I'm not sure if we are allowed to ask for specific brand name recommendations, but here goes. I am considering signing up for a bowl turning class at Woodcraft, and the class requires that I have a couple of bowl gouges and a scraper which I have not yet purchased.  Looking online, I saw Lee Valley Tools offers what I need from an English company named Crown, using powder metallurgy steel.  The prices seem reasonable.  So my question is, are these worth the money?  All thoughts and recommendations will be welcomed and appreciated.

If you are just starting out you may want to buy a less expensive tool.  Anything HSS will work.  Tools can get short in a hurry when learning the sharpening part of turning.

6 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

you may want to buy a less expensive tool

That thought occurred to me too. The three tools I need are about $70 apiece, which didn't seem out of line to me.  Are you thinking of HF, or maybe searching on Craigs list?  I don't want to put myself in the position of having a bad learning experience with bowl turning because I bought too cheaply, but I get your point about sharpening an expensive tool.

 

6 hours ago, HandyDan said:

If you are just starting out you may want to buy a less expensive tool.  Anything HSS will work.  Tools can get short in a hurry when learning the sharpening part of turning.

 

I am a big proponent of buying quality tools and I feel it almost never pays to go cheap. However, Dan has this one right. If it were me I would learn to sharpen on cheap tools before investing a lot. Not only that, maybe you won't like bowl turning? I don't know if I would go Harbor Freight cheap. IMO, Benjamen's Best tools from PSI are a decent value. For the record, I have a couple Crown gouges, they are very good tools.

 

Steve

Steve mentioned Benjamin's Best tools.  I have a couple I bought to learn on and found them to be a decent tool for the money.  They still have a lot of life left to them and I still use them though I don't turn many bowls.

2 hours ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

For  the record, I have a couple Crown gouges, they are very good tools.

 

Me, too.

11 hours ago, PostalTom said:

I'm not sure if we are allowed to ask for specific brand name recommendations,

Never an issue.

2 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Never an issue.

 

I like that!

2 hours ago, John Morris said:

Never an issue.

Thanks John.  Just didn't want to violate the "rules of the road" here.

When I started turning, I bought the cheap set from HF. I had a couple of things in mind. Cost was secondary. I knew that those tools would get dull and need sharpening. I would then have to learn sharpening. I felt it made a lot of sense to practice on cheap tools. I got a book and watched videos or sharpening. It took  a while and I did mess up a lot. I got pretty good at it. Then I saw the carbide cutters with tips that rotated. I got a set of them and they are my primary cutters. I Like them a lot. I have also learned to sharpen them using diamond grit stones. I still use the my old cutters, but not often

6 hours ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

IMO, Benjamen's Best tools from PSI are a decent value.

I looked at Benjamen's Best, but they didn't have the exact tools that Woodcraft was wanting to take the class.  I guess I will have to call them and find out how critical it is to have exactly what they want, or maybe I can come close.  That's why I was looking at the Crown tools from LV, since they seemed to be what Woodcraft wanted.

 

8 minutes ago, Ron Altier said:

When I started turning, I bought the cheap set from HF. I had a couple of things in mind. Cost was secondary. I knew that those tools would get dull and need sharpening. I would then have to learn sharpening. I felt it made a lot of sense to practice on cheap tools.

Ron, I did pretty much the same thing, plus I took a sharpening class from Woodcraft, and also bought a couple of Wolverine sharpening jigs.  I don't mean to pass myself off as a sharpening expert, but neither am I a complete utter novice.  That being said, none of the set I bought are bowl gouges, so I realize there is still a learning curve.

9 minutes ago, PostalTom said:

Thanks John.  Just didn't want to violate the "rules of the road" here.

The rules we do have, though they seem to be plenty, really don't apply to anyone here, they are used to keep the bad guys in check, and we don't have any bad guys, rarely do we come across any here on The Patriot Woodworker, the few we've had, they just seem to leave after awhile.

About the only rules we have that anyone should be aware of, is be kind, and don't say anything you wouldn't say in front of a child or your respected significant other. Beyond that, the road is wide open.

13 hours ago, PostalTom said:

That thought occurred to me too. The three tools I need are about $70 apiece, which didn't seem out of line to me.  Are you thinking of HF, or maybe searching on Craigs list?  I don't want to put myself in the position of having a bad learning experience with bowl turning because I bought too cheaply, but I get your point about sharpening an expensive tool.

 

Wood Craft has tools that might work for starting out.

Herb

Edited February 26, 20179 yr by Dadio

" wouldn't say in front of a child or your respected significant other. "

 

Whew bubba....I'm in trouble already. 

I got 6 tools from a garage sale. I said tools because I'd no idea what some were. So I sent pictures to Lew. A couple were home made bead makers that worked pretty good. There were also carving tools that had been altered and a couple of ordinary carvers. I did ok for $5

6 hours ago, Dadio said:

Wood Craft has tools that might work for starting out.

Actually, if I were to buy the tools required for the class from Woodcraft, it would cost me more than Lee Valley.  Like I said earlier, I will probably call Woodcraft and see what I actually need.  I know what their web site said in the class description, but it seems odd that they would require tools they don't sell.

Crown tools are good but the 3/8 bowl gouge I bought has a narrow V and clogs terribly when turning oak. For that reason I would recommend getting one good to excel;lent quality bowl gouge , I prefer Thompson , in a 1/2 or 5/8. Then get the other tools needed from Penn State. I have both HF and BB and the HF is no where near as good as the BB. Like Steve said you will not regret getting quality tools which hold an edge better and therefore need less sharpening, therefore last longer.

Crown is a nice tool.  I prefer Doug Thompson for most things

I have the Crown scraper Burnisher it's a fine tool

I don't like Benjamin's best.  I have their giant gouge that looks like half of a 3" pipe.  It's got harsh edges facing the user it's not the nicest grind, The handle is too small, the weight, is all wrong, I think I've tried to use it maybe three  or four times and each time I put it back unhappy.

 

All the really accomplished turners I know have a lit of different tools.  I should ask into the back story and their opinions of the individual tools some time.  I bet there are a lot on their racks that don't get used.

how about tools from one of our sponsors???

Easy Wood Tools...

or...

Woodcraft..

2 hours ago, PostalTom said:

but it seems odd that they would require tools they don't sell.

 

That's actually encouraging.  If they did it any other way it'd be too much like a sales promotion gig and you not getting the high marketing fees