Tool Selection

[Jason Christenson]

That's it, I can't wait any longer, I'm gonna try some bowls. Can anybody give me some advice on say 4 or maybe 5 turning tools that I shouldn't try to do this without?

While you're here any advice on chucks would be appreciated to!

Jason

PS: I have no idea why these letters are so big. :D

[Cecil Arnold]

Alright Jason, welcome to the dark side. I'm sure you will get a bunch of advice and some of it may be contradictory but it is all well intentioned. I'll start by offering my ideas, but they are shaped by what I use and do. No one ever went wrong buying Oneway chucks. They are pricey, but good chucks are. There are other really good ones available, Nova's brand, Axminister, and Vicmark. There are lesser expensive ones like Grizzly and PSI that are acceptable, but I still hold that like IBM in the old days of computers no one ever got fired for buying IBM (Oneway). For bowl turning you don't need a lot of tools. A bowl gouge or two, some scrapers, and I'm partial to a small (mini sized) skew that I use for marking and scraping tenons. A 3/8" (American measure--the size of the stock as opposed to Brit. which measures the opening channel) gouge is a good basic tool for bowl work in the 5-8" range IMHO, and I like a 1/2" for larger bowls. Scrapers can be made from old files, or you can buy round and half round in the 1/2" to 1" range. I'm sure I'm leaving something out but others will add to the list.

[Jim Ketron]

I basically use 3 tools turning Bowls, Bowl gouge, parting tool, Bowl scraper (sometimes). I recommend the Oneway Talon chuck (thats what I use). Those are the basic tools needed to turn bowls. You can do without a chuck but there are a lot more steps involved if you decide not to.

[Jim Becker]

IMHO, you only "need" two tools to turn a bowl (in addition to the lathe, safety gear and a way to sharpen said tools)...a bowl gouge and a parting tool. You can actually get by without the latter, but it makes things like making a tenon or removing a blank from a waste block easier. While a rounded scraper is also useful, I believe that one should learn to cut with the gouge first before working with the "easier" scraper. A 3/8" or 1/2" bowl gouge is what I recommend to start out with...I use the latter, even for small bowls and vessels, although I also use an Ellsworth (swept-back) grind which makes that easier.

[Jason Christenson]

although I also use an Ellsworth (swept-back) grind which makes that easier.

Got a picture of that?