Turning Tools,what brand

[CJ Courtney]

Guys,new to turning. Just turned my first piece,went from square to round. While it went OK,no bells or whistles went off. Made a few shaving and that was preatty neat. I purchase a set of 8 chiesls on e-bay(Disston brand) they are decent.Question is, what brand would you purchase without breaking the bank? Can you really tell the differance from a cheap set and a good set? I know you will have to sharpen more often w/ cheap ones. I would like to purchase a decent set just once. I will be doing spindles,legs etc. maybe bowls when I get alittle better. Any tapes out there that would help a beginner? Any web sites to purchase these tools? Thanks for any advice,thanks for being here SMC. CJ Courtney

[Curt Fuller]

I'm sure there will be others that disagree but about the only difference I can tell is how often they need sharpened. Some of the very high grade tool steel in the more expensive tools stays sharp longer (but can be harder to get a good edge on). Some of the more expenisve tools have nicer, longer handles. Other than that it comes down to size, a good 5/8" bowl gouge is going to cost more than the 1/2" one that comes in a standard beginner set. And then after you've turned a while you'll probably develop a preference for a particular type gouge, skew, and different specialty tools. Turn with the set you have for a while and see what type things you like turning and then after you've been at it a while go do some tool shopping.

[Jim Becker]

Packard's house brand, Sorby, Crown, Hamlet, Benjamin's Best...all provide decent tools at reasonable/expected prices. Most of my tools are Sorby or Packard with the exception of my Ellsworth gouges which are Crown.

[Andy Hoyt]

Hey, CJ. Welcome.

I'm not a believer in sets because they're usually configured wrong and the marketing department has left their dna all over them. My suggestion is to look for indvidual tools (preferably unhandled) and make up your own kit based on what you need to accomplish the learning curve at hand.

Since you already have a basic set, which I guess you're not happy with, use it to do two things -- practice your sharpening skills and turn your own handles for the new stuff.

I have no hands on experience with them (except a brief session with a bowl gouge) but everyone who has, raves about the P&N tools which can be found in all the usual places.

I'll let the next creeker to come along advise as to which specific tools you'll want to make up this kit.

[Keith Christopher]

I'm a new believer in the Kryo tools. the 1" scraper is AMAZING and holds an edge alot longer than my other tools. This thing takes a burr so well. I bought one of the bowl gouges. the rest I own are sorby. Well other than the 'set' that came with the lathe.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome CJ. Most of my turning tools are from PSI which go by the brand name Benjamins Best. They are a real decent tool for the money. I have a kettle full of others I bought one of these one of those. I am like Andy. Don't buy a set because you will have half or more of the set you won't even use.

[Corey Hallagan]

Like Bernie I have mostly PSI Benjamin's Best turning tools. They are a great value for the beginner because you are also going to be learning to sharpen the tools, not just turning. That way if you screw one up you can get another one fairly inexpensively. This is the way I have learned and I now have been able to go back after learning alot about sharpening and fixing the gouges and the few other tools I messed up into new useable tools with different profiles. I thought most of these were junk after screwing them up. Just a little shorter but still useful :) The biggest difference in cheaper tools is the finish on the handles and the the bevels and flutes aren't as polished as they are on more expensive tools.

Corey

[Jim King]

My turning tools get a lot of use and I wear them out to nothing. I am going to the flea market first thing in the morning and buy a complete new set . I will pay about $5 for a couple of car springs , some old rasps and some one inch pipe for handles. If there is no panics in the morning I will take some photos of the process.

[Frank Fusco]

About half of mine are genuine Yard Sale brand.

[Corey Hallagan]

About half of mine are genuine Yard Sale brand.

My wife is an avid yard/garage sale fan and I have to remember to clue her in on turning tools. Good idea Frank!

Corey

[Brent Smith]

Hi CJ,

I've only been turning a few months now, so take this for what it's worth. All the guys have mentioned great brands of tools. I realized pretty quick that at beginner level the tools don't make a lot of difference on the lathe as long as they're of a decent quality. Where the tools make a difference is at the grinding wheel. I've wasted away a good amount of steel trying to learn how to sharpen my tools properly. I went out and bought a cheaper set now. I'll use them until I get the hang of sharpening and this way I'll save alot of quality metal.

Brent

[Frank Fusco]

My wife is an avid yard/garage sale fan and I have to remember to clue her in on turning tools. Good idea Frank!

Corey

Fact of the matter is, many of these found at yard sales are very good to top quality. Most I have bought don't have any brand names but are well aged, leading me to surmise they were pre-china made, European or American. Others are old Crafstman and very good. I usually pay about $5.00 each.

[Dario Octaviano]

Hey, CJ. Welcome.

I'm not a believer in sets because they're usually configured wrong and the marketing department has left their dna all over them. My suggestion is to look for indvidual tools (preferably unhandled) and make up your own kit based on what you need to accomplish the learning curve at hand.

Since you already have a basic set, which I guess you're not happy with, use it to do two things -- practice your sharpening skills and turn your own handles for the new stuff.



I agree.

My set is the cheap HF HSS set...just added a couple of Crown Pro PM bowl gouge and haven't encountered anything that demanded other tools yet.

In the future, I hope to buy some hollowing tools (or make my own).

Crown ProPM are well worth the money I paid for them and will recommend with no hesitation. That said, I have no experience with other brands so cannot compare.

[Bill Boehme]

I think that the biggest difference that you will find is in the gouges. I prefer the ones milled from round stock as opposed to the old style curved continental gouges. The shape of the flute is important on bowl gouges for efficient ejection of chips and to be able to put the desired grind on it. I don't know how well the cheaper gouges perform in this department. but the flute design is different between brands. Most of my tools are Robeert Sorby, Crown, and Henry Taylor.

I have just one home made tool. I bought a P&N blank, made a handle and then ground it into a negative rake scraper. Instead of using the grinder to put a rough burr on it, I rolled a smooth hook with a burnishing tool. It has held up extremely well despite claims by some that it can only be done on a grinder. My next step with this home made tool is to see how well it works after dressing the bevel faces on my Tormek and then rolling a burr. The P&N steel is really hard so that is probably why it is holding its edge so well.

Bill