Jet Mini Bonanza at Amazon

Yeah, I bought it for $249 (-$25) and saw it for $219 later and got the $30 difference. However, their price changes daily (hourly ?) so catching the lower price can be a bit time consuming. It is now $237 ( as of 12/16, ~ 4PM) so I guess I won't get the other $20. Oh well.

robd> Amazon is going hog wild with prices these days. As it pertains to this > forum:

THANKS!!!

I jumped on this, by the morning the price went up.

Can anyone recommend some tools for a newbie as I wait for delivery?

I don't necessarily want a "set", just as I've never bought a set of router bits.

What do you folks consider the first 4-5 turning tools to buy?

Thanks, Barry

Hi Barry,

Congratulations on your new lathe. Here's what I recommend for your first tools. This list isn't cast in stone, it's just a place to start.

1. 3/8" Spindle Gouge ()
2. 3/8" Bowl Gouge ()
3. 1/2" square end scraper ()
4. 1/2" round nose scraper ()
5. Thin Parting Tool ()

Woodturners are a generous and open group. Find a local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. Check out their website

Although I am a diehard do-it-yourselfer and had been a woodworker for 20 years, I took a class when I started turning. After almost ten years of turning, I look back at the initial lessons as one of the best decisions I made. It opened a whole new world and deepened the enjoyment a whole bunch.

A good source for tools is Packard Woodworking

This is a smallish family-run business, but big enough so they have a nice catalog, good inventory and prices, great customer service, and an insider's knowledge about the selection of tools (the owner is a turner).

By the way, the least expensive tools are carbon steel - don't waste your money as carbon tools become dull very quickly. Start with basic HHS (high speed steel), or maybe one of the offshoots, such as M2 steel. Stay with the cheaper tools made from these materials. There are wonderful advances in metallurgy that produces tools that are wonderful (Glaser tools, Oneway, 2060) but expensive. As a newbie, you will spend a while getting the hang of putting a good cutting edge on the tool. This means you will be grinding away on your learning curve. No sense having expensive metal filings from a fancy tool under your grinding wheel. Reward yourself with tool upgrades as your skills develop.

There are many great books and videos (VHS and DVDs). Pace yourself. Spend time at the lathe just making shavings. Observe how the cutting edge separates the shavings from the block. Try different positions and angles. Find a teacher--it's a lot more fun than trial and error. Many techniques are not intuitive or obvious. Allow the bevel to lightly rub against the wood.

Protect yourself. Please please do not skimp or be casual about safety. Get a good face shield and use it 100% of the time (Face shield goes ON before lathe goes ON). When sanding, wear a respirator too--it makes a noticable difference even if you just spend a few minutes sanding.

All the best, John H.

Hi Barry,

Congratulations on your new lathe. Here's what I recommend for your first tools. This list isn't cast in stone, it's just a place to start.

1. 3/8" Spindle Gouge ()
2. 3/8" Bowl Gouge ()
3. 1/2" square end scraper ()
4. 1/2" round nose scraper ()
5. Thin Parting Tool ()

Woodturners are a generous and open group. Find a local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. Check out their website

Although I am a diehard do-it-yourselfer and had been a woodworker for 20 years, I took a class when I started turning. After almost ten years of turning, I look back at the initial lessons as one of the best decisions I made. It opened a whole new world and deepened the enjoyment a whole bunch.

A good source for tools is Packard Woodworking

This is a smallish family-run business, but big enough so they have a nice catalog, good inventory and prices, great customer service, and an insider's knowledge about the selection of tools (the owner is a turner).

By the way, the least expensive tools are carbon steel - don't waste your money as carbon tools become dull very quickly. Start with basic HHS (high speed steel), or maybe one of the offshoots, such as M2 steel. Stay with the cheaper tools made from these materials. There are wonderful advances in metallurgy that produces tools that are wonderful (Glaser tools, Oneway, 2060) but expensive. As a newbie, you will spend a while getting the hang of putting a good cutting edge on the tool. This means you will be grinding away on your learning curve. No sense having expensive metal filings from a fancy tool under your grinding wheel. Reward yourself with tool upgrades as your skills develop.

There are many great books and videos (VHS and DVDs). Pace yourself. Spend time at the lathe just making shavings. Observe how the cutting edge separates the shavings from the block. Try different positions and angles. Find a teacher--it's a lot more fun than trial and error. Many techniques are not intuitive or obvious. Allow the bevel to lightly rub against the wood.

