Whilst 'carbide tool' has become the banded around phrase of recent years, there are many variation and they should be considered in light of the task in hand before you take the plunge.
Carbide cutters (of the flat/slab variety) mounted on a square section bar, originating from the US are ideal for use on acrylics and resins, where there is no worry about grain tear out or fibre disturbance, they also work well on denser tropical timbers, rather than our domestic ones.
Where flat/slab cutters can be rotated to give a sheer cut, these perform much better on our domestic timbers, which are otherwise prone to grain tear and opening of the Xylem and Phloem in the timber structure.
On the other side of the fence are the 'profiled' cutters, so named because they have a profiled edge which give a true cutting action. These are found on the Hunter and Jimmy Clewes tools, and will give a finish much more akin to the of a gouge, however they are not ideally suited to man made materials such as acrylics and resins for the same reasons traditional gouges struggle. That sad, the range of Hunter tools really do excel in hollowing our and working on end grain projects and come in a variety of formats to suit a myriad of situations. Our tool bags wouldn't be without one or two.
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