So what else do I need?

[Jeff Yates]

I jumped on the Palmgren bandwagon today...

I hemmed and hawed about it, but finally decided I was going to go for it...

So I'm waiting on Amazon to confirm shipment (it's gonna be fun to fit that in the back of my MINI cooper getting it home from the office...)

Now I have two grinders at the house, one 8", one 6", and I'm sure I'll need to replace the wheels on one of them and get a Wolverine and some of the jigs that go with it...

Harbor Freight turning tools have been recomended...but what about these from Amazon for about 1/3rd the price?

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000FVEF6O/ref=s9_asin_title_3/102-1438433-8048134

So when I screw them up sharpening, I don't cry too much...*laugh*.

Hmm...

So what wheels do you recommend?

Is that set a good starter set?

My intention is to turn pens, baseball bats and walking sticks/staves and of course...BONKERS.

But what else will I need to really get started?

Thanks

[Joash Boyton]

I have 3 of those sets at home......if you are only going to turn once a week,or on and off, just a as a once in a while hobby, you may be better off buying them, but if you want to do more, than I reccomend you get a HSS set that will last you maaaany years.

What else??

Well, you'll need.........sandpaper, finish, timber, workspace, accesories for the things you turn...such as walking sticks, you'll need the heads etc: A grinder, a good light, a face shied, dust protection, gloves a chuck, wood screw, etc:

:D:D

To start off, I would reccomend, chisels, timber, chuck, sandpaper, and finish.

You should be able to do a lot just with that,

Have fun
Joash

[Bob Hallowell]

I would by the harbor freight ones. Those aren't hss steel. At $40 the HF ones are about as cheap as you will find a decent set.

Bob

congrads on the lathe, you will love it.

[Gordon Seto]

Jeff,

Pass on the Amazon set. It is difficult to judge the scale on this set from the picture. But the shipping weight of a set of 8 gouges is only 4 pounds. That is less than 8 oz. per gouge. This must not be a full size gouge set.
HF always has some dollars off coupon. You can't even buy HSS blanks from ENCO at this price. There is nothing wrong with them, except you have to go to the grinder more often. The set doesn't include any bowl gouge.

Gordon

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Oh Boy! This is just what we need to get Andy feeling better and excited!


Hey Andy......We got another one!:rolleyes: :D

Jeff..........Welcome to the Vortex! I looked a couple of days ago at the ones at Amazon....Go to one of the websites such as www.woodturnerscatalogue.com (http://www.woodturnerscatalogue.com) and look at the different brands. The handles on the Robert Sorby fit my hands better than the ones that have a single diameter the full length of the handle. If I remember correctly the ones at Amazon had a handle of a single diameter. The ones I looked at Harbor Freight had a varying diameter which gives me a chance to hold it at a place where it's comfortable for the manner in which I'm using the tool at the moment.

I use an 8" slow speed grinder with a 60 grit and a 120 grit wheel IIRC. They are the white wheels. If you have a light touch you might get by with what you have though I'd recommend getting a wheel dresser if you don't have one. The wolverine jig system helped me learn to grind a tool faster and better than I can still grind free hand today. I rely on it heavily.:o

Join a local turning club....take some lessons...at say Woodcraft.....get some videos by Richard Raffan, Bill Grumbine......books....Woodturning - A Foundation Course by Keith Rowley is well written, illustrated and directed towards the beginner turner.....I rely on the book and the videos heavily. Until last Friday in Mendota IL .....I'd never seen anyone else turn .....

In the beginning, finishing is in itself a learning process, an art and science so I'd recommend what was recommended to me.......Myland's Friction polish or equivalent....it's a combination of shellac and wax and can be applied by frictioning it on your project while it's still on the lathe.

Sandpaper....I like the turner's multipack of 150, 240, 320 and 400 grit 1" strips.

A good chuck is essential.....Some folks have had good luck with some of the lesser expensive ones from Grizzley. I had a SuperNova2 given to me with my lathe.....There are a number of good chucks out there. Do an advanced search and you'll find hundreds of threads discussing chucks. It sure opens up the variety of projects you can turn and makes them a lot easier than constantly turning between head stock and tailstock.

