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Thread: Good long handle turning tool starter set?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Good long handle turning tool starter set?

    Kinda new to turning, on and off since I was a kid, but am looking for a decent turning tool set to get started on my "new" lathe to replace my fathers Record Power mini.

    I inherited a lot of my tools from my fathers passing and have most of the basic pieces, but would like to start fresh and yes money is a little tight, especially after the lathe purchase.

    Does anyone know a decent set, I keep being sent to the Sorby brand, which are nice, but a little out of the price range and was thinking about the Wood River set from Wood Craft.

    Just a note I do have a full set up with the Tormek system, so I can keep the tools very sharp.

    Thanks in advanced!

  2. #2
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    I'll be the first to say that the Harbor Freight set is a real bargain at 40 bucks shipped to your door. They are of respectable quality, certainly good enough to start. If you want to spend a little more and get a more versatile set, PSI (Penn State Ind) has a set with a bowl gouge. The HF set I got did not have a bowl gouge. If you inherited a bowl gouge, you should be all set. I'm not saying the HF set is a set that you can turn on forever, but it's a real good start... I still use mine. I think they're better than the craftsperson set I had bought. And spent more to get 4 chisels. I still use them, but when I turn next to the head or tailstock. If I hit metal, no loss.

  3. #3
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    If you already have some basic tools, don't waste your money on any "set". There will be some of them that you will hardly use. It is a false economy.
    Find a local turning club if you can, and learn how to use what you have. You may also have the opportunity to try out some, What will be the best tools for you depends on what you are going to turn. Learn to use what you have and use the same money to afford the better quality individual tool that yours is inadequate and are going to use the most. A large tool with long handle would provide the leverage, but won't be agile for delicate detail work. The perfect tools have not been invented yet.
    It would be better when you know why you want certain tools and ask specific questions.
    The bottom line is tools won't make you a better turner. Turning tools are held free hand, how you present the cutting edge to wood would produce different finish. The lifting, swinging and rotating the tool handles at the same time is a complicated motion. Price of the tool has no guarantee on results.
    Gordon

  4. #4
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    Benjamins Best from PSI and Woodriver from Woodcraft are both decent starter tools. I have some of both. I'm gradually replacing them with better quality, but while learning to sharpen I've enjoyed the cheaper tools. They work fine, just need to sharpen a little more often.
    Chris

    What! There's no coffee!!?

  5. #5
    The $40 Harbor Freight set was what I bought, after buying a couple of gouges. I still use much of it, it's always nice to have scrapers you can make into custom shapes if you need, and the rest are functional. Add a Thompson 1/2" V bowl gouge and turn a handle for a starting project. I much prefer my Sorby 3/8" spindle gouge to the HF one, but the rest of the tools are quite functional.

  6. #6
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    I agree with Gordon. Buying a set of tools because the price is right is a bad idea. You'll live with them for a long time and you'll probably replace some of them one at a time with quality tools. You didn't say what tools you have now. Perhaps you only need a couple of tools to get you going.

    In my turning classes I advise buying a minimum amount of decent quality tools and adding to them as you find that you need them. I've never found anybody who regretted doing that.

    Wally

  7. #7
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    Agree that sets are usually a waste of money. Buy one 1/2" V Thompson bowl gouge and turn a handle for it. Motor very gently at the grinder and keep the original grind shape of the gouge until you gain more experience. You can do nearly everything with one good bowl gouge and a parting tool. As your turning horizon expands you can add other individual tools as needed.
    Richard in Wimberley

  8. #8
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    Agree with Gordon - get with your local turning club before you start buying anything! It's tempting to just jump right in and get new tools but you really need to find out what you want to turn, what tools are needed to do that style of turning, what size tools for the size of your lathe, etc. Your local club should be able to help answer all those questions and in the process save you a lot of money on tools you will hardly ever use.

