quite possibly the silliest question you will read today... :)

[Gordon Thompson]

When you buy turning tools, are they already sharpened??

I bought a set of pen turner tools, from woodcraft, wood river brand...

Does one need to sharpen new tools? I haven't touched a turning tool since the 7th grade, and don't know how sharp they are supposed to be. The don't feel particularily sharp, wont cut skin, unless I stab :)

thanks!

[Chris Rae]

Yes, they need to be sharpened. I personally have never seen a new tool that didn't need sharpening before being used.
Chris

[Jim Becker]

Yup...they need sharpened when you buy 'em and frequently thereafter... :)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've even bought some that advertised they were sharpened. They didn't meet the standards I am used to......

[Gordon Thompson]

thanks!

guess i get to try my hand at the grinder earlier than I thought :D

[Allen Neighbors]

I agree. They all need to be sharpened first...
Except Doug Thompson's gouges. They're ready to fly!

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree tools have to be sharpened except for Thompson tools.

[Ryan Baker]

They all need to be sharpened. I just got three new Thompsons. The first one I looked at had a very wierd lopsided grind on it (must have been the one that slipped through the cracks). Haven't looked closely at the others yet. Doesn't matter since I plan to put an Irish grind on it anyway.

[Bill Wyko]

Funny this came up. I've been sharpening all my Crown tools for the last 2 hours.:D

[Don Carter]

Gordon:
The only tools that I have ever bought needs to sharpened except for Christmas I got a Doug Thompson detail gouge. It was so sharp you could split a frog's hair with it.;)
All the best.

Don

[Curt Fuller]

Gordon:
The only tools that I have ever bought needs to sharpened except for Christmas I got a Doug Thompson detail gouge. It was so sharp you could split a frog's hair with it.;)
All the best.

Don

I was about to post this same answer. My 3/8 spindle gouge from Thompson was very sharpened. And it even had the shape I like. But, some places like craftsupplies will send your tools sharpened for a few extra bucks. And although they are sharp, they're seldom the shape of grind you are used to.

[Jim Kountz]

All I have bought needed sharpened except again for the Thompson tools. Fact the gouge I got for Christmas was ready to go out of the box and still doesnt need it yet!!

[Michael Gibbons]

I went to the Woodworking Show last month and bought a skew from Craft Supplies. Even though it didn't have the radius like the Raffan skew has, they profiled and sharpened it for me while I watched. And it didn't cost any extra. The gentleman who took care of me was Kirk DeHeer who is an instructor at Craft Supplies. His sharpening looked like it was done on a machine it was so precise...

[Keith Christopher]

In general for 98% of the tools I would say yes. The only ones I have found I didn't need to sharpen were my Lie Nielsen hand planes.

[Peter Rudy]

IMHO you are missing 50% of the tools value if you do not carefully sharpen your new tools.

And, even Lie Nielsen planes (and chisels) need "some" work before use. I have been fortunate to be around when more than 20 L-N planes have been opened from their factory pouches. To get what you are paying for, each plane needed to have the backs of the iron flattened and each needed a bevel and hand honing. (Same with Vertitas LV)

The difference, in my opinion, is the amount of work it takes to fully realize a L-N plane's benefits. Flattening an iron on a L-N can take minutes -- and you can start with a 4000 waterstone. A vintage Stanley iron can take hours and Groz - takes more time than I have.

I have used a L-N out of the box without any sharpening (a low angle block). Yes, it worked, but... After some cleaning, a little work on the back up to 8000, a nice micro bevel, careful reassembly and adjustment - it was a rock star.

I have seen too many new, high quality tools criticized for poor performance or "not worth the money" when the problem was that the owner either did not sharpen/prepare the tool at all or sharpened it badly.