Any Wood Turning Guru's out here? I got a question?

[Garrett Brumit]

I am just starting out on wood turning, actually haven't even started, lol
I have the Lathe before the Turning tools, sorta like the cart before the horse..:D
1 - what Turning tools do I need? ( I see deals where they sell individually or by the package, which ones do I really need?

I want to try my luck on turning pens and bowls..

I have a Delta 12 Inch lathe on a stand..

On the tools for the pen turning I see all sorts of little gadgets they sell for making them, what gadgets do I need??

Thx for you help

[phil harold]

be carefull the spinning wood causes money to fly out of wallet...

these guys will help you spend your money

http://sawmillcreek.org/forumdisplay.php?f=20

[Paul Douglass]

If you go to Pennstate Industries website, they have a free DVD on pen turning. It has a lot of info and the price is right. Also go to Internation Association of Penterners website. There is more info and help there than you will ever need.

And Phil is correct, get your wallet out.

[Garrett Brumit]

Just more money for me to spend, lol

thx everyone for the info

[Gary Herrmann]

Think about what you want to turn. Spindles, bowls, pens, hollowforms. That will guide you toward tools. Post this on the turning forum and you'll get lots of responses.

[Jeff Willard]

Start with a good book. Turning Wood by Richard Raffin is a good place to begin. Nothing in there about pens, but spindle turning principles apply there. After that, there is an abundance of pen-specific info out there, both in print, and on the 'net.

[John Grabowski]

actually...HF has a nice set of HSS that is like 70 for a nice set. plus a 20 percent coupon. I also recommend penturners.org for lots of tutorials and vids.I prefer to see it happen rather than read about it...so I like videos. I borrowed those from my old turning club. youtube is a great place to learn to.enjoy,John G

[Karl Card]

I started out with an inexpensive set "benjamens best" from penn state and they are just that, starting out tools. I know am looking for a set of robert sorby tools and then there are some tools that can only be gotten indiidually. One thing I have found out is this, the softer the metal the more you will be sharpening. I dont mean just once a day or week i mean once an hour or less. This is true especially if you get into bowl turning.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

You'll get a lot more responses on the turner forum. I got the Harbor Freight cheapo set, a surprisingly good value. 40 bucks shipped to your door. It does not have a bowl gouge. The bowl gouge is your workhorse, invest in a good one. A Sorby is available at your local toy store. The turners really love the Doug Thopson gouges, but you'll need to turn your own handle. That is a good starter project.

If you want to turn bowls, a chuck is highly reccomended. There is a good chuck thread on the turner forum right now.

A highly reccomended bowl DVD is Bill Grumbine's bowl turning DVD. He actually has 2, they're both very good.

[James Combs]

As far as good books on the subject, found ones that look good and then bought the used on Amazon.com. Purchase several that way on everything from pen turning to concrete block laying. Paid $0.01 for one plus $3.98 shipping. So far they have all looked like new books that I might have been using for a few days. i.e. a dog eared page here and there. I mainly have worked on pens and for tools I purchase a set of three chisels that are intended for that purpose however I do have a full set of larger tools that so far are unused. As some one above said, figure out what your going to be turning and that will determine the tools you need. If it is mostly pens you will need a drill press, drills, and a pen press. I use my drill press as my pen press too. Good luck on you new "hobby" and happy turning.

[Bob Hallowell]

I having been turning for 5 or so years and for Spindle tools I have both sets of the hf ones. You can't go wrong, buy one of theses sets and then buy some bowl gouges from thompson tools.

Bob

[Bernie Weishapl]

When I started some 4 or 5 yrs ago this is the set I purchased. http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCHSS8.html You get a bowl gouge, spindle gouge and other tools you will use.

Figured they were cheap enough and I could get my sharpening skills up with tools that were cheap before I started buying expensive ones. I still use most if not all of these tools today. I do have a lot of Thompson Tools and they are really good tools. Get the free Pen Turning DVD from PSI also as someone said earlier. It will give you most of what you need for pen turning. For pen turning I agree with joining penturners.org. Lots of info in their library. If you want to do bowls I agree Bill Grumbines Turned Bowls Made Easy is probably the best I have seen. A good sharpening station will be needed such as Woodcrafts slow speed grinder and I would recommend the wolverine jig for consistent sharpening.

[Mike Minto]

garrett, it's not really 'cart before the horse' - you gotta have both, neither is much good without the other - and having the lathe first gives you an idea of the scale of tool you will be using ;).

