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12-31-2024, 10:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-31-2024, 10:55 PM by Lance H.)
Did woodworking for years and posted here quite a bit years ago, but never in woodturning. Sold my shop in 2018 and have done nothing productive except travel ever since. Always wanted to do round stuff but wife had me doing so much flatwork I never got around to it until now. New lathe planned after taking a turning class at Rockler as a Christmas present. So, recommendations wanted for carbide turning tools, to be applied vigorously to wood this spring. Or anything else knowledgeable people want to share. Thinking of the variable speed Jet for a lathe.
Lance
creator of fine quality walnut firewood
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(12-31-2024, 10:53 PM)Lance H Wrote: Did woodworking for years and posted here quite a bit years ago, but never in woodturning. Sold my shop in 2018 and have done nothing productive except travel ever since. Always wanted to do round stuff but wife had me doing so much flatwork I never got around to it until now. New lathe planned after taking a turning class at Rockler as a Christmas present. So, recommendations wanted for carbide turning tools, to be applied vigorously to wood this spring. Or anything else knowledgeable people want to share. Thinking of the variable speed Jet for a lathe.
Like you I had done woodworking for years , mostly furniture and a bit of spindle turning on a HF lathe, never a bowl. This fall I took a 12 week intermediate turning class at the local community college. Enjoyed it so much , invested in a new lathe and turning tools. At the class I mostly used their traditional turning tools and learned sharpening which I decided I didn’t want to do going forward.
The lathe i purchased was a midi Nova Neptune fairly new on the market. Variable speed, direct drive. The direct drive means no fiddling with belts , which I found to be a PIA. Also the head swivels which allows a more convenient position for coring the bowl , especially for my old body in my space constrained shop.
My carbide tools are from Simple Woodworking Tools - full size started with 3 piece set and later added a scraper. American made, high quality fairly priced.
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Join a woodturning club. Is the best advice you will receive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not seek advice, and I wasted hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars.
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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Seems like everyone now has a version of carbide turning tools. I like the Easy Wood suite of carbide cutting tools. Their handles are nice and they have a wide array of carbide tips. They are also widely available via most stores that sell wood turning tools. You can even find them on Amazon. They do come in different sizes so it's important to match the size of the tool to the size of work you plan on doing.
I don't use my carbide tools for my entire project, though. I find the traditional gouges leave a better surface, which reduces the amount of tearout and post-turning sanding. For traditional tools, I'm a big fan of Thompson lathe tools.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
