a lot of HSS with my lathes and shapers, and have a
decent Baldor grinder with a set of diamond wheels. Ive played with
both, and the HSS wins 90% of the time under normal turning,
particulary if you can flood cool with oil.

What's normal turning? I would think facing and turning as opposed to
grooving and forming. In this case, why does HSS *win*? With what little
experience I've had in toolmaking, radius tools are constantly used along
with other form tools. In this case, carbide is a loser. However, I don't
see why anyone would use anything _but_ carbide for turning/facing.
Esspecially with high carbon, high alloy tool steels and machine steels
(like 41freakin'40).

This is only true if you
keep your tools sharp, which is labor intensive. Which is one of the
reasons production shops use a Lot of carbide, because they have rigid
machines and labor is a significant part of production costs.

HSS can be run as efficiently as carbide if kept sharp?

Regards,

Robin