    Best of luck with this! Looking forward to seeing some of your turnings!
    Steve

    “You never know what you got til it's gone!”
    Please don’t let that happen!
    Become a financial Contributor today!

  9. #9
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    My father old tools were from when he was making pens on the Record Power mini lather, 5/8" gouge, 3/8" gouge, and a couple others.

    I have a HF close by and for $40.00 for their "Windsor Design", cheaper than one of the Wood River pieces. Had to do it. Gotta say, hate to buy Made in China stuff but for 40.0, not bad at all. I did head over to the local WC and pick up a long handle 3/4" gouge Wood River, was going to get the Sorby, but it was $75.00!

    I have a free standing maple butcher block/cutting block I want to make and will be using some green maple from a tree I just cut down on my property to turn for the legs.

    I do have the Tormek system and have tried to sharpen the older ones, not terrible results but not great. It would make me a little nervous to buy one of the expensive ones and ruin the tip on it and then try to get it back. Also I did join the Central CT Wood Turners club, but there will not be a meeting till September.

    I am waiting for that to start looking at what chuck and other tools I should get and start building to better tools.

    I do have another question, there is a lot of short videos on line, but is there a recommended video for some turning basics with out the fluff and just to the point?

  10. #10
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    Jan 2006
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    Midlands, SC- SW VA
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    Ditto on the purchase of sets. Some of them will be collecting dust.Highland carries a badger line as well and is discontinuing the sorby line because it has gotten too expensive. I really like Doug Thompson's tools, but I also like Crown's stuff (less expensive than Sorby and often at discounts) and Hamlet's (more expensive than Sorby but I think better made, longer lasting). Really depends on what you will be turning. I know several turners who have just a few tools, but as a tool junky I keep scores of them, wait until they need sharpening and then devote a few hours to getting them all sharp.
    Regards, Hilel.
    No one has the right to demand aid, but everyone has a moral obligation to provide it-William Godwin

  11. #11
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    Bill Grumbine's videos on bowl turning are said to be excellent, but not free. I think Jet has a couple basic turning vids you can see online. Others here probably know of some more online vids.
    Last edited by Richard Madison; 07-18-2009 at 7:24 PM. Reason: Left out some words.
    Richard in Wimberley

  12. #12
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    Sharpening and Video Recommendations

    Lyle,

    Welcome to the wonderful world of turning. It's very addictive.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lyle W. Kerr View Post
    ...

    I do have the Tormek system and have tried to sharpen the older ones, not terrible results but not great. ...
    Sharpening, even with the Tormek system, takes practice. Having Tormek's full set of turning tool jigs make it a lot easier (if you don't have the jigs, get them!), but you still need to know what shape you want to end up with, how to tell when the tool is sharp (and when it's dull!), and how to get the result you want. Some suggestions:

    • If you have access to a stationary belt sander, use it to round off the sharp corners along the top and bottom edges (where the skew rides along the tool rest) of your new skew chisels. You don't want to round over the the edge of the tool, just relieve the sharp corners so they don't dig into your tool rest.
    • After you've sharpened your tools, take an extra moment or two to relieve the heel of the bevel slightly. The Tormek will give you a very crisp line defining the end of the bevel. This crisp line can bruise the wood as you try to "ride the bevel". Relieving the heel (softening the crisp line) will reduce the bruising and make it easier to glide your tool through the cut. (Relieving the heel of the bevel is NOT just a Tormek thing. It's good practice with a dry grinder, too -- assuming the dry grinder produces a well defined heel.
    • Buy a tear drop shaped hand-held hone and learn to use it. Your Tormek has a leather honing wheel that does a great job. Honing between sharpenings with a hand-held hone is faster and easier than going back to the leather wheel. Honing between sharpenings allows you to go longer between sessions with your Tormek.

