Beginner woodturner

[Jamie Copeland]

Hi folks

I've just joined the forum today as I'm about to buy my first lathe and I'm keen to get as much advice as possible!

At the moment I have my eye on a used General 160 variable speed lathe which is in an auction at the moment. It comes with a faceplate and chuck. The other option I've been considering is buying a brand new Jet JWL-1442 lathe which is £769.45 just now, but with this I'd need to pick up a faceplate and chuck. If that's the case, where's best to buy such items and what should I look out for, e.g manufacturer, material, etc.

I went along to a taster session locally towards the end of last year and the lathes they use there are Jet. The tools they seem to recommend are Robert Sorbey which I see are online brand new for £120ish. There are other hss starter tool sets that are more like £80. What do you guys recommend?

What would you recommend as a means of dust extraction on a budget. There are dust and chip extractors online from £100-160, but I don't want to buy something if it isn't going to be much use!

Any other hints or tips for a beginner would be welcomed!

Thanks

Jamie

 

[woodpig]

Budget for a sharpening system. The Sorby pro edge is very good and easy to use if you can run to it.

 

[Jamie Copeland]

Hi Woodpig

Thanks for your reply. My local turning group has two of those sharpening systems so to start out I am planning on using theirs and investing in my own at a later date.

 

[NickWelford]

Depending on what wood you are cutting, you could find yourself sharpening every few minutes. You will need a sharpening system of your own very quickly. Don't try to turn with unsharp tools. A) it can be dangerous and b) doesn't work very well, and can put you off eventually.

 

[Bodrighy]

I may be wrong here but the General lathe is a great heavy duty lathe but getting spares etc if needed may be a problem later on as I think it is an American lathe. My advice would be to get a lathe that is all that you need at the moment and if necessary will hold it's value. You don't need as many tools as some think, £100 will but you all you need initially. Personally I would buy Ashley Iles tools but Hamlet, Record, are all good tools. When I learned to turn we only had scrapers, no chucks and Graduates with no variable speed and turned out pretty much anything we wanted. Don't get caught up in the 'I need this that and the other tools equipment etc to turn.

Pete

 

[woodfarmer]

When it comes to buying tools I suggest if possible you pick them up and "feel" them. I like my Crown tools but that is no help to you. Bit like trying on shoes. Put the money on the tools you will use the most. I spend 75% of my time using my Crown 1/2" bowl gouge. the rest are all used but just for the bits I can't do with the 1/2". However don’t buy very cheap stuff, better to buy lightly used second hand.

After a year I still have never used my skew as a skew hopefully one day I will learn from someone.

 

[Bodrighy]

After a year I still have never used my skew as a skew hopefully one day I will learn from someone.

Learn to use it, possibly the most useful tool in your armoury. Bit far away from me or I would be happy to show you how.

Pete

 

[woodfarmer]

After a year I still have never used my skew as a skew hopefully one day I will learn from someone.

Learn to use it, possibly the most useful tool in your armoury. Bit far away from me or I would be happy to show you how.

Pete

Most of the tools I have learned for myself, but I find the skew as a skew to be entirely unintuitive. I will need someone to teach me that. It is a good negative rake scraper and useful for making mortices for my chuck

 

[Bodrighy]

It is also a roughing tool on smaller spindle work, a planer on spindle work, a bead maker, in fact pretty much anything on spindle work. Face plate stuff forget it but once you have mastered it it is the most useful tool you have. When I am teaching I try and get the students to master it before any other as it is arguably the one tool that you can virtually tun anything with spindle wise. Think of it as a plane, get the bevel on th wood and cut with the bottom third only when planing, roughing etc. use as a scraper as you have found, or the short end point for bead making. Well worth practicing with IMHO.

Pete

 

[CHJ]

.....
What would you recommend as a means of dust extraction on a budget. There are dust and chip extractors online from £100-160, but I don't want to buy something if it isn't going to be much use!

Any other hints or tips for a beginner would be welcomed!

Thanks

Jamie

On this subject and several other matters related to turning may I suggest you read through the links in the help sticky at the top of the turning section forum.

 

[woodpig]

Quite a few of my wood turning tools are made by Record and bought when on "special offer" at a local dealer. I made a point though of buying at least one of every other make I found to assess the quality myself. I have at least one Crown, Hamlet and Sorby tool in addition to the Record and can't really see any difference at my skill level! One of my favourites though is a 1/2" square scraper from Crown!

 

[leisurefix]

I would recommend just buying the couple of tools that you need (hopefully the taster session will have suggested the basic tools required). Axminster power tool company currently has a sale, and still have a few Crown turning tools at sale prices. I have always got on well with the handle shape of Crown tools.
If you get a chip extractor, then get a paper dust filter cartridge for it. I recently got one in the Axminster sale and it is fantastic. You get high flow rate (that you need for dust extraction), and very fine dust particle filtration. Sanding on a lathe can produce huge quantities of dust, and protecting your lungs from that is really important. I would recommend apportioning a bit more of your available funds on dust control, as it is easier to buy a better lathe later rather than replacement lungs.
As for advice, get yourself a book or two on turning. I would advise books over watching video clips on youtube, as I have seen some very poor technique in video clips, but have never read a book advising poor technique.
A cheap bench grinder with a better (white, pink, ruby, or blue ceramic, basically anything but the grey stone that they are sold with) stone wheel has worked very well for me for the past 30 years. I think that if you can grind by hand then you have a better understanding of the angles when it comes to using the tool on the lathe. There are some grinds that are much easier to do with a jig and difficult to do by hand, but then I also find those grinds more difficult to use on the lathe.
Andy

 

[Jamie Copeland]

Thanks for all the replies.

The sorbey sharpening system is quite pricy for me just now. What's your opinion on the axminster sharpening system which is half the price?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Are you meaning this one?

If so, it looks like its based on the Oneway Wolverine type system.

The least you'll need is a bench grinder and you could go jig free at the start to get your eye in. But I wouldn't recommend turning without a sharpening capability. Its every bit as important as the lathe itself and often overlooked by new turners. Our club runs practical days and you'd be surprised at the number of turners who come to a practical day asking to have their tools sharpened and which haven't been done since the last session (maybe months previously)!!! And they then wonder why they cant get the hang of the skew chisel etc!!!

Sharpening is a fundamental of turning.

 

[lurker]

I have had a few sessions with Mick O Donnel and he has the grinder running all the while ..... Little and often

 

[Jamie Copeland]

.....
What would you recommend as a means of dust extraction on a budget. There are dust and chip extractors online from £100-160, but I don't want to buy something if it isn't going to be much use!

Any other hints or tips for a beginner would be welcomed!

Thanks

Jamie

On this subject and several other matters related to turning may I suggest you read through the links in the help sticky at the top of the turning section forum.

That's been helpful to read. The internet seems to be awash with various chip/dust extractors and I'm having difficulty assessing which ones are actually going to be any good and collecting the chips/dust. Any idea what products I might look at?

 

[Jamie Copeland]

Are you meaning this one?

If so, it looks like its based on the Oneway Wolverine type system.

The least you'll need is a bench grinder and you could go jig free at the start to get your eye in. But I wouldn't recommend turning without a sharpening capability. Its every bit as important as the lathe itself and often overlooked by new turners. Our club runs practical days and you'd be surprised at the number of turners who come to a practical day asking to have their tools sharpened and which haven't been done since the last session (maybe months previously)!!! And they then wonder why they cant get the hang of the skew chisel etc!!!

Sharpening is a fundamental of turning.

Yes, that's the one I was referring to. I had planned to use the sorby proedge at my local turning club to begin with just to save me a little cash in the initial set up. I could access that at least weekly. However, I'm thinking I might need to budget one in at the beginning! The sorby proedge is online for £249.95 new. Any idea if it's available cheaper elsewhere (new or used)?

Thanks

Jamie

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I bought mine 2nd hand on here in fact Jamie. Its probably worth scouring all the usual online tool selling sites/auction sites. Also, feel free to put an ad in the wanted section of this forum.

I'm a fan of the PE for 2 reasons, flexibility and speed. It does have limitations, particularly getting a low angle grind on a detail spindle gouge because there is a tendency for the tool to knock into the motor housing and stop the ends of the left wing being ground. But it beats the pants off grinders in my view. (And I own a T7)

 

[procell]

Something to think about when buying a lathe.. You can turn small items on a large lathe but rarely can you turn large items on a small lathe. Think of what you are likely to be doing on it then decide if this is all you will ever want to do. A swivel head stock is useful if you may wish to do large bowls etc as the lathe bed does not restrict the diameter of the piece so much. That said the motor and spindle size will have a bearing on what is possible.

For tools the general opinion seems to be get the best you can afford as they will pay you back with interest.
dust extraction and sharpening have been covered by other members
methods of holding the work piece. A chuck is not essential as there are numerous ways to hold the work such as hot glue, screw chuck, face plate, drive centre. If the lathe comes with a chuck then all is well but it may be worth trying without if it doesn't. Part of the fun is figuring out different ways to acheive the desired workpiece.

The one thing that has not been mentioned is face protection. A good face mask (possibly with dust protection like a Trend) is in my opinion essential.

 

[Jamie Copeland]

Something to think about when buying a lathe.. You can turn small items on a large lathe but rarely can you turn large items on a small lathe. Think of what you are likely to be doing on it then decide if this is all you will ever want to do. A swivel head stock is useful if you may wish to do large bowls etc as the lathe bed does not restrict the diameter of the piece so much. That said the motor and spindle size will have a bearing on what is possible.

For tools the general opinion seems to be get the best you can afford as they will pay you back with interest.
dust extraction and sharpening have been covered by other members
methods of holding the work piece. A chuck is not essential as there are numerous ways to hold the work such as hot glue, screw chuck, face plate, drive centre. If the lathe comes with a chuck then all is well but it may be worth trying without if it doesn't. Part of the fun is figuring out different ways to acheive the desired workpiece.

The one thing that has not been mentioned is face protection. A good face mask (possibly with dust protection like a Trend) is in my opinion essential.

Thanks for that! Do you use a chip/dust extractor plus a high end face mask? What items are they?