Your 4 favorite turning tools...

[Charles Craven]

Hello everyone,
I'm sure a post simular to mine has been asked before, but I'd like to ask again.

If you could only have 4 tools to turn with, what would they be and why?

Thank you in advance for all your reply post.

[John Keeton]

1/4" Thompson detail gouge - great for fine spindle work, such as finials.
3/8" Thompson detail gouge - I use this for all kinds of things - spindle details, as well as detailing work on vessels.
3/8" Thompson V bowl gouge - great for small coves and profiles on vessels.
1/2" D-Way bowl gouge - my work horse gouge. I don't do large pieces or production, so I have no need for a 5/8".

The Thompson tools are the 10V.

[Prashun Patel]

1/2" Thompson U Bowl gouge (I'm impartial to U or V)
1/4" Thompson detail gouge
1/2" flat scraper. Does some things the others don't.
parting tool. tenons and some detail work.

The truth is, these are the tools I own, so I've come to make them work, and have fallen in love with them.

I'll beat someone to the punch with the inevitable, unsolicited comment on any turning thread seeking 'favorites'. By FAR my favorite turning tool is my CBN wheel.

[Reed Gray]

Well, CBN grinding wheels, one good scraper, one good bowl gouge, and a good chuck...

robo hippy

[charlie knighton]

crown spindle roughing gouge 3/4 ///// 1
hamlet bowl gauge 1/2 /// 3/8
pinnacle scrapers
elbo tool

depends if you measure inside or outside what sizes

also use dt negative rake scaper and dt detail gauge

when I first started tuning I bought the pinnale 8 pc set , learned to sharpen with those tools and still use many of them......I have replaced some tools and added others......tools are something you keep trying to find that perfect cut......they are part of the nature of the beast....if you think you will not be buying tools 10 years from now, it does not work that way.....some turners have had more lathes or chucks and than I have had tools

[Roger Chandler]

1/2" bowl gouge - I have Thompson, Serious Toolworks Ultimate, and a crown kryogenic........ its a toss up between the Serious Ultimate gouge and the Thompson......both are fine tools.

3/8" & 1/4" Thompson detail gouges

1-1/2" Serious bull nose scraper

Diamond & thin Parting tools

I realize that is more than 4 [6 actually] but it depends on what you want to do. For hollow forms and such a boring bar and cutter tips are needed, but if you are just wanting to learn the basics as a beginner, then, a bowl gouge, a spindle gouge, parting tool and 1" scraper with either the left side ground or a bull nose that is ground from the sides all the way around to the other to give you some finishing capabilities.

[Thom Sturgill]

Hmm - what kind of work am I doing??? I make a fair number of boxes and goblets, some Hollow forms, not that many bowls....

3/8" or 1/2" bowl gouge - my D-Way 3/8" is my go to, but I also like a bigger parabolic or V - I can rough out spindles with this as well as shape bowls and the outside of HFs

Parting tool - 1/8" Sorby - needed for a lot of turnings and used for several things besides parting off.

3/8" detail gouge - I use a P&N I bought years ago. I could use a 3/8 or 1/4" spindle gouge instead. Good for detail work like coves and beads, essential for finials and ornaments also good for shaping tenons.

hook tool - if hollowing endgrain this is my new favorite, otherwise a good heavy scraper. Jimmy Clewes came up with a design I find useful and does a number of jobs from getting a square edge inside a box to shaping outside of bowls or inside if you can reverse the motor.

Of course as Reed pointed - out things like a grinder with a CBN wheel, chuck, wolverine jig with varagrind, drive center, and a lathe are all kinda important too.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

D-Way Tools - 5/8", 1/2" bowl gouges, ultra-thin parting tool and 3/8" spindle gouge
Dave's tools hold an edge longer than anything else I've used and, when combined with a set of his CBN wheels, slow speed grinder and a wolverine system may just last longer than most, too.

[Bill Blasic]

Thompson 5/8 V 10V
Thompson 5/8 V 15V
Thompson 5/8 Deep V
Thompson 1/4 detail gouge

[Dave Cullen]

Depends on if I'm doing spindles or bowls / platters.

For spindle work - 2" roughing gouge, 1" skew, parting tool, 3/8" detail gouge.
For faceplate work - 1/2" bowl gouge, parting tool, Hunter Hercules, 3/8" bottom feeder

[John Sincerbeaux]

1. VB 36
2. Custom dbl 1" stainless steel boring bar
Held by Bosch 3/4" "stabilizer"
3. Rolly Monro cutter without the shield
4. Glaser 5/8 bowl gouge
4.5 CBN wheels

[Lee Reep]

I haven't started turning bowls yet -- so a bowl gouge won't appear on the list until sometime this year ... :)

I turn spindles (started on pens, and now tool handles, wine stoppers, pepper mills, etc.)

1. Woodchuck Pen Pro carbide tool for pens. Rapid material removal. But I don't use carbide for anything else.
2. No-name skew. Finally got reasonably comfortable with it after watch a YouTube video by Brendan Stemp -- "The Skew Made Easy". (Does any mere mortal ever really "master" the skew?) Anyway, this video is highly recommended. When you get a good skew cut, nothing can compare with the incredibly smooth surface of the turning, especially compared to a carbide cut.
3. Home made 1/16" parting tool. (I hate to waste wood, or lose a continuity in the grain, so I seldom use a wider parting tool).
4. CBN wheels. Actually I do not own any, but recently became acquainted with them when looking a the D-Way Tools website! I want them BAD (as well as D-Way tools in general. They look nice ...) :D

[Russell Neyman]

I understand the purpose of this thread, so I'll cut to the quick and hit on two great tools not already listed:

>> a thick, 1-inch square-ended scraper
>> a thick, bullnosed scraper
>> a D-Way "diamond" tool; I call it my "teardrop detailer"

[Larry Matchett]

Hard to pick just four. I find that everytime our club holds tool day I find one more I have to have. Allows me to do a lot of different things. Here is what I started with and turned with for almost 50 years. All are carbon steel. Sharpen to a very keen edge. Don't hold it very well. They are a lot shorter now. Every once in a while I do a project with them just for nostology. I hand sharpen with a diamond card. Trying to save what steel is left.

1" skew
1" spindle gouge
1/2" spindle gouge
1/8th diamond parting tool

[Russell Neyman]

Plus one on Robo's comment. Should have said that earlier.