Turning Tools

[Chris Fitzpatrick]

Hello , I'm new to turning & I'm getting a space ready for my Nova lathe. I see Woodcraft is offering an 8 piece high-speed steel turning set for approx $150, reduced for $229. Anyone have experience with these? Would they be good tools or just a waste? I have no turning tools yet...

Thanks, appreciate the feedback.

Chris

[David Christopher]

Hello , I'm new to turning & I'm getting a space ready for my Nova lathe. I see Woodcraft is offering an 8 piece high-speed steel turning set for approx $150, reduced for $229. Anyone have experience with these? Would they be good tools or just a waste? I have no turning tools yet...

Thanks, appreciate the feedback.

Chris

Chris, I think it would be smart to look at the HF tools. they are good quility tools and a lot cheaper.. and you could save enough money to buy a sharpening jig ( if you dont have one ) I would hate to mess up big dollar tools because of no jig......and after a while of turning you will know which tools you like and can buy individual tools of a higher quality

[Burt Alcantara]

You are probably going to get a lot of posts that basically say the same thing so I'll be first.

Buy the Woodcraft's slow speed grinder.

Buy the new Wolverine sharpening system. I'd recommend the Nova system over the Wolverine but I'm not sure if it's available for retail. The newer Wolverine will keep you on the wheel and most likely get you up and running much faster.

The only turning tool set to buy is the +$35 set from Harbor Freight. This will give you something to practice your sharpening on. Once you are able to get an acceptable edge on your gouges, then you'll be ready to step up to better tools. But don't buy sets of any kind, especially steak knives.

The latest "best buy" in tools is Thompson Tools (http://http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/).

Learn to resist the Song of the Siren (chainsaw OK)...aka...The Vortex. You will be lured into buying everything in sight, taking out a 4th mortgage, selling your children & pets, but ya gotta have that 2000# 80" swing lathe with hoist and trailer truck...just this once..............

You are doomed!
Burt

[David Walser]

Chris,

When you're starting out you might want to get an inexpensive "starter set". The one offered by Woodcraft may be of exceptional quality and therefore a good value, but it's not inexpensive. Many of us on the Creek started out with one of the inexpensive sets from Harbor Freight or PSI. If you will be turning bowls, you'll need to add an inexpensive bowl gouge to the HF sets. Some of the PSI sets come with a bowl gouge. Below, I'll add a link to the HF set(s) many of us started out with.

Why inexpensive instead of paying more for quality? Because one of the most difficult things every new turner needs to learn is how to sharpen his own tools. This may require a lot of trial and error and "wasting" a lot of steel. For most of us, it's easier to grind away on a "cheap" tool than it is on an expensive tool.

For spindle turning, the HF starter sets contain everything you'll need. For bowls, you'll need to add a bowl gouge. The next tools to add will depend on what you're turning. My first additions were a "heavy scraper" for use on bowls, a "thin" parting tool, and a "point tool". That was me, YMMV. By the way, even though I've started to add "quality" tools to my collection. I still use my HF tools on virtually every turning.

Here's a link to the HF sets:http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35444
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47066

Of the two sets, most agree the dark handled set is the better set. (Some of the tools are a little larger.) The dark handled set does not come on sale nearly as often, but one of HF's 20% off coupons makes it a very good value.

[Roger Wilson]

Penn State Industries also sells relatively inexpensive gouges and sets. Take a look at this one.


http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCHSS8.html

[Chris Fitzpatrick]

Wow , you guys are fast. Thanks, I will buy the cheaper set & learn how to sharpen them 1st! I didn't realize the chaeper ones were worth considering.

[Wally Dickerman]

I'm going to disagree with most of the posts. I don't believe that buying tools in a set is the way to go. Especially the real cheap sets. There will always be tools in a set that you seldom or never use. I think that it's better to buy higher quality tools as you find that you need them.

Craft Supplies sells Artisan tools made by Henry Taylor that are a bit lower priced but are quality M2 high speed steel. I recommend them to students in my classes.

IMO the best tool you can buy today are the Thompson tools. They come unhandled, which will give the opportunity to get some spindle turning practice. Or you can buy handles from CS or others

It's not that difficult to learn to properly sharpen turning tools. Especially if you invest in a jig such as the Wolverine. I still have a few seldom used carbon steel tools that I bought in a set 60 years ago.

