How Expensive is Turning

[Rich Riddle]

Dad just purchased a decent lathe to start turning some projects and indicated some of the items used in turning can cost a bit. Just how expensive is turning?

[Dennis Ford]

There is no accurate answer to your question. If you search you tube, there are turners using home made machines and home made tooling and others using $10,000 lathes, high quality chucks and powder metal gouges. Both are wood-turners although the size and quantity of their turnings differ greatly.

In general it is much less expensive than bass fishing and only costs as much as you have.

[Brian Kent]

round figure, same amount as the lathe.
Sharpening system and free wood are necessities.

[Thomas Canfield]

Turning projects also can cover a vary wide range for simple pens kits at $3 and free wood to $40+ kits and very exotic wood/blanks to turning large pieces of exotic woods. Getting in touch with a local turning club is a good way to look at different types of turning and also get some training. Turning can be very relaxing when turning just for the fun of it, and there are a lot of nice turners out there that are very willing to share their experience.

[Wayne Kuhn]

Well you need a lathe, turning tools, at minimum a spindle roughing gouge, spindle gouge, parting tool. A grinder to sharpen and preferably a jig for repeatabilty while sharpening. For bowls a faceplate, a chuck and bowl gouge. consumables such as screws, sandpaper and finishes. Everything else is icing on the cake.

[Dan Masshardt]

I've spent quite a bit on turning stuff but I've paid for the vast majority of it by selling turnings.

[Marvin Hasenak]

It al depends on how well you know your lathe and how to use it. There are a lot of "accessories" today that are ne won the market within the last 20 to 30 years. You do not need them, but you will soon want them. It is up the individual to control their spending habit with new tools.

[Tom Brouillette]

They don't call it "The Vortex" for nothing. I have easily matched the cost of my lathe (Nova 1624) with accessories, tools, and ancillary equipment that I had no idea I needed (okay - wanted, but I convinced my wife I needed them). I could easily match the number again in the next year, but I can tell you I've never enjoyed something so much in my life.

[John Keeton]

It would seem that after awhile, one finds an equilibrium with what they enjoy turning and that affects the "need" for new tools and accessories. I have been turning for 6 years, and the urge to acquire has faded. I still occasionally buy a new gouge, inexpensive gadget, etc., but the need or desire for more expensive acquisitions seems to have leveled off. That isn't to say that I haven't spent more than the cost of the lathe, but most of that occurred in the first 3-4 years as I was exploring the various avenues of turning. There was also the two lathe upgrades, ending up with the Jet 1642-2. Had I simply started there, my outlay would have been $6-700 less. That would be my primary suggestion - buy a decent size lathe to begin with, and you will not spend needless money on accessories that may not transfer to a larger lathe.

[William C Rogers]

$$$$$ The more you learn the more you spend. Basic is the lathe, a sharpening system and some chisels. I started turning pens on a midi lathe. Great fun as you could finish one in less than an hour. Then I turned a projects such as pepper mills small vases. Think of lathe chisels as saw blades, but many different choices. I easily have over $500"in just a few Sorby chisels. Now I am just learning to turn bowls. Bigger lathe, more chisels. I do all kinds of wood working from building cabinets to making cutting boards. Turning gives me the most satisfaction. I wish I could spend more.

[Prashun Patel]

"round figure, same amount as the lathe."

I agree with Brian (and applaud his pun).

You'll go nuts trying to pin a number down, and still be way off.

No matter what you turn, you'll probably NEED about 3 tools, each costing between $20 and $100. But you'll probably WANT another 3-5 for embellishments or for different sized objects, or just because!

The big reason this is a moot exercise is because as a new turner there are a million accessories you don't know you don't "need". Sharpening wheels, tool rests, gouge grinding jigs - and that's just sharpening.

I felt like I was learning a new, expensive language when I figured out what steady rests, hollowing 'rigs', live centers, scroll chucks and pin jaws were.

And don't even get me started on CBN

The awesome thing about turning is that it's incrementally expensive. You can do a lot with a very basic, inexpensive set of tools and accessories (let's call that number $200). From there, you can improve things marginally with "little" $50, $100 upgrades over years. So, while it puts a leak in your bucket, it's a slow leak. Feel better? I don't, either...

[Brian Myers]

As expensive as your bank account will allow

[Dan Hintz]

How expensive is a car?

You can buy a Yugo and be happy with it until it dies. You can buy a Ferrari and double the price tricking it out with all kinds of doodads.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

3 tools, and 3-5 more for embellishments?

nonsense! I'm one tool away from greatness! now...which one should I buy next?

it's very easy to acquire more and more tools - especially if you're like me and want to turn a wide variety of things and each one might need that "one" special tool to do the job. Sure - you can use tools for more than one type of cut - but if that "one" tool can do it faster, cleaner, and with less sanding...what's another $50?

[Robert Henrickson]

It would seem that after awhile, one finds an equilibrium with what they enjoy turning and that affects the "need" for new tools and accessories. I have been turning for 6 years, and the urge to acquire has faded. I still occasionally buy a new gouge, inexpensive gadget, etc., but the need or desire for more expensive acquisitions seems to have leveled off. That isn't to say that I haven't spent more than the cost of the lathe, but most of that occurred in the first 3-4 years as I was exploring the various avenues of turning. There was also the two lathe upgrades, ending up with the Jet 1642-2. Had I simply started there, my outlay would have been $6-700 less. That would be my primary suggestion - buy a decent size lathe to begin with, and you will not spend needless money on accessories that may not transfer to a larger lathe.

All very good advice. It can be very easy to spend money. “One tool away from greatness” is a byword, although in practice it often seems to be one more, one more.

Exploring various types of turning can incur added expense, but the exploration is a good idea. Where you start turning may not interest you ultimately. If you try alternatives, you may well encounter something else which is much more appealing.

My zigzag path might be illustrative. A traditional spindlework turning I encountered in a museum collection where I worked initially piqued my interest in the idea of turning. Unfortunately it seemed very complex, so the idea went to the backburner; I did collect information on the craft. It was, however, roughly 20 years before I even bought a mini lathe; I soon bought a larger lathe (Jet 1642). Even when I started turning, it not spindlework but rather bowls, lidded boxes, then hollow forms, plates, etc. Those are among the common sorts of things beginners tend to try. I have to admit that pens, peppermills, and various other things often turned have never interested me, even though they are spindle turning. In eight years of turning, I have made only one pen but two baseball bats, several footstools, and a chair! I will likely turn another couple bats for my grandson and a chair, but I’m not sure I’ll ever do another pen.

It was several years before I did much spindle turning, yet it was that sort of turning which had first intrigued me. Eventually I decided to try what had grabbed my attention all those years ago. Over the past 4 years, that has become a primary focus in my turning, with various ideas spinning off. I’ve discovered an interest in the history of turning, and traditional turning. But I still turn many bowls, plates, and other things.