John Grace wrote on May 1^st, 2017 at 8:43am:


That's entirely true.

IMO
The Main difference in determining which is "better" regardless of who uses it or how often, is it's overall performance. (What is it capable of)
The OneWay and Woodcut systems don't allow the user to change the shape of the core being cut. This is the big sticking point for me. As a woodworker, craftsman, artist or whatever you call yourself, you want to have as much control over your materials as possible.
"You can core any bowl you want, as long as it's this shape", sound familiar?

It's one thing to purchase one tool over another because it's easier to operate.
It's another thing to choose one tool over another that may be easier to use but doesn't have the same capabilities. Then you're not really comparing the same things because the tools aren't capable of doing the same things.

I personally find the entire discussion about the McNaughton "learning curve" to be extremely overblown. Do you have to pay attention to what you're doing, yes, how horrible.  The benefit is that you are in control of the final product. If that sort of thing doesn't appeal to you and you have more of a production turner mindset. Maybe one of the systems that produce identical cores with less of a learning curve is better suited to you.
As with everything, it's personal choice, one size does not fit all.

Does anyone have a coring system collecting "dust" they would like to part with?

Well, the computer is letting me back on the site. No idea why.... Any way, two points:

I have argued this with Kel McNaughton, and he does not agree. The bends on his blades are fine till about the last inch or 1 1/2 inch. If you have a good eye, you can see it, or of not (or you need glasses), you can lay them out on a circle template. The last bit goes straight rather than follow the curve of the arc the blade is bent to. Not a problem if you are only coring a few inches in. Problem if you are going 6 or more inches because the blade always drifts to the outside of the cut since it will follow the tip which is straight, and not the arc. I have bent the tip in a bit on a couple of my blades and they follow the curve much better. In looking in to getting my own made, if you bend for a perfect arc, you always plan to cut an inch or two off the top because it is extremely difficult to get leverage at the very end of the bar stock. Since the ends have to be profiled, this presents an as yet unsolved problem. Most of us just learn to deal with it...

The Oneway is a good system, but I never liked the tip. The idea is that the point breaks the fiber, and then the sides clear/cut the rest away. I had them send me a hardened top that didn't have the point ground on it yet. I ground a taper on the sides, and left a straight across bevel on the end. It cut a lot better, and was more aggressive when cutting. They said that is why they didn't sell it that way to the general public. If you just hone the top of the cutter like they want, you don't get a scraper burr, and all coring blades are scrapers. In just about all woods, the burr cuts better than a honed top. Add to that if you have the bevel and not the point, you don't have to remove it from the blade to sharpen it, which is a bother...

robo hippy

Tom, that is beyond my skill level..... Any tip for the Oneway needs the screw hole, and the grooves on the bottom. So, the end is about 3/8 wide, and tapers to the back where it is maybe a hair wider then the support arm. 70 degree bevel, and it sticks out 1/4 inch from the end of the support arm, or as far as the point on the standard cutter does. Hope that description helps. I don't know if they would sell one that way to any one else or not.

robo hippy

If the tip on the McNaughton went perfectly with the curve, you could one continuous cut all the way to the bottom of the deepest cut without having to widen the kerf. No fishtailing as Mike Mahoney says. The straight part of the blade is why the blade ALWAYS drifts to the outside of the cut as you go in. This is part of the learning curve.

As far as tip geometry goes, square across the top works best for me, maybe a slight arc to it. Spear point doesn't add anything to the process.

robo hipppy

Well Ed, the Woodcut and Oneway systems do not want to drift, or feel like they are trying to drift. I will admit that while I have used both, I use the McNaughton 99% of the time. There is a lot of flex in the McNaughton system, blades bend a bit and tool rest T or now D will flex under load, and that may contribute a tiny bit to the drift, but the blades I have that I have tweaked don't drift. One that was bent a tiny bit too far actually drifts to the inside. With the original McNaughton blades where the cutting tip was all over on the out board side rather than centered like the newer spear points, I ground it beveled to the inside, the outside, square and round. there was no difference in the drifting tendencies. The spear point made it easier to correct the drift and trim off a little bit on the inside of the cut, but still for deeper cuts, you have to widen the kerf.

robo hippy

So, to satisfy my curiosity after Reed got me thinking about this, I went and did a little test.
Here's why the straight section Reed mentioned makes to cutter drift.
The point of the cutter MUST be in the center of the kerf to work properly If anything a small amount to the inside but definitely not to the outside, that's when the problems occur.
I can only guess that when they are assembling the cutting tip onto the curved bar, some vise or holding device straightens that small section of the bar which moves the center point towards the outside, that's bad. This is also why when Reed gave his a slight bend back inward they cut better. He basically put the point back where it should have been in the first place.
If the point is not directly in the center it is  "dog-tracking' or 'yawing" in the kerf. This takes constant correction by the turner and makes the tool more difficult to use.  You also wind up with wider kerfs by having to back off and re-establish the cut.
I would suggest doing a test cut in about an inch or so and see if the point is in the center of the kerf, if not, adjust as Reed described in his earlier post.
That's what I found out.
Hope it helps