Well, I've fallen down the slippery slope of turning

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi folks,
I'm Fred Skelly. I usually post on the Neander forum, but I tonight bought a 3 year old HF 34706 lathe. So, I'll probably be running around asking you a ton of newbie questions until I get my feet wet enough to spell "turning". If you don't mind, here's my first 2 questions:

* Did I pay that kid a fair price at $160? He was in college so I didn't dicker much.

* Can you suggest which 2 or 3 chisels I should buy first? For now, all I'm currently planning to use it for is making a big batch of tool handles for chisels, files and rasps.

Thank you!
Fred

[John Keeton]

Assuming it is in good shape and all parts are there the price is fair for both. My first lathe!

And...welcome!

[Bob Bouis]

A fair price for him? Absolutely. Then again, lightly used harbor freight stuff seems to sell for 75% of the actual price pretty easily around here. I've never had trouble selling stuff I didn't want anymore since there's a whole lot of people who think the regular price is the actual price.

[Frederick Skelly]

Assuming it is in good shape and all parts are there the price is fair for both. My first lathe!

And...welcome!

Thank you John. Glad to be here! I remember reading in the archives that you had one, along with some HF chisels. Did their chisels hold up ok for you?

[John Keeton]

I still use the parting tool and skew modified to scrapers. Gave the others away as I acquired better tools.

[Mark Greenbaum]

I have been using my HSS HF Chisel set for about 5 years, and they hold a pretty good edge. I use them every time I turn spindles or for parting. Best $25 I every spent, with exception of my annual club dues.

[Marshall Mosby]

If it is in good condition, the price is okay.

[Bruce Page]

You're doomed Frederick! You might as well start selling your hand planes now, they don't call it the vortex for nutin'!:):p

[Frederick Skelly]

You guys are bad! Sell my precious PLANES? No way. (But maybe my chisels.:D)

Anyway, thanks all of you for the warm welcome and the advice!

Interestingly, I realized this morning that the kid who sold me this lathe MADE the lathe chisel he threw in. After trying (unsuccessfully) to sharpen its removable cutter on my Shapton stones, I tried it on a diamond stone. Then I realized 'Holy moly, this cutter looks just like a carbide cutter on my buddy's helical jointer head.' Searching the archives, it looks like the kid knocked off an Easy Wood Roughing Tool. So I bought a cutter from my buddy's spares and I now have a 'sorta sharp' tool. I say it that way because the new cutter I bought doesnt FEEL any sharper than what I was able to get to with diamond stones and the old cutter. Time will tell I guess.

I dont know that I want to go the carbide tool route from here on out. I did this only because it lowered my initial cost of entry to $10 to use the tool the kid gave me. I read all the debate in the archives on traditional HSS vs Easy Wood. My (totally uneducated) guess is there's time carbide is the right tool and times it isn't. It should be fun to try and compare once I've got some experience.:) Right now, Im waiting for my copy of Rowley's Woodturning A Foundation Course to arrive and debating whether to make a new stand for this lathe.

Thanks again!
Fred

[Dane Riley]

[QUOTE= Did their chisels hold up ok for you?[/QUOTE]

The ones that are properly hardened do. Most of mine weren't. Grab on of there files. You should not be able to file them, at least not near the tips.

[john taliaferro]

Ya gotta keep the chisels for when your turning wood with a large crack ,to fit a butterfly patch . The table saw is handy at times to ,to cut long boards to turning blanks . Trade the planes for a chainsaw and grinder . Welcome home . :D