Thread: What's your favourite brand turning tools?

There will no doubt be another Thompson group buy at some stage

I might even organise it (but after September)

My faves? Definitely my Thompsons.

But the bulk of my chisels are P&N, simply 'cos IMHO they're the best local (to Aus) value for money. Good steel, suitable for our Oz hardwoods and I absolutely love their skew profiles... but, sadly, P&N do a pretty average job when milling the flutes of their gouges.

And don't forget that any ridges/grooves/imperfections in the flute will show on the cutting edge. So, unless you have the luxury of being able to sort through a box of several chisels to select the "best" to take to the cashier, then you need to put a fair amount of elbow grease into prepping them (sanding inside the flute) before they're ready for serious work.

Even so... I gots lots.

Very interesting Andy that you favour the Thompsons. U or V shape flutes?

If so, how many and what do you recommend?

I love my Henry Taylor Kryos but only have two - and one with an Ellsworth / Irish grind.

Sure, I will wear my P & Ns out before embarking on any serious purchases, but like Bruce and probably so many others, we need a starting point.

What's ideal in terms of a complete kit? A mix of makes probably, but I'd sure like to hear what everyone reckons.

I like the V-flute for the spindle gouges and U-flute for the bowl-gouges. Mainly 'cos the u gives better shaving flow, while the V makes for strength and less chatter.

Have a 1/2" and a 3/8" of both... or is that 3/8" and 1/4"? I know they're measured differently to the P&Ns, but forget how.

FWIW, the Thompsons are my favourite gouges. For skews and scrapers. the P&Ns are as good as any other I've found.

I also have quite a few chaiwanese tools... which are really just for when I want to grind something to a special edge for "one-off" use or to "see how this grind goes." Why waste good steel when the cheap stuff will do just as well? Well... unless and until I decide I want to keep a particular grind anyway.

I have one of the Glazer deep V gouges, and don't like it. Doug's V gouge is more of a deep flute, kind of U shaped, and his U gouge is more C shaped. I prefer his V gouge. Now, he has another tool, his 'fluteless'gouge. So, half round bar section for most of the bar length, and no flute. A ) shape on the nose, a short 60 degree nose bevel, and a longer 45 or so degree lower bevel. It is intended for finish cuts on the inside of the bowl, down the side, through the transition, and across the bottom. I have only used it on a few bowls, but it works nicely. Not used to the short bevel, or steep angle, but it gives really clean cuts. It works well on spindles for coves as well.

robo hippy

i used a old robert sorby 3/8 bowl gouge today and it went alright but i do like my p&n detial gouge for some bowl work! 12mm deep flute

As noted, if you want a clean cut the flute should be polished.

Thompson bowl gouges vary in the milling of the flute but generally need only a bit of refining. P&N take a good deal of work to refine. Some are unrecoverable frankly.

HT come from the factory in better nick and only need a bit of work.

And the few Sorby gouges I've had have had most of the work done, and some were exceptional, but I've found the steel quality mixed.

But bottom line, for most turners they'll be doing 'the last cut' with abrasives and the quality of the gouge flute won't be an issue.

It's relevant in other respects but that's another topic.

all my gouges are hand honed nice and sharpe with a norton india slip stone so they are very polished! found a shop that has old stock of p&n they didnt even know they had them! got them half price!

also my skews are p&n and bolher S600 half inch square