New tools = Sharp tools?

[Jon Shively]

Yep, my tools arrived and quite honestly, they don't feel sharp as a razor. Also they aren't providing any smoother surface than my hand chisels. Completely admit to knowing little to nothing about this new fascination, but didn't go to the flea market to purchase my equipment so have a little expectation of some positive results.
Have the 15" Craftsman professional lathe. Bought the set of lathe tools from Sears also. Have a 14" piece of 2X2 pine chucked up, used the low/slow speed to take the corners off of the piece of wood. Have tried to go up three more speeds and still have quite the "rough" surface. At some times have a small sliver get between my tool and the piece of wood. Have changed the height of the tool rest as well as the angle of the tool. At this time seem to get the best (least rough, somewhat smooth surface) using the flat tool (chisel?).
Oh, so you all can have a good laugh, I have my lathe (heavy dang gone thing) sitting on a project bench I have for putting projects together on. Chucked up a piece of cedar I squared up with the log splitter, didn't think I was going to get that dang gone lathe shut off before it jumped off of the bench and beat my dog out the door of the garage!!! Yep, understand the need for a solid bench/stand and the weight you all talk of!!!!! Thought you would appreciate my learning curve as it happens! Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Rich Souchek]

Jon,
Turning tools are not sharp when brand new. They need to be sharpened before using them.
Turning pine is not very much fun, even though it is readily available. It will splinter and requires very sharp tools to get clean cuts. Almost any other wood will turn better, and be more fun. What is in your woodpile?
Any oak, hickory, pecan, maple, popular? All these will turn much easier than pine. If your woodpile is empty, look around for any green tree or branch that is 2-3" diameter or bigger. Cut it up into shorter pieces and go for it. Green wood turning is fast, furious fun but clean the wet shavings off the iron surfaces at the end of the night.

[Gary DeWitt]

Maple or poplar would be my recomendation for a starter wood, but here's a tip: you can sometimes find tables and chairs out on the curb that people are discarding that have solid legs. You'll look a little eccentric, but cut or unbolt the legs and take 'em home for practice, they are usually some sort of turnable hardwood.
That flat chisel you have is probably a skew, if the cutting edge is not square to the tool, but skewed. Not a great tool for roughing a square piece of wood round, but very good for finishing cuts on flat areas, and can be used well for beads and finishing endgrain after you get lots of practice.
Have fun, and good luck.

[Sean Troy]

http://www.cicaaw.org/ I think this would be the closest In. chapter for you. Might be one closer in Ill. You can check at www.woodturner.org (http://www.woodturner.org). The reason I mention this is the single most important step you can take to learn turning is join a local chapter. It's cheap and a great way to make contacts. It's very easy to start off turning and build some bad habits that will take a long time to rid yourself of, or you can have someone show you the correct way the first time. Thats where joing a local turning chapter comes in. Turners are a big familey that are always willing to help you learn. Make sure you have the correct safety gear, ask lots of questions and practice. good luck

[Chris Chavis]

I picked up one of those Wolverine Jigs for sharpening if you want to try it out or see how to make one let me know.

Everytime I turned pine it turned out "hairy" - then I read that you needed sharp tools to get anything out of it - I haven't tried it again since getting the sharpening jig though.

As for turnable hardwood - I went out to the firewood pile and grabbed some pieces - squared them up on the bandsaw and now have some nice 8/4 and 12/4 pieces of oak to turn. (I see people warn against oak, but it's worked well for me so far - made a mallet and candlestick)

[Andy Hoyt]

Chris: turning pine - and most other softwoods - takes a special touch. Suggest you stick with hardwoods until you're more confident.

[Raymond Overman]

Jon,

As stated earlier, turning tools (or hand chisels for that matter) aren't neccessarily sharp out of the box. Most don't have a proper (or popular) profile on them even. P&N bowl gouges come to mind. They don't even have handles and they might as well be a stick for all the good they'll do before you sharpen it.

A good rule of thumb is to sharpen it before using it even if it's new. That way you know what you have from the start.