New lathe finished

medic

New User
john
New stand is done and the lathe is sitting on top of it. Question: need to ask Santa for some tools, any recommendations on what to ask for, looking for a basic set of tools to play with for now
 

awldune

Sam
User
You'll want a chuck if you don't have one.
A "slow speed" bench grinder such as the Rikon 8''
A gouge sharpening jig such as the Wolverine.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
And I have a Wolverine II for gouges that I'm not using. you'll need the grinder bracket and support arm; basic stuff.
 

Pop Golden

New User
Pop
Sometimes us woodworkers start too many projects. #-1 6 to 9 months I purchased 3 motors from Harbor Fright. These were to fix a problem with my WT Tool cheesy clockwise only motors. Their still sitting waiting for me to rebuild the stand for my belt sander. #-2 I bought a Nova Saturn lathe & designed a cabinet for it. While I was making design changes and starting to build #-3 my wife bought a new range. The one we had was a drop-in. Nobody wants those anymore so up comes the kitchen cabinet modification operation for a slide-in range. My wife also wanted a gas range. What a quagmire. We put in electric. Then...... #-4 My wife wanted a walk-in bathtub. This was a number 1 pain in the whatever. Had to cut the existing tub in half to get it out. This process covered my shop with fine cast iron dust. I thought I had my Powermatic 15 in. plane protected. The input & output tables were covered in lots I mean LOTS of rust.Had to tear the machine down and go through it. #-5 She also wanted to redo the bathrooms. new tile, cabinet & toilets. 2 toilets & a cabinet have been sitting in the front of the shop for a month. I can't even get in the blasted shop, much less work in there. They are putting in the tile, cabinet & toilets today. SAINTS BE PRAISED ! ! !

Now after all those problems, to answer your question. I like Crown lathes. I've had good success with them. I have bought Nova chucks and jaws. You can use a faceplate to start, but you're going to want a chuck as you go along.
Sams right a slow speed grinder and a Wolverine grinding rig.

Pop
 

smallboat

smallboat
Corporate Member
Now I don't feel so bad about my list!

If your initial question was about turning tools, I have had good success with Hurricane brand. They have done better for me than the Benjamins Best from PSI. I have one nice bowl gouge that was gifted to me, I don't know the manufacturer or I would recommend that over the Hurricanes.

I'm with the others regarding sharpening. After mucking around with a homemade fixture, I invested in the Wolverine and only wish I had done it sooner.

A lot depends on what you're going to do. Once I got started with bowls I quickly saw the wisdom of a good chuck. I've used the low cost Utility chuck from PSI and can't really recommend it. I am happy with the Hurricane brand chuck and also have a Oneway Stronghold I picked up here used. It was the single highest cost item in my shop and worth it.

Others may suggest carbide tip tools to save you from sharpening and the equipment required. May be good advice, I can't say as I haven't used them. There are folks here who certainly do good work with them.

Good luck with your adventures in turning, be sure to show us the results.
 

beloitdavisja

James
Corporate Member
Can't say enough about how much I love my sharpening setup - Rikon 8" slow speed with 2 CBN wheels (180 & 600 grit) from Woodturners Wonders, and a wolverine jig. Woodturners Wonders sells a nice bundle that includes the grinder and 2 wheels for a good price. I started off with the grizzly wet grinder and a homemade wolverine jig. The real thing is leaps and bounds better.

As for tools, I actually discourage getting a set. I bought the Harbor Freight set when I started, and found out that I only used less than half of them. I'd buy 3-4 good quality tools - 1 bowl gouge (3/8" to 1/2"), 1 spindle gouge (3/8"), and a roughing gouge (3/4"+). Eventually you'll also want to get a parting tool and a skew. I have a few carbides, but I find myself using them less and less since I upgraded my sharpening setup - takes much less time and effort to sharpen, so I do it way more often now. As for brands, I've heard good things about Hurricane from others. I've been getting Sorby tools, and WoodRiver. The Sorby's are definitely better than the WR, but the WR's are still pretty good.

Nova chucks are great - I have three of them (two G3's and a SuperNova2). The G3 is a great all around chuck that you can do a lot of projects with before getting something beefier.
 

blackhawk

Brad
Corporate Member
I use the Grizzly wet grinder and the Tormek jigs to sharpen my lathe tools. (The Grizzly jigs are not very good, not even in the same world as Tormek.) It seems like that I am the only one in North America that uses a wet grinder. I've seen the Wolverine in action. I can't tell that it is any faster for day to day sharpening. In less than 2 minutes, I can shave the hairs off my arm with my bowl gouges. If you need to completely re-shape a tool, the wet grinder will be definitely slower. The wet grinder is super versatile for sharpening just about anything, knives, scissors, skews, carving tools, chisels, etc.
 

blackhawk

Brad
Corporate Member
I'll also add that the Sorby tools are great. They are medium priced. Woodcraft is running a deal right now for 20% off Sorby. I've gotten into bowl turning pretty heavy. I bought a high end M42 steel bowl gouge and I wasn't impressed. The Sorby's with the M2 steel perform just as well in my opinion. I could tell no difference in edge retention.

I actually broke my spindle roughing gouge and Sorby replaced it free of charge.
 

Pop Golden

New User
Pop
I have 1 or 2 Sorby tools. I started with Crown and find them to be quite good. I have always considered Sorby a little expensive for my taste. I have Nova chucks, a 1" X 8 tpi for my mini lathe and a 1-18" X 8 tpi for my new Nova lathe. Chucks are the greatest thing since sliced bread. When you get one you're going to love it.

Pop
 

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