Has anybody ever managed to implement an oscillator with 10 MHz crystal and a CMOS inverter? One that really worked.

Could I see that circuit?

It seems that I cannot go further than 4MHz using the 74HC04.

Theory I read a lot but did not found a circuit said to actually work.

 

I don't know the answer. But why not just by a 10Mhz crystal oscillator? Save you some trouble.

http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/ECS-2200BX-100/XC1184-ND/827291

 

Try a 74S04 or 74F04

TTL is faster than CMOS in some cases, though power use is quite high.

Or, use an oscillator with the crystal, inverter, etc. integrated in the 4 pin "can"