Starter set of chisels, gouges, etc. for newb?

[Steve Mathews]

After picking up my new to me PM 3520A I stopped by a Rockler's to purchase a set of chisels, gouges, etc. but quickly got overwhelmed with the number of choices. It also didn't take long to realize that I might have to spend as much for these tools as what the lathe cost me. So, what would be a good starter set for a complete newb?

[Brian Kent]

Yes, you will spend as much on the tooling. But you can start gently. I over-analyze everything and usually have the ideas before the money, so then I re-over-analyze. But here is what I did and I am very happy with it:

Harbor Freight High Speed Steel "Lathe Chisel" set. I still use all of them. $65
Bowl Gouge from Thompson Tools. Call them for specific advice. He will lead you to the best tool for you, not to the most expensive one. $60
Slow or Variable Speed Grinder. You can get the grinder now and CBN wheels someday later. At least Rikon 80-805 for $100. If you can, Rikon 80-808 for $220.
Wolverine $90 and Varigrind jig $60 for sharpening ASAP.

This whole set-up is under $400 or just over $500 depending on which grinder.

[Joe Shanaphy]

+1 on Brians Rikon advice but I would go differently for gouges. While you're learning how to sharpen and experimenting with profiles, etc, I would start with either Benjamin Best from Penn State or Hurricane from The Woodturning Store. Three bowl gouges for @ $55, two HD inboard scrapers (BB) for $47; 3 spindle gouges for @ $40; roughing gouge for $21 and a diamond parting tool for for @ $15. This gives you all the variety you will need to get started with both bowls and spindles. If you don't already have a chuck, I would suggest either the HTC-100 or HTC-125 from Hurricane. I have two of each and am very pleased with both value and performance. Once you settle on grind profiles you can start acquiring tools with better steel as well as more specialized uses. I know that it's a bit more expensive than Brians suggestion but it gives you more to play with while still not busting the bank.

[Brian Kent]

And I 100% agree with all of Joe's recommendations too.

[Roger Chandler]

+1 on Joe's recommendations........If I could swing it I would begin with the Hurricane set - http://www.thewoodturningstore.com/products/Hurricane-8-Piece-Woodturning-HSS-Chisel-Set-635.html?cPath=4_18

or secondly,the Benjamin's best set that is similar in tools. I believe the Hurricane tools will have better metal in them.

[John K Jordan]

Steve,

If you have a club nearby or some other turners you can hang out with, you can see and maybe try the tools before you buy. Some have extra tools - I keep a box of freebees to lend or give to people getting started. Even very cheap carbon steel tools that many turners today might sneer at will work to get started. (Turners used these effectively long before HSS and powdered metals and carbide came along.

A club would help a lot since you can watch others and ask questions. Woodturners, in general, are happy, generous people!

No need to go crazy at first with tools. I bought my first set at Sears and slowly added to it; I still use some of these today.

You can turn almost anything with these five tools:
- Parting tool
- Roughing gouge
- spindle gouge
- skew chisel
- bowl gouge
Nearly any size of these should work fine. Buy some higher quality tools after you learn on these or grind them to nubs!

You HAVE to have a way to sharpen. The old saying, "If you can't sharpen, you can't turn" is true. It is VERY frustrating and counterproductive to try to work with a dull tool. I knew people who took their tools to Woodcraft for sharpening when dull. They never got much turning done since sometimes tools must be resharpened several times while turning one piece. Some people without a way to sharpen go the easy route and use only carbide tools. I don't recommend this.

There are some good books that will explain everything and provide instruction. I learned from Richard Raffan's "Turning Wood" and Mike Darlow's "Fundamentals of Woodturning."
https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Wood-Richard-Raffan/dp/156158956X/ref=sr_1_1
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Woodturning-Darlows-Mike-Darlow/dp/1565233557/ref=sr_1_1
Some people say they learn better from watching YouTube videos and they have their place, but for me there is nothing better than a good book. Most of the videos show you how something is done but not necessarily why and certainly there is not enough time for depth. And watch out, there are hundreds of very poor turners publishing videos. Some are so bad it is embarrassing but how would a beginner know the difference?

BTW, both Raffan and Darlow and other experts recommend to learn spindle turning first. This will teach you the basics of how the edge interacts with the wood and teach you excellent tool control. They say once you master spindle turning, other turning including bowl turning is easier. They say it doesn't work the opposite way - I've met good bowl turners who couldn't make a decent finial. When I teach brand new students I always start out with the skew chisel, they learn to plane in just a few minutes (I provide an initial cylinder), switch to the roughing gouge and learn to make a cylinder with a square blank, back to the skew to learn "V" groves, then learn coves and beads the spindle gouge. Most of this is done with a 2x2x12 or so piece of cedar, pine, or other soft wood.

