Turners. Do you also collect?

[tobytools]

Gents,
I'm not a turner myself but I have turned the odd bit in the past, these days I make furniture and the such with hand tools. Naturally, tho I can't remember when it started I collected various tools either because of age, value or beauty.
We call it's te slippery slope, planes being the worst of them all....
Anyways.....
Are there such slopes for turners, do you search the net looking for the elusive holtzaffel chisels and such? Or vintage laths of beauty?
Do you imagine as you turn egg cups and bowls of owning a full set of ornamental holtzaffel chisels in their stunning racks?
I was just curious and thought is ask the turning community!

Thanks
TT

 

[Bigbud78]

I'm very new to it but most turners seem to collect chucks I do trawl ebay looking for cheap chisels and looking for an upgrade

 

[CHJ]

Not for me, just want a lump of steel or in house made article that does the job, as cost effectively as possible of course.

Spare time is spent trying to spin bits of wood into something acceptable, not wasting it looking for shiny/named tools just to make the tool rack look pretty.


Good quality tools always appreciated but as long as it's comfortable to use and does the business I don't care if it's a 'skoda or a bentley'

 

[SPSlick]

Not so much tools but I have collected a lot of wood.

 

[Silverbirch]

Most turning kit is first and foremost functional: workholding, cutting, sanding and finishing, so not much scope for fine tools to be admired for their beauty . Most turners seem to have a healthy disregard for unnecessary gadgets and clever tools, probably adding to their "collections" only when the equipment at hand won`t do the job. There is invariably a low cost means of solving a particular problem.
Given that woodturning involves frequent trips to the grinder, most turners would baulk at the idea of a finely crafted Blue Spruce-style turning chisel steadily disappearing before their very eyes.

 

[SteveF]

have to say
it is always about the wood
quite an addiction to say the least
a bit like the timber u offered up..i would have liked to have it just as a ...one day i will use it

Steve

 

[tobytools]

I see,
Thanks chaps.
If I was a turner id never have to buy wood again, sadly im not. So all the beautiful woods get at work go to the dump.. Sad isn't it.

Again thank you for your views that have answered my question

TT

 

[CHJ]

I see,
Thanks chaps.
If I was a turner id never have to buy wood again, sadly im not. So all the beautiful woods get at work go to the dump.. Sad isn't it.

Again thank you for your views that have answered my question

TT

You've only had a few replies from what would be considered by some a cynical and small selection of wood spinners, I suspect that there are a number of turners out there that have as much pride in their collection of tools/equipment as the items they produce, after all there appears to be some very well appointed and clinically clean workshops presented in the various magazine show and tell pages.
How many of them are down to a tool collection fetish or manufacturer/distributor sponsorship only an in depth observation over time of published information, a physical visit or a one to one communication can hope to unravel.

 

[jurriaan]

Despite the driveway the driveway being entirely filled with wood, which means our car can't be parked there anymore, and the slow upgrade (24" swing lathe, self-built 40" bowl lathe, then restored 32" / 40" lathe) to bigger and better lathes (I think they're better, my wife certainly sees they're bigger), I'm not collecting. No sir, not me.

I should be collecting time - I seem to have more wood, ideas and lathes than time.

 

[Dave Brookes]

I agree with CHJ

"Good quality tools always appreciated but as long as it's comfortable to use and does the business I don't care if it's a 'skoda or a bentley'"

I wouldn't swap my Yeti for a Bentley, not enough room for wood in a Bentley!

Dave

 

[WoodMangler]

I collect wood for later use, and I collect books on engineering and woodworking - old and new, I have about 30 shelf-feet of them

 

[tobytools]

I've allways like nice tools or nice anything in what ever I do... Another forum user said and I like it. Just because you can drink your morning coffee out of a bean can dosent mean you have to.

I treat most things like that. Just like when I chose my lovely partner I wanted the best not just a good user. That what most say. "Good user"

Don't get me wrong I gather a lot of wood too, no point in have tools but no material

TT

 

[DTR]

I have about 30 shelf-feet of them

I've never seen that unit of measurement used before. I like it

 

[Dalboy]

I only get tools as I need them for turning however I still have some other carpentry tools that I have collected but only if I am going to use them

 

[JimB]

I reckon the car can take the weather better than wood can. Also it saves me backing it in and out which is a waste of turning time.

 

[chipmunk]

I must admit that I'm with Dilbert on this one.

- You just can't be too good looking or too well equipped! :wink:

...but I'm also tight fisted. So, I make a lot of my own tools - hand tools, turning tools and metal working tools.

If I have a need for or a desire to try out a new gizmo that I've seen demonstrated or not I'll try and make one. This means grinding old tools I've picked up cheap or making ones from scratch out of HSS toolbits and other stuff. I see it as part of the fun. Woodturning is as much fun when making a handle for a new tool as it is when making something else for me. It's a hobby, and so if making something takes a bit longer because I choose to make a new tool along the way - who cares? I have enjoyed making them both and it's two for the price of one.

As a consequence I have lots of tools but most of them apart from the hard to make ones like gouges etc are homemade.

HTH
Jon