Thread: looking for tools etc

Hiya Red, my 2 cents worth.
Our Guild has got a lot of new members so your question is a current one.
Sets of chisels tend to have some chisels that barely get used so we suggest getting individual chisels.
Over here the popular way is to use the Woodcut M2 replaceable tips.
Order of purchase:

1. 13mm bowl gouge, ground to 45 degree (mid way between 35 and 55 as a compromise). You can rough and finish turn with this
2. Chuck with 50mm jaws like a Nova G3 or equivalent
3. Woodcut sharpening jig or equivalent. Quickest way to hold/increase the value of your gouges is to be able to reproduce the correct bevel angle every time. This means you are sharpening, not grinding away the edge
4. 10mm bowl gouge, ground to 45 degree
5. 13mm bowl gouge, ground to 35 degree and change your first one to 55 degree
6. 10mm bowl gouge, ground to 35 degree and change your first one to 55 degree or
7. 16mm bowl gouge, ground to 35 degree and this becomes you roughing gouge. (Please do not use the spindle roughing gouge, the tang does not have the strength)
8. 100m jaw set for your chuck

Also recommend joining your local Guild. Often older turners get rid of gear to beginners so you could benefit.
We also get equipment given to us by members of the public when Grandad passes.

Finally, I will mention safety gear. Use a full facemask/shield. Turning bigger stuff than pens tends to make a bigger mess when things go bad

Sounds like you're hooked, welcome to the Vortex. Cheers Ian

+1.... on the sound advice from Ian

Although I seem to get by with the same grind angle on all of my bowl gouges, but understand the advice to have some gouges with a less acute grind as some people prefer this for turning the inside bottoms of bowls. A less acute grind on the gouge used for roughing down is also an advantage, as a less acute grind is more durable, while a more fragile acute grind is usually better for finishing cuts.

Agree fully on the need for a "sharpening jig", and if funds are short make your own:

• Simplest
• Intermediate
• Advanced

i don't know whether I'm missing something here but the posts in this thread seem to equate grinding with sharpening. Is this way it is done nowadays with the high-tech steels or is using a stone to keep the edge too obvious to mention?
Cheers,
Jim

Originally Posted by jimbur

... is using a stone to keep the edge too obvious to mention?

Not at all, Jim.

Turners have different preferences on this.

My own preference is to touch up skews with a fine diamond plate at the lathe. It is easy to maintain the bevel profile on a skew, so no issues when I go back to re-grind.

Back when I sharpened my gouges freehand I also touched up the edge with a diamond plate at the lathe, but nowadays I only sharpen with a jig. It's quick, repeatable, predictable and I grind away less valuable steel... for me, it's not worth risking mucking up the gouge bevel with freehand honing.

Honing the flute is a separate issue, and well worth the investment of time and effort.

Thanks Neil. That clears that up in my mind. Not that that one item gives me a clear mind.
Cheers,
Jim

Originally Posted by soundman

The fact that, it is or is not HSS, can be assertained by presenting the tool to the grinder and observing the colour of the sparks and how the thin edge colours when heavily ground.
The quality of the metal and how well it holds an edge will become very obvious when the tool is used.

Not real good advice, & way too late by then to find out its not HSS. No retailer will refund your money once the tool has hit the grinder & good luck with consumer affairs forcing a refund. Tools are cheap for one of a few reasons, artificially maintained trade advantages; a lower cost base; or inferior materials & production QA. You get what you pay for in quality & must compare apples with apples. Yes some asian tools are as good as those sourced from more traditional suppliers & in fact in some cases are the identical product. A good friend in the tackle trade says "all products come with a lifetime waranty. when it breaks that was its lifetime!" However more traditional suppliers are prepared to back their product.

As for the original request, I back comments similar to those by (no spindle roughing gouges on bowls) and those by TurnedbyIan. Now that you reckon you are going to stick with the turning gig, its far better to identify what projects you want to create then set about acquiring better quality tools to do that task & ones that will last. Sure very experienced turners can use any cutting edge to acheive a cut, because they understand the principles of the cutting action & the materials, but thats just ego trip stuff.

"A bargain is something you can't use at a price you can't resist" Franklin Jones