Wally

[Gary Max]

Chris----I own that 8 piece set you are talking about------Good tools.

[Robert Parrish]

Chris, start with the cheap HF 8 piece set which is currently $59. I just received a set Saturday to practice sharpening with on my new Wolverine jig and they are not bad. As others have said buy the Wolverine Jig and the slow speed grinder from Woodcraft. Add more expensive tools as your turning improves. I have the skew chisels from Alan Lacer but didn't want to practice sharpening on a new jig with them. Don't buy the Delta 6" VS grinder as they won't work with the Wolverine jig without major .

[Mike Stephens]

I'm going to disagree with most of the posts. I don't believe that buying tools in a set is the way to go. Especially the real cheap sets. There will always be tools in a set that you seldom or never use. I think that it's better to buy higher quality tools as you find that you need them.

Craft Supplies sells Artisan tools made by Henry Taylor that are a bit lower priced but are quality M2 high speed steel. I recommend them to students in my classes.

IMO the best tool you can buy today are the Thompson tools. They come unhandled, which will give the opportunity to get some spindle turning practice. Or you can buy handles from CS or others

It's not that difficult to learn to properly sharpen turning tools. Especially if you invest in a jig such as the Wolverine. I still have a few seldom used carbon steel tools that I bought in a set 60 years ago.

Wally

I am a relatively new turner. So knowing that I have to say that I agree with Wally.

[Scott Hackler]

I third that. I bought a set of 6 Sorby tools and I can tell you that a couple of them dont get used at all and after I recently bought individual tools (again Sorby), there is a giant difference in the massive size and build of the individual tools. If I had to do it all over again, I would have purchased all of mine separately AS NEEDED. I (not knowing any better) went with Sorby because I believed they were or are close to the best. There are some other makers out there that make fine tools as well.

I would also like to say something about buying quality tools FIRST. I had turned with an el cheapo gouge a few years back and I can tell you there IS a difference. Had I bought a cheap set to go with my new Nova, I dont think I would be enjoying it nearly as much. The right tool for the right job. just my .02, and I am pretty new to the vortex.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

A lot of Thompson tool users really snob the R Sorbys, but, I will say that they ARE good tools. Expensive and/or overpriced most definetely, but they are very good tools. Some are not so useful. Don't buy it for the name. They make a lot of gimmicky tools. Easy beader, texture tool etc.

My .02 would be to buy the cheapo HF set, which is a really good set considering 40 bucks shipped to your door. Use them all, and find out what you "like" to use. Some like skews and some like gouges. Whatever you prefer, that's where I'd plink down the money. Whether you buy the Thompsons or go with the Sorbys and spend a little more, up to you. There are others out there too. Oneway makes tools that are really expensive. Don't know how they compare to the Thompsons.

[Ryan Baker]

I agree with Wally.

I will go against most on here and say to stay far away from the HF set. I was looking at those the other day in the store and in my opinion they are complete crap. The handles are unuseable. I'm not too fond of the PSI tools either, but they are at least a workable piece of steel. Cheap tools are always a bad investment in the long run.

I also don't think that buying sets is usually a good idea, because (like router bit sets) they often have tools you will almost never use and not have the ones you need. Figure out what type of turning you want to do (spindles, bowls, etc.) and buy a few good quality tools for that need. Then you can add more tools as needed.

There are a lot of inexpensive, good quality M2 HSS tools out there. Artisans are good. Henry Taylors are good, etc. Thompsons are top notch at a good price. Sorby gouges are great too, and not that overpriced if you get them on a good sale. Lots of choices.

The Woodcraft (Wood River) tools (as in the set I think you are referring to) are actually pretty darn good tools at a good price. I have a number of those and am very pleased with all of them.

3/8 spindle gouge, skew, 1/8 parting tool, maybe a 3/4 spindle roughing gouge, 1/2 bowl gouge and you are ready to rock for quite a while before you need much more (unless you start hollowing).

[Bernie Weishapl]

I bought the same set as Roger Wilson posted. I still use them today. Great set and has all you need to get started including a bowl gouge.

[Doug Thompson]

Chris, first of all welcome to the site. It's tough to start from nothing but all of us started the same way so we know what your going through. You need a set of tools just to start a collection... most woodturners are tool collectors.