    • Learn how to turn using one consistent shape for your tools. Once you've gotten the basic turning AND sharpening techniques down, feel free to experiment with different shapes for your gouges and other turning tools. It's far harder to learn how to use your tool correctly if the geometry of your tool changes materially with each sharpening (you present a bowl gouge to the wood differently if it has a bevel angle of 65 degrees at the nose than if it has a 45 degree angle). Similarly, it's hard to tell if you're getting the tool sharp if you can't tell whether the tool's not cutting because it's dull or because you're presenting the tool improperly to the wood.

    ...I do have another question, there is a lot of short videos on line, but is there a recommended video for some turning basics with out the fluff and just to the point?
    Here are three recommendations:

    • Turning techniques.
      • For learning how to use your tools for spindle turning, the best video I've seen (and I've seen a lot and own a lot of turning videos) is The Skew Chisel by Allan Batty. In this relatively brief video Allan demonstrates the proper use of each of the basic spindle turning tools -- the skew chisel, the spindle roughing gouge, the spindle gouge, and the parting tool. He carefully shows how each tool should be held and presented to the wood. He demonstrates each of the basic cuts that each tool makes. While the focus is on how to use each tool and NOT on how to make a particular project, Allan finishes the video by demonstrating the use of each of the tools in turning a cabriolet table leg. Unfortunately, I don't think this video is available for free viewing on the web (but your local club might have a copy or one of its members might lend you his). Here's a link to where you can buy the video: http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st...skew_vid?Args=
      • For bowl turning techniques, three are lots of popular videos. My personal favorite is Bowl Basics the Easy Way by Lyle Jamieson. In fact, it's my favorite turning video on any topic. In this lengthy 2 DVD video, Lyle shows you how to make all the basic cuts used in bowl turning. He also tells you how to set up your lathe, how to sharpen your bowl gouge, how to mount the bowl blank to the lathe, what type of sandpaper to use, and, if you were still single, he'd offer his opinion on whom you should marry. Lyle has an opinion on virtually every turning topic and he shares most of them in this video. More than that, he clearly explains why he believes what he does. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st...l_basics?Args=

    • Turning Projects. Turning is about making things, not about technique. There are lots of very good videos on how to make various projects. These videos focus on how to make something rather than how to use a particular tool. Most of the better videos are commercially made. Fortunately, Bob Hamilton (a fellow Creeker) has spent a lot of time and effort in making a set of project videos that are available for free on YouTube. This is fortunate not (just) because they are free, but because they are some of the best project videos available at any price. The sound and video quality is not as good as you might expect from a commercial video (what on YouTube is?), but you'll quickly forget that as Bob walks you through the making of each project. He basically shows the entire process, from start to finish, of making whatever he happens to be making in that particular video. Because you see virtually ever cut, each project takes up several YouTube clips (which are limited to 10 minutes each by YouTube). So, watching the making of a project from start to finish can take an hour or more. Still, because you see virtually every cut, and because Bob frequently stops to explain what he's doing and why, you learn a lot. Here's a link to a thread that lists several of Bob's videos (There are several more videos. You'll need to do a search.): http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=109397

    Hope this helps.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Stow, OH
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    Your local turning club is a good resource. Most of them have library books and DVD for members to borrow. Contact the officers of the club. You may be able to hook up with a mentor close to you.

    Most of the video on YouTube are good. But a small fraction of them are actually what not to do disguised as how to video. Some may give the impression that they are experts, but the techniques are poor. You have to know how to distinguish them. It is hard to dis-learn some bad habits.
    Gordon

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Whitmore Lake, MI
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    Lyle,
    Welcome to the Creek for starters! I'm pretty new myself, just a few months. You found a great forum for advice! Okay brown nosing done. About the only tip I can give is videos. I have 2 of Bill Grumbine's on bowl turning and love em. My mom has no interest in turning and love's them too lol. Bill is very thurough and still entertaining to watch. I also have a Raffan video on box making, in which he flies through like 6 boxes. I don't care for the Raffan video as much, but would still recommend it to anyone who wants to make boxes. There's my two-hundredths of a dollar.
    Phil

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