Where to purchase tools?

[Kevin J Lalonde]

I've been using my neighbors tools to turn bowls up till this point. Does anyone know where the cheapest store or online site to purchase turning tools? I'm familiar with packard and woodcraft. Seems as if packard is cheaper than the other. Thanks for the replies and Happy Thanksgiving.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Kevin I found that cheaper is not always better but also know how it is starting out. I have a lot of Thompson Tools and for the money I don't think they can be beat. They stay sharp longer than most tools I have. Just google Thompson Lathe Tools.

[Sid Matheny]

I started out with PSI's tools.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/woodturning-tools.html

Sid

[Steve Schlumpf]

Kevin - you didn't state what you are turning and that does make a difference in what tools you will want to buy.

In any case, check these sites out as they do run sales on their tools:
http://www.hartvilletool.com/category/547
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Turning_Tools?Args=
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35444

Hope that helps!

[Billy Tallant]

Rocklers has a Black Friday sale on. 6-pc Sorby Tool Set for $149. Limit of 1 per customer. The only drawback is there is a minimum of 5 per store. Could be more depending on the store. Not sure if there is a Rocklers near your location though. I'm debating on whether I want to crawl out of bed early enough & drive a little over an hour to get there by 7AM.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've purchased tools from this site and found their prices good and their service excellent.... http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/turning_tools.htm

[Ryan Baker]

Rocklers has a Black Friday sale on. 6-pc Sorby Tool Set for $149. Limit of 1 per customer. The only drawback is there is a minimum of 5 per store. Could be more depending on the store. Not sure if there is a Rocklers near your location though. I'm debating on whether I want to crawl out of bed early enough & drive a little over an hour to get there by 7AM.

Interesting. Their website lists that special as online only. But you can order it from home right now without waiting.

[Dean Jones]

Kevin,

I'm just a beginner but I bought a whole set of tools from Harbor Freight for ten bucks and then bought one good bowl gouge from Woodcraft for about $50.00 and it's served me well for what I'm doing.
If I had more money that probably wouldn't be the case.....

[alex carey]

+1 for pennstate industries. Generally the tools are a bit cheaper, quality seems pretty good though.

[Jeff Springer]

I bought my first set of tools from Sears and then expanded from there.

[Kirk Miller]

Kevin,
Personally I reccomend the HF set. It will give you the opportunity to decide which tools you like the best. After that shop around and start replacing HF with quality tools. I highly encourage looking at a handle system where you can replace the tool in the handle. I just got my first one and love it. I can't wait to buy more tools for it.

[Harlan Coverdale]

I started with the HF HSS set, moved up to PSI gouges, then to Thompson gouges. In the end I would have saved money going directly to the Thompsons.

[Wes Henson]

I've been using the Penn State Industries tools with very good results. As a beginner I was afraid to ruin a "good" tool. With a $20 gouge you can experiment on the profile and not feel bad about how much metal you are grinding away. Some day I'll upgrade to better tools but for now I've been very happy with these.