JKJ

[Justin Stephen]

+1 on Joe's recommendations........If I could swing it I would begin with the Hurricane set - http://www.thewoodturningstore.com/products/Hurricane-8-Piece-Woodturning-HSS-Chisel-Set-635.html?cPath=4_18

or secondly,the Benjamin's best set that is similar in tools. I believe the Hurricane tools will have better metal in them.

Yeah, I simply cannot recommend Benjamin's Best bowl gouges. I bought one since they were so cheap a few years ago just to see what I thought and the metal is simply bad and doesn't hold an edge worth a darn at all. I have no experience with the Hurricane tools.

[John Grace]

Ask yourself and then answer the following question first...what do I want to turn? A bowl. Then get one 5/8" bowl gouge and maybe a round nose scraper. Eventually you decide to work on spindles...then grab a good skew and practice, practice, practice. My point is...if you buy tools first you'll never have enough and you'll find you spent a lot of money on things you'll never use.

If you don't have a sharpening station or don't plan on venturing down that road any time soon then consider any one of the carbide tools...more expensive in the long run in having to replace the cutters but you can avoid having to worry about sharpening in the short term.

Suggest the end goal dictate what you purchase. Good luck and let us know which road you take...cheers, John

[Roger Chandler]

Yeah, I simply cannot recommend Benjamin's Best bowl gouges. I bought one since they were so cheap a few years ago just to see what I thought and the metal is simply bad and doesn't hold an edge worth a darn at all. I have no experience with the Hurricane tools.
Our club purchased several of the BB sets, and they are used all the time with goood results, and they seem to hold an edge fairly well. They are not a Thompson, D-way, or high end but for a starter set for learning they are more than adequate.

[Aaron Craven]

A lot of really good advice here.

For a beginner, I am definitely a proponent of the Harbor Freight set (don't get the really cheap one... there are two nearly identical sets very close in price, one with red handles one with unstained wood handles... about $65 as noted above). It definitely has its shortcomings though. It also does not come with a bowl gouge, so if you're making bowls, you'll need to get that separately. I've had good luck with Benjamin's Best and Hurricane (Thompson is well known as some of the best tools on the market, but they aren't cheap). You don't have to have a slow speed grinder and Wolverine setup to sharpen -- I sharpened for almost a year freehand on a cheap Harbor Freight belt sander -- but it really makes things much easier. If you have the money to get it, it's well worth it -- especially for bowl gouges. If not, don't be afraid to grind away at the tools with a belt sander or whatever you have available until you get the hang of it. The only way to learn it is to do it.

You will have trouble over time really knowing what tools you're going to use most in the end. My go-to tools include bowl gouges (primarily a 5/8" V-shape), a skew, a parting tool, a spindle roughing gouge, and a small round-nosed scraper. Mostly I make bowls and pens right now. Of course, YMMV.

Not mentioned above is a face shield. When he realized I wasn't working with one, my mentor threatened to buy one and deliver it to my shop in person. It can be annoying at times, but there are a lot of turners out there with crooked noses that can tell you it's better to have one! You can get a pretty decent face shield from Harbor Freight for less than $20 (if I remember correctly). Also, if you do a lot of sanding (I certainly did as a beginner), I quickly found out that I needed something to help reduce the amount of dust I breathed in. I tried the really cheap masks, but found that my breath would fog my glasses, so I stepped up to a disposable with a vent in it. Still hate wearing the thing, but I hate blowing wood dust out of my nose for days on end more.

Welcome to the vortex!

[Prashun Patel]

What do you plan on turning?

The advice is all good. However, I would say bite the bullet and just buy a CBN wheel now.

On the contrary...don't count out the carbide "EZ" style tools. What they lack in versatility and romance they make up for in convenience. You can be up and running without any investment in sharpening equipment.

Don't forget work-holding... I think you'd do well to get a scroll chuck, face place, and live center if you do not already own them.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Lots of great advice given already but I have to agree that it really depends on what it is you plan on turning. Believe me when I say that it is really easy to pick up tools that you think you might use - only to find them gathering dust later because they can't do the style of turning you end up wanting to do.

I also agree with getting with your local turning club - folks there are always willing to help. If you would add your location to your personal profile info - there might even be a Creeker living nearby that can help out!

[Stan Calow]

Agreeing with Prashun. If I was starting over, I would start with a set of carbide tools, and then add on individual tools when I knew why I needed them.

[Justin Stephen]

Our club purchased several of the BB sets, and they are used all the time with goood results, and they seem to hold an edge fairly well. They are not a Thompson, D-way, or high end but for a starter set for learning they are more than adequate.

I did a direct comparison between the BB and a Sorby of the same size, both ground the same way on the same grinder, and the difference in edge longevity was nothing less than stark. As my Sorby loses in a head-to-head against my Thompsons (albeit only slightly), the difference between a BB and a Thompson is going to be pretty substantial.

