I looked through your thread, but I don't know what I need. I was just going to buy the set at Harbor Freight, but after looking at the set I realized that I don't know what half those tools are for.Make your own! I made my own set of carbide tipped tools for under $10. I will be making my own parting tool as well (like capt eddies). My thread "home made lathe tools" has more info and pics. Let me know if you have any questions!
Start with one or two good high speed steel tools , and as suggested above , a reasonable bench grinder and a fine wheel .Hi I just bought a small used Craftsman tubular lathe and need tools to make an apple hand plane knob from a tree branch. What’s the minimum and least expensive tools I need to accomplish this?
To the OP, sorry, for whatever reason I said there are 3 scrapers with this set. There are only 2. A round nose and a pointed. There is also a parting tool that I forgot to mention.The HF set is priced right enough you could get a feel for what appeals to you and then later replace them with better chisels where you can buy them individually. The eight piece set HF sells myself personally I wouldn't use the 1/4" or 1/2" gouge and the 3/4" gouge I would rather have a 1" one.
Really? Thiose are the most used tools in my arsenal.
Basically the gouge is used when you first start turning, when the wood is a uneven out of balance chunk of wood and you turn it into a smooth cylinder.
Thats a roughing gouge. This set dosnt contain a roughing gouge, just 2 spindle gouges and a detail gouge. Good luck roughing a blank with a detail gouge.
The spear point is like two skews back to back.
Im not sure what this spear point tool is but theres not one of those in this set either. Theres two spear pointed looking tools in this set. One is a parting tool, the other is a pointed scraper. I havnt found much use for the scraper yet. I do use it to cut a small recess fore a wire when Im going to burn lines on a tool handle or such but a scew would be just as good for that.
:huh: Oh I didn't realize that it was two pieces. The reason I wanted at least 6" was so that there would be enough to fit inside the holder. I have about a dozen metal lathe bits from when I took metal shop years ago and maybe I can use some of those....I would assume that when you talk about making your own tools, you mean carbide insert tools? If thats the case, you dont need to worry about HSS for that. The bar stock used for that is just holding the carbide that actually does the cutting. Cheap carbon steel bar stock works great for that purpose....
I have a couple of grinders and one that I could use to sharpen tools although I haven’t been so successful with sharpening flat chisels.I'm a recently new turner. I got the BB from PSI and love them.
However, the grinder you get is more important...well, it is more important you get a grinder. I would suggest the Rikon at woodcraft. Had for 100 on sale (miss the sale? Just ask to price match).
Otherwise you'll have dull tools after the first few turnings. This makes decent work impossible. Trust me. I made the mistake.
Thanks, that narrows it down some.You may want to take a look at these also. This is their web site but they sell through the bay and Amazon also. As yet they do not sell through retail store in order to keep the price down. Their chucks have had a lot of praise but not much on their tools yet. I purchased seven for my daughter and they seem fine; probably about the same quality HHS as the PSI, WC, and others.
I would go with the 1" roughing gouge, 1" skew, and 1/2" spindle gouge. You can make a parting tool easily or add that to you want list.
http://www.thewoodturningstore.com/products/Hurricane-HSS-1-Skew-Chisel-HSK1-54.html?cPath=4_15
:thumbsup:I have bought a lot of different quality, and brands of lathe tools over the years. However, the best investment over the years was my
first high quality gouge. It imediately made lathe work more fun.
This is not because the high dollar tools are that much better, but
when you are just starting out, and really "just learning", a tool
that has the proper usable grind, and will stay sharp for a reasonable length of time right out of the package, allows you to learn and have fun at the same time. I would spend the money for a 1/2 inch bowl gouge, and a 1/8 inch parting tool from high quality steel, and then when you find out how much fun it is you can build from there. I think that the tools from Doug Thompson are first rate, and are reasonably priced. They are in the 50 dollar range, and will last a
lifetime. Doug is a nice quy, and would be glad to advise you on
the proper choices to start you out.