[rfresh737]

I'm new to working with a lathe. I have ordered a Harbor Freight 7x10 mini lathe to do some work on wood rods.

I've been looking at cutter tools but am wondering where can I purchase cutter tools designed to work with wood? Or does it matter if the cutter was designed to work with metal?

The work I will be doing is facing and cutting down the last two inches of the rods to a smaller diameter (creating a tenon in other words).

It's a bit confusing to see all of the different tip shapes...I'm not sure which shape I need to do the above work...but I know my work is pretty basic.

Thanks for any help and guidence...

[warrenb]

Woodcraft makes inserts for wood. https://www.woodcraft.com/products/u...-radius-insert
Penn State has an assortment of small cutters that might be adapted for that lathe https://www.pennstateind.com/store/w...ing-tools.html
I'm not sure which holders would fit the HF Mini Lathe holders but it should be pretty easy to work something out.
If all else fails find yourself inserts that are made for aluminum.

[awerby]

Most lathe tools (that aren't insert-based) are ground by hand to the specific shape needed. For turning down a dowel, you'd want something that's flattened on the end rather than sharp, with a corner angle that corresponds to the shoulder of the tenon. That varies depending on how it's oriented in the toolpost; it just shouldn't be more than 90 degrees altogether. Here's a guide to doing it from the Sherline site: http://sherline.com/Wordpress/wp-con...1/grinding.pdf