I don't have a problem recommending cheap secondary tools for new turners. Heck, all these years later and I still use a couple of the tools out of my first Harbor Freight set from time to time. However, if they are going to be faceplate turning, I don't get the logic of recommending a substandard bowl gouge since that will be their main tool. It just seems like that will make the learning process more painful, most especially since learning to sharpen and learning that you need to sharpen more often than you initially suspect are lessons that we all learn as we begin our woodturning journey. The difference between a marginal tool and an excellent tool is $20 vs. $60. He doesn't need nine bowl gouges or even three, but just one good one, probably a 1/2". I think the extra $40 is money well-spent for the tool that he is going to be using 80% of the time if he wants to turn bowls, etc.

Just my $0.02.

[Steve Mathews]

Well, this thread has provided a good amount of material for thought. First of all I think the set of 8 turning tools mentioned above makes the best sense for me, especially because I don't have a specific direction in what I would like to turn at the moment. I would like to try my hand at spindles and bowls. The Hurricane set seems like a good way to go but I have some questions. The Woodturning Store states that the Hurricane woodturning sets come in two flavors, Standard and Professional Series. However, the tools they show online don't state which one is offered. Is the 8 piece set a Standard or Professional Series? I tried to find a Hurricane company website but couldn't find one. Seems odd considering they offer other products. Also, are the turning tools made in the USA?

Thanks for those that brought up tool sharpening. Just so happens I have a Baldor 6" bench grinder that was purchased used. It has a Veritas tool rest. Is this a useable setup for sharpening wood turning tools? It has white, fine grit grinding wheels on it now. The CBN wheels look appealing but I would like to start with the wheels that I have for now if possible.

My apologies for not including my location. I'll correct that after posting this. Unfortunately I live in a fairly remote part of Arizona (Kingman) and the closest club activity is probably Las Vegas, NV.

[Aaron Craven]

I know a lot of folks use 6" wheels. They give a more convex grind, but should be fine. A flat tool rest should be good for sharpening scrapers, parting tools, skews (you'll probably want to hone your skew after you get the initial grind set), and a lot of other tools. For roughing gouges, spindle detail gouges, and bowl gouges, you'll probably want a jig to help keep the angles right. For SRGs and "classic" bowl grinds, you just need an adjustable arm like on the Wolverine jig. For swept-back grinds like most people prefer on a bowl gouge, you'll want to pair that with something similar to a Varigrind jig. Wolverine's setup is very nice and there are other brands as well, but you can also look around for plans to make your own if you have the basic skills necessary. My flatwork skills are abysmal, so I chose to purchase a complete sharpening setup.

Not downing on CBN wheels (especially since I've never used them), but personally, they seem a rather expensive luxury. I do just fine with the white wheels that came on my grinder. Just my opinion.

[Prashun Patel]

"they seem a rather expensive luxury. "

I would challenge anyone to try them and then advise if they are not worth every single penny they paid. The price has come down also...

[Aaron Craven]

I would challenge anyone to try them and then advise if they are not worth every single penny they paid. The price has come down also...

If you're offering to donate, I'll be glad to send you my address ;)

[Roger Chandler]

I did a direct comparison between the BB and a Sorby of the same size, both ground the same way on the same grinder, and the difference in edge longevity was nothing less than stark. As my Sorby loses in a head-to-head against my Thompsons (albeit only slightly), the difference between a BB and a Thompson is going to be pretty substantial.

I don't have a problem recommending cheap secondary tools for new turners. Heck, all these years later and I still use a couple of the tools out of my first Harbor Freight set from time to time. However, if they are going to be faceplate turning, I don't get the logic of recommending a substandard bowl gouge since that will be their main tool. It just seems like that will make the learning process more painful, most especially since learning to sharpen and learning that you need to sharpen more often than you initially suspect are lessons that we all learn as we begin our woodturning journey. The difference between a marginal tool and an excellent tool is $20 vs. $60. He doesn't need nine bowl gouges or even three, but just one good one, probably a 1/2". I think the extra $40 is money well-spent for the tool that he is going to be using 80% of the time if he wants to turn bowls, etc.

Just my $0.02.

Justin.......perhaps our different experiences are due to some inconsistencies with the Benjamin's Best tools themselves. We have turners in our club that use them regularly, and do very well. I have a couple of BB scrapers that I have had for about 7 years, and they hold an edge well. Now, by comparrison, I also have and use Thompson gouges, Crown, Sorby, Serious Toolworks Ultimate gouges, and one Wood River gouge. I also have a couple of Easy Wood scrapers.