I too agree with Wally, the tools from England are much better than the tools from HF... even the lower cost tools. Sets are a waste because most tools in a set won't be used... period. It's a wonder anyone could even turn with some of the tools in a set. Stay away from gimmicks, the fact is one bowl gouge will turn a bowl start to finish and spindles need only a couple tools. Woodturning is a skill that is learned so take the time in the beginning to get the basic skills under your belt... buy a video, take a class or find your local club to speed this learning process along.

As you get better at this you will find a difference in the steels it's like going from a compact car to a full size.

The next thread you need to start is what tools do you use the most.

[Chris Fitzpatrick]

Thank you all for your input. It's great to see so many people respond so fast.

[jason lambert]

How I got started was I bought a used set maybe 20 pieces from a fellow turner. The ones I found I used allot like the 5/8 bowl guage, parting tool, scraper. I basically used once or twice in the set and then went out and got Tohmson tools and monster/oneway handles. Never looked back.

Woodcraft slow speed grinder is the best bang for the buck and I have never had any issues sharpening with the jigs. Also get a fine dimond hone thingee or stone to tuch up the tools when using. I tuch them up about 5-10 times before I totally resharpen it is much faster and saves allot of metal.

[Trevor Walsh]

We have a beater set of HF lathe tools for foams in the school shop. They are horrible crap, that steel is not HSS and they aren't hardened right whatever it is. We have tools that have bent 20 degrees out of flat, granted the kid had a lot of overhang from the tool rest, but that shouldn't happen with an HSS tool.

[Dave Fritz]

Being a relative new comer I'd say all the advice is a possible direction. As someone previously mentioned you don't have to buy everything that shines. I had a tendency to think a new tool or new sharpening method will solve the problem of inexperience. Sadly we change grinds and techniques so much we end up frustrated and owning a pile of "stuff" that now sits in a drawer or on the shelf. Work with whatever you get and learn good tool technique. It's taking me a bit to even learn what questions to ask. (Like when I coached wrestling and told the boys, do that move 1,000 times and you'll begin to figure out how it's supposed to work.)

Personally I check out CD's from our club and watch different turners work. Join a club and find someone that does work you admire and see if they'll take you under their wing. Keep up on several boards like this and ask questions. Just don't get sucked into thinking if you buy this or that you'll be a great turner. Been there, done that.

Dave F.

[phil harold]

I have Benjamin Best, Sorby and Thompson
and a bunch of old carbon steel
I still use my Benjamin Best some times even over the Sorby but I love my Thompsons!

[Thom Sturgill]

This is an old thread, but a good one and perhaps worth adding a comment to. Its easy to see that turners fall into two camps on buying starter tools. By a set and never buy sets. I would tend to fall in the latter, with the possible exception that a SMALL set of better name tools might not be a bad purchase. Let me tell a tale - years ago I worked in my dad's guitar shop and often heard him tell prospective buyers to buy a better guitar rather than a cheap one. Why? Simple, fisrt, the better guitar would keep its price and could be resold for a good price if taken care of while the cheap one would be trash. But thats not the point that matters here,. the second point was that with a cheap guitar a learner would not be able to make it sound good and would likely give up before they ever learned the basic skills, and that point I think applies.

Like many, and using advice found here, I bought the HF tool set. I found I used less than half of them. I took a class in spindle turning and took one of the gouges that I used with me along with a couple of better gouges. I took it so try out any new grinds before reshaping my Thompson or Sorby gouges. When I had trouble using the new grind, the instructor came over and said my tool was too dull. Now learning WHEN to sharpen had always been a problem. Getting a good edge when I did sharpen usually has not been a problem. When the instructor could not get it to take and keep an edge, I realized that part of my problem had been the cheap tools rather than my technique. The ONLY one of that set that I still use regularly is the small skew and I use it only to set the angle on dovetail tenons.
Of course YMMV, but I don't think my experience was that unique if more turners really thought about WHEN they had problems in terms of which tool (and its quality) they were using when the problem occurred. Now I'm not saying that a better tool will MAKE you a better turner, but rather that it will ALLOW you to become a better turner, you still have to put in the practice, get the training, and develop the eye for what you are doing.