Red Dragon Carbide Cutters: A Complete Guide

If you’re looking to dive into the world of woodturning or enhance your current setup without breaking the bank, Red Dragon Carbide Cutters might just be the solution you’ve been searching for. In this post and companion video (see below), we put all of their cutters to the test, and the results were impressive.

Why Choose Carbide Turning Tools?

Carbide turning tools have revolutionized woodturning, especially for beginners. Their ease of use significantly reduces the learning curve compared to traditional tools. With carbide cutters, you can achieve clean cuts and beautiful finishes without the constant need for sharpening. Red Dragon Cutters take this convenience a step further by offering a cost-effective alternative to OEM cutters without compromising on quality.

Red Dragon: Quality Meets Affordability

One of the standout features of Red Dragon Carbide Cutters is their exceptional value. These cutters are designed to fit seamlessly into popular carbide tools, providing a secure fit that rivals OEM options. But those savings do not come at the expense of quality. Red Dragon cutters are genuine carbide and we’ve found them to perform just as well as any other cutters on the market.

• High-Quality Carbide: Each cutter is crafted from durable carbide, ensuring longevity and consistent performance.
  
• Titanium Nitride Coating: Red Dragon Carbide Cutters are instantly recognizable because of their gold color titanium-nitride coating. Beyond just aesthetics, the titanium nitride coating enhances the cutter’s wear resistance, extending its lifespan.
  
• Included Replacement Screws: Recognizing the common issue of stripped screws, Red Dragon provides a new screw with each cutter, ensuring a hassle-free replacement.

A Cutter for Every Woodturning Task

Whatever you are trying to turn, there is a carbide cutter for the task. Knowing what each shape of cutter is designed to do, and its limitations, will help you choose the right turning tool for the job.

Square Carbide Cutters: The Workhorses of Woodturning

Square carbide cutters are your go-to tools for the initial stages of woodturning, where removing large amounts of material quickly is the priority. Red Dragon offers these in three main variations, each with subtle differences that cater to specific needs:

Full Square Cutter:
The RD1SQ Square Carbide Cutter has sharp 90-degree corners, making it excellent for creating flat surfaces and sharp edges.

Uses:

• Roughing down square stock to round.
  
• Creating flat bottoms on bowls or platters.
  
• Cutting sharp corners and fillets.
  
• Planing cuts when a perfectly flat surface is required.

Considerations: The sharp corners can be prone to catching, especially for beginners.

4” Radius Square Cutter

The RD1R4 4” Radius Cutter features slightly rounded corners, reducing the risk of catching and making it more forgiving.

Uses:

• General roughing of bowls and spindles.
  
• Shaping the exterior of pens and other small projects.
  
• Removing bulk material with a smoother cut than the full square.
  
• A great general purpose square cutter.

Considerations: The slight radius provides a smoother cut and reduces catches, making it a good all-around choice.

2” Radius Square Cutter

The RD1R2 2” Radius Cutter has a more pronounced radius on the corners, further minimizing the risk of catching.

Uses:

• Fine roughing and shaping, particularly on smaller projects like pens.
  
• Creating smooth, flowing curves.
  
• Working on delicate or intricate pieces.
  
• Excellent for convex curves on pens.

Pen Turning: For turning pens, especially if you’re turning acrylics or dense hardwoods, the RD2R2 2” Radius Cutter gets our highest recommendation. It’s the perfect size for turning pens and other mandrel projects, and the radius makes catches almost impossible.

Considerations: The rounded corners make it ideal for detail work and reducing catches, making it a good choice for beginners and fine work.

Round Carbide Cutters: Achieving Smooth Finishes

Round carbide cutters are essential for refining your woodturning projects, creating smooth surfaces, and shaping curves with precision. Once you have roughed out your blank with a square carbide cutter, switch to the round carbide cutter to turn your workpiece to its final thickness and refine the shape.

There are three sizes of of Round Cutters:

RD0 Round Carbide Cutter - for use with full-size round carbide turning tools

RD3 Round Carbide Cutter - for use with mini and mid-size tools

RD5 Round Carbide Cutter - Used primarily for hollowing tools

Uses:

• Smoothing out tool marks left by square cutters.
  
• Creating smooth, rounded interiors on bowls.
  
• Shaping the exteriors of spindles and other projects.
  
• Refining curves and contours.
  
• Shear scraping to produce a very clean finish.

Techniques:

• For general smoothing, hold the tool flat on the tool rest.
  
• For shear scraping, rotate the tool on a 45-degree angle to create a slicing cut.

Advantages:

• Less grabby than square cutters, providing greater control.
  
• Ideal for achieving a clean, smooth finish.

Diamond Point Carbide Cutters: The Detail Masters

Diamond point carbide cutters are designed for intricate work, allowing you to create fine details and precise cuts.

RD4 Diamond Point Cutter

The RD4 Diamond Point Cutter features a slightly rounded point, making it suitable for general detail work.The slightly rounded tip excels at intricate detail work, creating precise coves and rounded grooves in spindle projects.

Uses:

• Creating tenons on bowls.
  
• Cutting small details on spindles.
  
• Shear scraping exterior surfaces.

RD7 Diamond Point Cutter

The RD7 Diamond Point Cutter has a finer, sharper point, enabling even more precise cuts. The tip of the RD7 comes to a very fine point, making it ideal for adding crisp, clean, decorative lines to the foot of a bowl, defining edges of decorative inlays, and producing intricate v-grooves in spindles.

Uses:

• Cutting very fine details.
  
• Creating precise tenons with sharp corners.
  
• Refining intricate shapes.
  
• Excellent for very fine detail work.

Techniques:

• Use a light touch to avoid digging into the wood.
  
• For shear scraping, drop the handle low and hold the tool at a 45-degree angle.

Advantages:

• Allows for highly detailed work.
  
• Ideal for creating clean, sharp edges.
  
• Great for refining small details.

Why Make the Switch?

Whether you’re a seasoned woodturner or just starting, Red Dragon Carbide Cutters offer a compelling combination of quality, affordability, and versatility. By simplifying the woodturning process and delivering consistent results, these cutters can help you elevate your craft and bring your creative visions to life.