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Thread: Best Newbie wood lathe tools

  1. #16
    I think I am going to try a variety of things including some of the higher end stuff here.

    Working on learning skew techniques now.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    TX, NM or on the road
    Posts
    845
    The Benjamin's Best and Harbor Freight are the same, along with another new comer is the Savannah brand. They all look a like and cut and sharpen a like. The HF set is the cheapest. I buy the HF set for new students, I think they are the best ones when wasting metal on the grinder. The students I have are not and most never will be woodturners, they want to learn callmaking so they want tooling as reasonably as they can get. The HF set has some they will never have to use, I show them how to grind those in to specialty chisel just for callmaking. The HF set and a few reground 1/2 spade bits with handles are all I use for callmaking.

  3. #18
    I have never been a fan of 'buy the cheap ones first'. When ever there are tool reviews in the woodworking magazines, they usually have 'best tool', and 'best value'. I go for the best value tools every time. Main reason is I get more for my money. Other reason is they will serve me longer and better than the cheap tools. As some one who sold most of my work, I make more money off of the tools. Kind of like CBN grinding wheels. They cost more, but you get far better results with them....
    robo hippy

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Gassaway, WV
    Posts
    1,221
    Reed your computer seems to be hung up on the #39.
    Fred

  5. #20
    No clue about this. New computer with Windows 10. This is the only forum or web site where this happens. No spell check either on this one... Apostrophy comes up ' every time and if I edit, I get a p> and a quotation mark comes up " . It doesn't do this till I post the reply...
    robo hippy

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298

    which editor?

    Quote Originally Posted by Reed Gray View Post
    No clue about this. New computer with Windows 10. This is the only forum or web site where this happens. No spell check either on this one... Apostrophy comes up ' every time and if I edit, I get a p> and a quotation mark comes up " . It doesn't do this till I post the reply...
    robo hippy
    Reed, did you ever check to see which editor you are using with SMC? I asked before but didn't see a response, I may have missed it. I had all kinds of issues with the enhanced WYSIWYG editor and they all went away when I switched to the Standard editor. If you are not using the Standard you might try it as an experiment. Click Settings, General Settings, and scroll to the bottom of the page.

    JKJ

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
    Posts
    3,655
    Any reasonably priced HSS tools from one of the reputable suppliers are a good place to start. Some really cheap tools have odd profiles that are useless or not very functional, "sets" of tools typically come with three tools you use and three that will sit unused forever in your shop. Once you've done enough turning to have worn a few tools down to the nub you may have developed the distinctions that might allow you to appreciate the differences between the various high end and exotic tools and steels available. I haven't gotten there yet; my technique is much more limiting than my tools-- I've done the experiment, my turning, sadly, doesn't get better with more exotic steel! You can get a very serviceable 1/2" bowl gouge for well under $100 and be good to go for a long time.

  8. #23
    <p>
    Tried that, and I could not edit my post. Tried both basic and Standard and when I tried to edit, I got a grey screen, and I couldn&#39;t click on it and type...</p>
    <p>
    robo hippy</p>
    Last edited by Reed Gray; 10-08-2017 at 3:21 PM.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Reed Gray View Post
    <p>
    Tried that, and I could not edit my post. Tried both basic and Standard and when I tried to edit, I got a grey screen, and I couldn't click on it and type...</p>
    <p>
    robo hippy</p>
    Yikes! Maybe your computer is possessed by demons or something. I haven't seen any grey screens with the various editors. I'm using Win10 on a laptop and Safari on an iPad.

    JKJ

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Northern Illinois
    Posts
    943
    I've only been turning for about 8 months (and not constantly during that time). When I started I was told that I could go with carbide tools, like EasyWood, or buy the HSS and the required sharpening equipment, taking the time to learn to sharpen. I chose the Easy Wood direction because I wasn't sure I would really like turning (I like all kinds of woodworking and really don't like to do just one thing.) I found the carbide tools were a quick and easy way to get into turning and get generally good results without spending a lot of time on the front end with developing sharpening skills. I would guess that I don't get as smooth a surface with the carbide tools but, as I turned a few bowls, I found that, if I was careful and took light final passes, I was able to get a good finish that didn't require hours of sanding. I also bought a small right angle drill from Harbor Freight with foam disks and use that to sand my bowls, especially the inside. This speeds up the sanding process and, with the dust collection I have set up, very little dust escapes. As time goes on I may move into HSS tools as I do have a Tormek and only require the correct jigs to move into gouge sharpening. I have found that I can get the carbide cutters sharp after each use by honing the flat side of the cutter on a diamond stone (as was already mentioned). I think the result is a tool that is at least as sharp as the original. Anyway, I'm satisfied for now. I get to spend my time turning and don't need to spend the time to develop sharpening skills. I think it is a good starting point. The one thing I would recommend is a good class, even if it's only a 4-hour intro. It really helps. I took a class and then took the same beginning class a second time to make sure I wasn't developing bad habits. The instructor was great and I now feel I understand what's wrong when things don't go right. Good luck.

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