With the increased interest in turning non-wood composites, epoxies and resins, I’m wondering if we have any Easywood tools negative rake blades on-hand at the Space. If not, should we consider purchasing a set? Including @SIG_Resin and @nicksilva for visibility.
http://www.easywoodtools.com/ewt-genuine-carbide-cutters-product-page/
I haven;t seen/noticed any. Given the general characteristics of our members, providing these on an ongoing basis will be problematic: they aren’t able to be resharpened like the typical/standard EW cutters (right?); and they also are somewhat hard to distinguish from the regular cutters.
Also, @nate.
My husband Kevin (@omturbo) uses them and recommends them. I don’t know if having them available for everyone is a good idea unless it is built into training or woodshop acquires a whole new set of easy tools with the negative rakes and labels them for acrylic/resin only.
We just bit the bullet and bought our own.
I guess the answer is yes and no? There is a set in the teachers cabinet but my understanding is they are only for class use. I’ve got nothing against people using them but the fact that at least one has already walked away is pretty aggravating
You are correct @mblatz they can’t be sharpened, they are pretty easy to distinguish though because of the cutting angle
Not sure ‘keeping’ one set of cutters is any more problematic than another. You’re correct that they are more difficult to resharpen but that’s a different concern. As far as differentiating cutters, I see two options:
Keep the negative rake cutters in a separate box for use and keep that box in the secured woodshop supply cabinet.
Dedicate a separate set of negative rake cutters affixed to their own, uniquely colored handles to easily differentiate them from the standard tools.
whole lot of responses since I started typing lol.
Everyone touched on what I was going to say. At <$20 it might just be best to tell people to pick up their own cutter if they plan to do a lot of resin turning. The handles are the expensive part of the tool and you know the condition of your blade before you get to the space.
And a set of negative rake cutters is >$120.00
Perhaps some classes are in order to make some. (Not volunteering myself)
Do you really need one in each size?
Keep in mind the additional issues - we can’t go more than a week without some well-meaning person going to change out a cutter head and stripping the hex of the screw. Then someone (usually @Nate, @Lordrook, @talkers, or myself) has to go in and drill out the screw. If the head was busted - we’ve lost that tool until someone discovers it, usually because it’s never reported.
With my experience with negative rakes, they don’t cut wood effectively - and if they get stuck on the tool because the screw is stripped, how long before they’re ruined? I’ve been in the shop when people have used busted/dull/damaged tools - and it’s because they don’t inspect the tool before use.
Right now, we have 3 functional sets and it’s a challenge to keep them all in working order with regular heads.
And to answer the question before it’s asked: yes - we teach how to inspect a tool for damage, we teach how to change cutter heads correctly. We’re even starting to teach how to use NR heads in the project classes. But since the tools are honor system - we can’t cover everyone and the potential for misuse now.
It’s not about me. It’s about considering them for the Space.
If we don’t supply them, why teach their use in class? If we do teach their use in class, we should consider stocking some.
We have them for class use - the space owns them for project classes and keeps them in the locked cabinet. Some are already missing.
I think it would be fine to stock some as they are close to the same price as regular cutter heads but the issues already mentioned don’t make me super enthusiastic about it.
I agree that with our current membership levels it’s difficult/impossible to adequately police member behavior and, in general, have nice things. This issue exists across all of our committee areas.
I am merely floating a trial balloon in accordance with the sharp increase in interest in resin working. I do intend to buy a couple of NR cutters for my own personal use, regardless of what the Lathe/Woodshop folks decide.
I think once there are RFID lockers it will be easier to manage a set of “Resin only” negative rake tools.
Dare I say RESIN handles For any resin specific cutting tools? 
This is what I did. And you really only need 1, that’s all I got. 2 if you really like having the option between the round and radial square tool. I love the idea of us making our own resin handles.
To add my 2 cents, I’m up there at least twice a month teaching and I try to get there early to inspect, and possibly sharpen, tools before classes. there’s not a time I go up and there’s not at least 2 out of 8 of those things where the cutter head is chipped to death from being fed into the 4 jaw chuck and need replacing. Maybe a cost benefit analysis can be done to determine how many we are going through and if it would be worth it. Having them locked up as they are now and having to check them out I’m on board with, but then who gets the keys to that castle? You’d have to ensure that there’s always someone around to check one out and put them back.
You’d probably have to lock up each one somehow, and had the scanner track check in and out. Whoever last checked it out would be on the hook to replace if it goes missing or is broken. If they let a friend use it, that’s still on them.
If we had that kind of tech I am sure it would be in use all over the place right now. I mean its out there, but not super affordable. And I agree that it would severely minimize the level of damage, and/or increase fessing up of broken equipment.
I don’t think there’s an easy solution without throwing money at it (or a lot of volunteer hours), and given that were trying to save up so we can move next door…