[Garrett Brumit]

garrett, it's not really 'cart before the horse' - you gotta have both, neither is much good without the other - and having the lathe first gives you an idea of the scale of tool you will be using ;).

I want to thank all of you for such a wide variety of help, I visited Penn site and amazon, bought the starter kit, 10 lbs of blanks ( lol ) figured I might need extra for screw ups...
Bought a 3 piece turning set from Penn just for pen turning, 20 different kinds of pen kits, signed up for a pen turning class from Highland, but its not until next sat...
I have the money and the time, unfortunately no one lives near me to sorta guide me so all of you will be my guide.......lord help ya :eek:

Bowls and Pens, I gotta learn how to make them, they look so purrdy..

Again thx for all your help....

Garrett

[Jeff Willard]

...figured I might need extra for screw ups...


Got chainsaw? :eek:

[Garrett Brumit]

Got chainsaw? :eek:

lol:D
Good thing I buttered my wife up buying her another horse lastweek,

when she see's my order arrive at the house

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Hey! I don't know you personally and you probably don't know much about the field yet. So, anything that I can tell you comes from my own experience... which is not as extensive as the one of some other fellow turners here but I'll do my best!

If you want to grasp and idea of this big field, you can grab a book from Marlow or Raffan to see the different disciplines and what you'd like to do. This would keep you oriented. As far as learning, you require lot's of practice.... I've learned best from classes, then from videos and at the end from books.... but practice is the key.

Pen turning is easier to learn and gratifying from the begging. You'll start getting friends and family amused very fast with your creations. And they are useful. I agree with the advise of the free CD from Penn State industries. It's really good and you can't go wrong. I also bough the pen making handbook from Barry Gross.

Then, you could try some spindle turning. It's the next logical step in your growth.

After that, bowl and hollowing turning requires more skills, money, tools. patience and perseverance. (It's was really gratifying when I made my first bowl!....) Just don't go to any convenience store after wards 'cause you'll find Chinese ones for a buck!!!!!

Then, you'll try to find your own voice.... but that's another story...!

Just my 2 cents!!!! Good luck in your journey and enjoy the ride!!!!

[Garrett Brumit]

Hey! I don't know you personally and you probably don't know much about the field yet. So, anything that I can tell you comes from my own experience... which is not as extensive as the one of some other fellow turners here but I'll do my best!

If you want to grasp and idea of this big field, you can grab a book from Marlow or Raffan to see the different disciplines and what you'd like to do. This would keep you oriented. As far as learning, you require lot's of practice.... I've learned best from classes, then from videos and at the end from books.... but practice is the key.

Pen turning is easier to learn and gratifying from the begging. You'll start getting friends and family amused very fast with your creations. And they are useful. I agree with the advise of the free CD from Penn State industries. It's really good and you can't go wrong. I also bough the pen making handbook from Barry Gross.

Then, you could try some spindle turning. It's the next logical step in your growth.

After that, bowl and hollowing turning requires more skills, money, tools. patience and perseverance. (It's was really gratifying when I made my first bowl!....) Just don't go to any convenience store after wards 'cause you'll find Chinese ones for a buck!!!!!

Then, you'll try to find your own voice.... but that's another story...!

Just my 2 cents!!!! Good luck in your journey and enjoy the ride!!!!

Yes I can see it will be very addicting, I've watch a retired gentleman make pens and bowls and it just amazing me what you can create out of a piece of wood, I make furniture for a hobby and have always enjoyed working with wood, the turning has always intrigued me and I just have to learn it, I've ordered the free cd from Penn and setup classes for the pen and bowl turning, I just hope my wood shop doesnt turn out too be my dog house once my wife see's all the new toys I'll have to buy:rolleyes: she's already scratching her head at the jointer and shaper wondering what on earth I needed that for :D
If it means buying her another horse I guess its a small price to pay for what a man must do to please his wife:cool:
thx again and one day I hope to post a pic or 2 of my creations

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Just don't go to any convenience store after wards 'cause you'll find Chinese ones for a buck!!!!!


They come from other places too. I saw a really nice monkeypod 12" bowl from Indonesia for 5 bucks at the *mart store. Pretty depressing. Monkeypod is such nice wood too. Hard to sell monkeypod bowls when you can go to the local *mart and buy one for less money than I spend on gas for my chainsaw.:eek: