(Part 2) Best lathe turning tools according to redditors
We found 113 Reddit comments discussing the best lathe turning tools. We ranked the 50 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
While you could attempt to forge your own tools, I'd steer as far away from that as possible. Unlike hand tools, turning chisels can be subjected to an extreme amount of stress in the even of a catch; enough stress that I've personally snapped milled steel tool rests in half, snapped cheap chisels (hello shrapnel!) at the tang, and caused more than a few well mounted pieces of wood to turn into high speed ballistic objects that can maim or even kill.
You are far better off utilizing that craftsman's skill and ability to create amazing pieces on the lathe :)
Check out the wiki on this sub to learn some more about carbide vs traditional tools. I personally prefer traditional, but I own several carbide tools as well and they have many great uses.
As a side, note, there are only three tools you really need for bowls: a bowl gouge, a round-nose scraper, and a parting tool. Those three are more than enough to learn bowl turning. As you want to expand your capabilities and tools, you can continue to add individual tools to your collection.
Make sure you have a way to sharpen your tools. The preferred method is a jig and a grinder (either slow speed bench or wet-grind system), which if you need to buy can set you back another few hundred dollars.
As far as I can tell, the Reedgeek is just a modified square tool bit. An student of mine (who's an engineer by profession) gave me one and seemed convinced that this was true. I haven't used it for reedwork (since I don't do much work on reeds myself), but he appears to be right.
Are you turning green wood or dry wood? Green is easier to turn, but you're not going to get a great final cut until it's dry ... especially before you've gotten a lot more experience. Bowls aggravated the Hell outta me for a while, but the more I turn, the more I figure out. I'm mostly concentrating on rough turning green bowls now so that I have plenty of dried ones to finish by the time I'm better at it.
Scrapers do help me get a better final cut.
You mentioned sharpening. Tools don't have to be razor sharp, but they do need a good, consistent edge. Good jigs are the only way that I'm able to keep mine like they should be. I use a Rikon slow speed grinder with a Wolverine One Way jig, and the vari-grind attachment for my bowl gouges.
Oh yeah ... the 40 pounder that fell off... Use your tailstock for support as long as you can, at least with the big pieces. When I first started turning bowls, I had several that would get ripped off. Usually a bad catch is what did it, but it also had to do with not cutting the dovetail on my foot or mortise that matched my jaws. Until I figured out how to do that properly, I avoided the bigger pieces.
Best of luck. I'm sure you can do it if you keep pushing!
I got this one as my first kit. It comes with the blanks, pens, bushings and drill bit. You will also need a pen mandrel kit something like this which includes the barrel trimmer and a mandrel saver.
That would be a tool holder holding a cutting tool mounted on a cross slide vice like the other poster said, usually used for metal work. If you wanted to use wood tools by hand you would need a tool rest to mount in a holder. It looks like you may have the holder for that, on the bed, between the vice and tailstock, turned around backwards, its partially hidden by the wood so I can't tell.
If he's just getting started, I think I'd recommend a set like this!
Simple Woodturning Tools COMBO: Mid Size Rougher, Turner & Hollower and Detailer Carbide Wood Turning Hand Tool Set with Interchangeable Handle for Wood Lathe (3 Tools w/Brilliant Red handle) USA Made https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013KCGZAS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_AYH6BbTZ0HAP3
I can't vouch for these personally, but I can say that if I had it to do all over again this is exactly what I'd buy. It may seem like it's not a great idea because you only get one tool handle and 3 shafts, but your boyfriend could (once he gets his feet under him) easily turn some custom wooden handles and then epoxy the metal into the wooden handle and then have a dedicated tool for each of the cutters.
So when it comes to turning tools, there are really two types. There are traditional steel tools and there are carbide tools. Traditional steel tools can be said to be easier to learn on, and fresh off the grinder traditional tools will cut better than carbide, traditional tools also let you try out a lot of different types of cuts and stuff like that. Carbide tools are not quite as clean cutting as a fresh off the grinder traditional tool, but carbide tools have replaceable cutters instead of needing to be sharpened. So with my steel tools that I have, it is usually a sharpening every time I try to use it and some will say that if you've made a bowl and you haven't sharpened the tool a couple of times in making the bowl, you didn't do it right. Best part about carbide is that it will last a really really really long time (I've had my carbide tools for 8ish months now and am still on the original cutters, though I turn about 2x a month sometimes a little more). And a new cutter is like 10ish dollars to replace it. Carbide tools in my opinion are easier to learn on and take away all of the hurdles associated with sharpening and possibly ruining the grind on a tool as a result. Dm me if you have any more questions please! Or for anything else you have questions about getting him with what would be the other half of the budget haha!
Haha well I see the problem. Those are completely the wrong tools. It is impossible to make nice, or even passable threads with such tools.
Here is what I use, a pair of Robert Sorby thread chasers; https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Sorby-16-Internal-890H/dp/B06Y2PTHRL/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1549764880&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=robert+sorby+thread&psc=1
A robert sorby support tool; https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Sorby-893H-Thread-Support/dp/B004I40360/ref=pd_bxgy_469_img_2/144-8742125-1027167?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004I40360&pd_rd_r=a1e70d2c-2cd9-11e9-b5a3-830356680a3c&pd_rd_w=LY0vC&pd_rd_wg=bLdPJ&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=91QZGERRPTV51CWMRYW8&psc=1&refRID=91QZGERRPTV51CWMRYW8
And a relief cutting tool; https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Sorby-895H-Relief-Cutting/dp/B004I3WH5Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549764934&sr=8-1&keywords=robert+sorby+relief
The thread chasers are absolutely crucial, the support tool and relief cutter not so much. That being said I use them every time I thread something, and not having them would make threading more difficult. They could probably be made in one manner or another if you didn't want to buy them.
I recomend watching some videos by Sam Angelo (the wyomingwoodturner) on youtube. He has lots of good videos on using thread chasers.
I got Savannah Carbide Turning Tools (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GQIYUZA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_r.rGDbB9K53TY) and they are perfectly adequate!
They feel nice in the hand and since I’m a bigger guy, I kinda like they they feel like me-sized tools and not the bitty lil screwdrivers I use to tune up my computer.
I think you need your drill chuck to rotate freely in order to use this... So you will need something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Lathe-Rotating-Triple-Bearing/dp/B01C9HME50
Hardly anything to be honest. Once approved, I had it built in a couple of hours. I bought a $20 lathe cone centering tool and used a big socket with a vise to shape the baffels. I used a pipe cutter to cut the spacers and voila! It took a bit of configuring to find the amount of spacers vs baffels but its nice and tight now. There is a ton of writes on it for tips and tricks too on arfcom or the like.
Edit: Link for centering tool on amazon ($8.99 w/prime)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSVDJR9/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?psc=1
You can always buy one online, they're not too expensive.
Thanks! I ordered this set from Amazon so I guess they were $2.50 apiece :). I will probably build another one or two as gifts this weekend and will report back. They seem mostly identical so I expect good performance, but the proof is in the pudding as they say. My only hurdle at this point is sourcing the screws.
Here
they're meant for metal lathe tools. But it's the same kind of steel as wood chisels.
Issue is going to be the tool used to turn it. I got the $18 set, after just 2 blanks it needs to be sharpened. The $70 set would likely last longer, but would still need to be sharpened. From what I've read, you can get away with the 6 inch grinder, but best is a $120ish 8" low speed one.
or a Carbide rougher, found one for $60 https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Start-Rougher-Carbide-Woodturning/dp/B009S7ISUU/ref=sr_1_10?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1484411051&sr=1-10&refinements=p_36%3A1253530011
maybe you make or use a metal handle for those.
http://www.amazon.com/Interchangeable-Handle-Carbide-Simple-Turning/dp/B0064OF7OK/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1415976300&sr=8-7&keywords=interchangeable+lathe+handle
Those pieces with the cutting carbide are meant to be attached to a fixed base like a metal lathe uses.
here is a base
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2461
Amazon still lists them: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Sorby-890H-Thread-Cutters/dp/B004I49PLO/ They list otherTPI too.
And here: http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=packard&Category_Code=tools-srby-spec-threadcut
Or get really gung ho & DIY https://www.jamesriser.com/Machinery/chasers/making_chasers.html
I can't seem to find any 0MT drive centers, but there are a lot of dead centers available in 0MT like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/LATHE-DEAD-CENTER-MT0-GROUND/dp/B078MMHYDK/
So, it might be worth a try to get that, then grind a flat where the point was, then cut an x with a little cutoff wheel on a dremel and sharpen some "spurs" of sorts. (Or maybe it would even work as is, though I suspect at the first hint of a heavy cut, the point would simply spin out and not grab the wood).
Another idea would be to make your own device based on a block of wood attached to a 3/4 x 16 faceplate, either a homemade screw chuck type of thing or even three or four screws or nails driven through the block to act as drive points.