Of course the high end metal alloys hold an edge longer, but my round nose BB scraper is my go to tool for cleaning up the inside of a bowl blank, and it has served me very well. That being said, I have over the forums in the last few years heard a couple of comments from a turner or two who had less than satisfactory performance from them. Hopefully, those inconsistencies have been addressed [perhaps the heat treating did not go all the way through the tool on a couple of instance? Who knows?]

I just know that our club has several sets, including bowl gouges, parting tools, SRG's and spindle gouges, and they are doing fine, and get used all the time. Our club does have a penchant for saving as many $$$$ as they can, so ......

I can very well see your rationale in buying one higher end gouge that will be used 80% of the time........not a thing wrong with that, but my thinking was that the OP was going to be spending money on not just a lathe, but other accessories, and was trying to fit in his budget several tools, so that is the reason I mentioned the BB and Hurricane sets..........I do agree that the Hurricane will be better metal, yet learning to sharpen will eat up a lot of metal to begin with, so perhaps a lesser set to get him started would be wise? Different turners, different approaches.........it's all good! :)

[Justin Stephen]

Justin.......perhaps our different experiences are due to some inconsistencies with the Benjamin's Best tools themselves. We have turners in our club that use them regularly, and do very well. I have a couple of BB scrapers that I have had for about 7 years, and they hold an edge well. Now, by comparrison, I also have and use Thompson gouges, Crown, Sorby, Serious Toolworks Ultimate gouges, and one Wood River gouge. I also have a couple of Easy Wood scrapers.

Of course the high end metal alloys hold an edge longer, but my round nose BB scraper is my go to tool for cleaning up the inside of a bowl blank, and it has served me very well. That being said, I have over the forums in the last few years heard a couple of comments from a turner or two who had less than satisfactory performance from them. Hopefully, those inconsistencies have been addressed [perhaps the heat treating did not go all the way through the tool on a couple of instance? Who knows?]

Yeah, it is quite possible, or even quite likely, that you're right. To be honest, I have a fairly low opinion of PSI in general owing to a personal unpleasant experience in the past (and hearing about similar experiences with others) related to that very thing: manufacturing inconsistencies. In my case, it was a faceplate with a substantial amount of wobble that they replaced, but only after insisting that they tested it and assured me that it was within their manufacturing specs. The replacement also had substantial wobble, albeit a little less. On the other hand, I do own a couple of their other gadgets (my Jacobs chuck is PSI as I recall) that I have been content with.


I can very well see your rationale in buying one higher end gouge that will be used 80% of the time...

Yup, undoubtedly they will waste metal learning to sharpen and, assuming that they are doing the type of turning where they mostly use a bowl gouge, they would be wasting good metal learning to sharpen. However, they will also have a less frustrating learning experience at the lathe with good metal. It also removes ambiguity. When they are turning their first bowl and things aren't going well and they are getting frustrated and wondering if their is something wrong with their tool, they can look down and know, "nope, this is a Thompson/D-Way/whatever bowl gouge. It's something *I'm* doing wrong". :)

[Steve Mathews]

I decided to go with a small number of Thompson Tools and just ordered them from Doug. As someone mentioned earlier if something goes wrong I only have to look at a mirror to discover the source of the problem. I'm really looking forward to getting started.

[Brice Rogers]

I read a comment about a 6" wheel has more of a convex grind. I wouldn't be overly concerned. Although a 7 or 8 inch grind might be better, a 6" wheel should work fine. After I use my $2 Eddie Castilain (spelling?) Ellsworth grinding jig, I resharpen it several times using a diamond hand file. This does a great job sharpening the "ends" of the convex w/o removing much material. So, maybe 7 or 8 inches is better, but you can do just fine with a 6".

[Doug Ladendorf]

Which of Doug's tools did you end up with?

[Steve Mathews]

Which of Doug's tools did you end up with?

The phone connection with Doug wasn't real good so I didn't catch everything he mentioned but one of the three tools was a 1/2" spindle gouge. I also bought the 16" and 12" handles that he suggested (I think). I'll post a more accurate answer when everything gets here.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I also bought the 16" and 12" handles that he suggested (I think). I'll post a more accurate answer when everything gets here.

You don't know what you bought? It doesn't matter. You can't go wrong with Dougs tools. I have several of his tools, and am very pleased with them. Good choice, and congrats! I do hope you got a bowl gouge too.

[William C Rogers]

Steve, you made a good choice. I have just recently bought some of Doug's tools and they are excellent. I haven't had any Hurricane tools, but have some BB gouges and the HF red handle tools. To me the BB are very low quality as they font seem to hold an edge and one handle split. The HF are not that bad and still use some today. However I think with these lower quality tools you could get a good or bad set. With Thompson you get a great tool. I would still advise getting the red handle HF set as it has tools you can try and depending on use get a better set. You can then buy from Thompson tools that you use a lot.