Protect yourself. Please please do not skimp or be casual about safety. Get a good face shield and use it 100% of the time (Face shield goes ON before lathe goes ON). When sanding, wear a respirator too--it makes a noticable difference even if you just spend a few minutes sanding.

All the best, John H.

--- Snip a lot of GREAT information! ---

Thanks again. I'm very safety conscious around any power tool, and I appreciate these tips.

Thanks again for taking the time to write such an informative and thoughtful reply!

Barry

The ones in a normal set. Parting tool, roughing gouge, spindle gouge, skew and scraper. Add a bowl gouge if you're going to reach and give leverage.

As often discussed, carbon steel sets are available at reasonable prices and finishes, HSS only modestly higher. The one thing you may have to do with inexpensive sets is take the sharp edges left on the shafts by grinding.

Barry

=============================== Barry, I'll probably open a can of worms here, but I'd recommend that you get a set of the "el cheapo" carbon steel tools from Harbor Freight for around $12.00 USD. They're not very good, and won't last long, but they will make you learn to sharpen properly, because they don't hold their edge well. In order to turn, you'll need to go back to the grinding wheel every few minutes to touch up the edge. You'll grind off a lot of steel before you get the hang of sharpening properly. When you feel that you have the sharpening thing down, go back to Harbor Freight for their High Speed Steel set at around $40.00 USD. That is a serviceable set that should last you a long while. You'll also need a bowl gouge (not included in the set), if you intend to much bowl work, and a few home made, or speciality tools as the need arises. This way you won't waste most of a set of HSS tools learning to sharpen. Others disagree, but that's my opinion, FWIW.

Ken Moon Webberrville, TX

What you say is true, but his first sharpening efforts won't be very good, so, no matter what steel he uses, he'll be back and forth to the grinder with some regularity until he learns how to do it correctly. However, he won't work all the way through the HSS set before he gets the hang of it. Then he'll have $52 invested in a single set of tools because once he gets the hang of sharpening the HSS, he won't use the carbon steel set for much.

I am presently using the $40 set plus a couple bowl side & bottom scrapers made from scraps of tool steel scrounged at work (from the 'pitch it' pile), a Sorby hollow form scraper, a small gouge re-ground to serve as a watch case gouge and a small spindle gouge (from the HF set) reground as a bowl gouge. While the Sorby scraper is a good tool, I can't tell that it is any better constructed than the HF tools or even my home-made scrapers (except that the home-made tools are flat stock that I haven't bothered to put handles on).

I have a number of HF power tools (lathe, planer, shaper, bandsaw, drill press) and, while they are not built like a Laguna, neither are they priced like one. The HF power tools will last me, I think, until I am able to determine whether I am good enough to earn my living doing this or not.

And that's long enough for me.

Bill

I'm a relatively experienced woodworker and pretty good at sharpening my hand tools. Sharpening lathe tools dosen't look all that different from sharpening the bench, mortise, swan neck, and skew chisels that I already own.

Am I missing something? If so, the HF idea makes a lot of sense.

Thanks! Barry

my wife used to own a sharpening shop, sharpening saw blades, chain saws, machete, axes, restaurant knives.. bout anything that needed sharpening.. It took her 2 or 3 tries to sharpen my lathe chisels.. especially since I've been butchering them for 20 years.. What worked best was to get the $9.00 set of HF chisels for her to look at.. so she know what mine were supposed to be.. angles, edges, etc.. I am NOT a good sharpener, so I'm going by what she said... that lathe chisels were harder than saw blades or other tools... and the one that she had the most trouble with, the skew, was the one that I thought would be easiest..

BTW.. if you're going to HF, I recommend the 3 piece mini chisel set for $10.. the bowl gouge didn't impress me, the small skew is deadly sharp and still is after 2 days of my playing with it and the cheap, tinny looking parting tool is really very handy.. and somehow stays pretty sharp..

Thanks.

I signed up for a six session, 3-1/2 hour session turning class today, which includes sharpening. I guess that session will be quite important! I'm actually holding off on buying any tools until the January 5th first class. The school has quite an assortment, so maybe I can see what I like and don't like before I buy anything.

Barry