You can turn branches from trees...stumps.....kiln dried wood...anything. Start out learning to ride your bevel on the tool. Do a lot of spindle turning. I used the Rowley book as a guide ....started with simple spindle turning.....coves...beads........then gradually into the other projects he recommends......Turn wood....turn spindles......learn to sharpen and ride that bevel!

I've been turning about 10 months now and have found a new passion! It's nearly instant gratification!

Good luck with you turning endeavors! I can't wait to see your first Bonker!

[Don Fuss]

Jeff,

Like Gordon, I would pass on that Amazon set and pick up the HF set. It has served me quite well. They're not premium tools by a long shot, but you should have no regrets going with them as starter tools.

[Mike Ramsey]

I would pass on the Amazon set, I bought a set from ebay for $9.00
way back when, but they actually come in quite handy.....I use the skew
to open finish cans, some of the others I reverse and use the handles
to stop the grinder wheels with, the others I use as weights to
hold sandpaper down....You can do better..

[George Tokarev]

If you can blend them with another order to offset the cost of shipping, they'll do just fine. Have seven of my original eight on the rack myself, though years of use have taken their toll. Tough to believe the 1" gouge (3/4 inside) was once more than twice as long, but he was my only roughing tool for perhaps ten years, so he ate a lot of grit, like my 1 1/4 rougher does now. Used him until he was dead dull on green wood, too.

You can tune carbon steel with a stone or hone a hell of a lot easier than HSS, so mine were generally given the task of administering the coup de grace when I thought they were irreplaceable. Now the pattern is making a well-deserved comeback, and I have a set of forged HSS, but I still find myself going back to the old carbon when it counts the most, and reserving the gouges for that purpose.

If you cut the way wood "prefers to be cut" as Frank Pain says, the forged tangs driven into light wood will never bother you, and you can take that spear point back to a chisel for a beading and planing tool. The round-nosed might be a scraper for a while, but it's not a bad "skewchigouge" with the double round grind when you get the gouge technique down and discover there's not much use for a scraper that thin.

Look in the background. Twenty-five years service. Couple are re-handled.

[Gary DeWitt]

My first set were from great neck tools, a bit bigger and heavier than the amazon set and definitely HSS. I'm still using some of them years later, though there are now many other manufacturers in my arsenal, including some home made.

[John Hart]

If you ask me.....:rolleyes: I know, I know...you didn't ask me....but I'm just saying, on the outside chance that you might ask me....my first set of chisels, much like the ones in the link there, taught me how to sharpen. And I'm glad they did. Not too sure if my HSS tools would have taught me the same lessons. I used the skew just the other day on an antler pen. Worked great.
I also use them to open cans like Mr Ramsey. I'd like to learn how to throw them at a target....maybe start up a contest for Creeker Visit Picnics and stuff.;)

[Mike Ramsey]

If you ask me.....:rolleyes: I know, I know...you didn't ask me....but I'm just saying, on the outside chance that you might ask me....my first set of chisels, much like the ones in the link there, taught me how to sharpen. And I'm glad they did. Not too sure if my HSS tools would have taught me the same lessons. I used the skew just the other day on an antler pen. Worked great.
I also use them to open cans like Mr Ramsey. I'd like to learn how to throw them at a target....maybe start up a contest for Creeker Visit Picnics and stuff.;)

I agree that they will help you with learning to sharpen. They are a
little off balanced for throwing...:rolleyes: But I'll start practicing...;) .

[Jeff Yates]

Well thank you everyone for the support...

I'm gonna wait till this beast gets here before I do something crazy like order everything at once...*laugh* I may just get a set of the cheapies so I can learn what kind of sharpening is required...

Thankfully Gulf Coast Turners meets what appears to be twice a month here in Houston...and in addition ot the group learning process, they have a library of video's and DVD's I can watch...how cool is that?

I'm fairly excited to add this to my shop...now it'll be one of those, what machine do I want to work on now? *LOL*

[Paul Engle]

Jeff, welcome aboard .
Chris Hartley ( fellow creeker) is only about 30 miles from you in Springs, give him a shout .