Help me spend my money

[Silas Smith]

I recently bought a jet 1442 and here is my dilema. I need to buy some chisels for it and I am not sure the best route to go. I have a $100 rockler gift card burning a hole in my pocket and with their 15% off sale, I am tempted to buy some sorbys. I also know that I want to jump right into bowls so I need a good bowl gouge. I can probably swing another $100 on top of my gift card so I can either spend it all at Rockler or part there and maybe pick up a bowl gouge (3/8 ???) somewhere else. What are your suggestions.

I know I should know better, but part of me wants to buy the harbor freight set and spend the rest on a good bowl gouge and scraper. I'm sure many of you have been down this road and I would appreciate any advice. Thanks

[John Hart]

If it were me Silas...I would get a scraper specially designed for the curve at the bottom of the bowl. That's my biggest headache. ....if it were me!

[John Shuk]

I'd buy the Harbor freight set and get a good bowl gouge and scraper. Packard has some nice tools for good prices and Crown is also a great bowl gouge. Of course there is always the Ellsworth bowl gouge. I can't say that I think it a good starter bowl gouge though. I find it difficult to sharpen properly and there are some advanced cuts that it can do. I have one and I like what it can do but sometimes I'd rather use my traditional 3/8 gouge for the simplicity of it. I think the HF tools will take you a long way into the future for the price of the set. This is all my humble opinion and there are those that wil disagree. I would get a Sorby 3/8 spindle gouge and maybe see if Rockler has the Sorby bowl sander. Both very good tools. Good Luck.
John

[Charles Bjorgen]

Because your lathe will hold bowl blanks close to 14 inches, I'd be inclined to go for a 1/2" bowl gouge and try to shape it with the fingernail profile with the swept back wings. You can do nearly all of your bowl work with this gouge. Rockler handles both Sorby and Crown tools. I'd also add a 3/8" spindle gouge, a bowl scraper as recommended in the last post, and a parting tool. Of course, you'll need sharpening equipment to maintain these tools. A dry grinder with aluminum oxide wheels seems to be the main choice among turners. Of course you'll get a variety of opinions on all of these thoughts.

[John Carr]

I'll second Charles: a 1/2" fingernail grind bowl gouge will do the vast majority of your bowl work.

[RL Johnson]

I agree with John and Charles. I have both the 3/8" and 1/2" Sorby bowl gouge that I purchased from Rockler and the 1/2" is used by me most of the time. And I only have a Jet minilathe. I like the feel and heft of the 1/2" over the 3/8" gouge especially if you go any depth into the bowl.

[Bill Esposito]

If it were me Silas...I would get a scraper specially designed for the curve at the bottom of the bowl. That's my biggest headache. ....if it were me!
Here you go John, works great. Bowl Scraper (http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=100125&Category_Code=)

[Silas Smith]

I bought a sorby 3/8 bowl gouge and a flat and round sorby scraper. I also ordered the HF set to turn on. I noticed that alot of you recommended the 1/2 though, should I call Rockler and change it? Also, should I get the fingernail grind or the regular? Can I start with the regular and then change the grind on the gouge? Just when I thought I was getting a hold of this woodworking thing, I had to step into this puddle.

[John Hart]

Hey!! That's it's! Thanks Bill...I just may have to order that.:) Silas...Can I borrow your Gift Card please?:rolleyes:

[Bill Esposito]

I'd have to second (or third) the 1/2" bowl gouge like the Sorby (5/8" if you decide on Henry Taylor, P&N, or any other american sized gouge).

Something not in the HF set that you need is an 1/8" diamond parting tool. The Sorby is way over priced. I bought one at Sears for like 18 bucks.

A thin (1/16") parting tool like this (http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=103336&Category_Code=) is quite handy as well.

In the HF set I use the parting tool, the roughing gouges, the spindle gouge. I ground the scraper to a round nose but the scraper is just too thin to use on anything big. I put a new handle and a Lacer grind on the big skew, but again the thickness of the chisel is an issue.

Just picked up a P&N bowl gouge. Havent used it yet but seems worth the $28. I own some Packardwoodworks tools and they are quite good (material thickness) for the price.

[John Shuk]

Silas,
You can change the grind all you want once you get the technique down. That is the beauty of the HF set also. You have good steel there so do whatever you like with it. By the way the HF tools are coated in a laquer to keep from rusting. You need to clean that off before you use them or if it heats up it will get a little sticky. I used denatured alcohol and it worked fine. You'll want to break the edges on the bottoms of the skew chisels a bit as well. I like that little 1/4 spindle gouge it is pretty nice. Good Luck with the new tools.
John

[Harry Pye]

Take a look at what Penn State Industries has to offer. They have one of those 1/16" parting tools, though they call it a tenoning tool for $9.95. They also have an awesome 1 1/2" round nose scraper for $22.50. This dude is over 1/4" thick. They are both High Speed Steel. I have each of these tools and like them both. No affiliation with Penn State, etc, etc.

[John Shuk]

Take a look at what Penn State Industries has to offer. They have one of those 1/16" parting tools, though they call it a tenoning tool for $9.95. They also have an awesome 1 1/2" round nose scraper for $22.50. This dude is over 1/4" thick. They are both High Speed Steel. I have each of these tools and like them both. No affiliation with Penn State, etc, etc.
The Penn State tools branded Benjaman's Best seem to be made in the same place the HF tools are made. I have the 2 inch roughing gouge and I like it alot. For the cost of them you would have a hard time just buying the steel.