Which tools

[Tierney]

Hello all,

I'm going to try my hand a wood-turning and need to buy a set of turning tools. I have narrowed it down to one of the following two:

Robert Sorby - Beginners 6 Piece Woodturning Set
The ultimate full size, all round woodturning set. Perfect for the beginner for any type of turning from bowls to spindles. These 6 tools are also essential for the more experienced turner.

* 3/4" Roughing Tool
* 1/8" Parting Tool
* 3/8" Bowl Gouge
* 3/8" Spindle Gouge
* 3/4" Oval Skew
* 1/2" Round Nose Scraper

or

Record Power - All you need to start turning bowls and spindles. The ultimate starter set.

This set makes an ideal starter set for those wanting to turn end mounted items such as bowls, platters or goblets as well as spindles. It contains all the essential tools to get you started – a roughing gouge for rounding square timbers and sizing, a skew chisel for planing silky smooth finishes, 3 spindle gouges for detailed contour work and a parting tool for parting off and beading, a deep bowl gouge for internal and external shaping or hollowing of end turned items such as bowls and goblets and a domed scraper for finishing the insides of hollow work. The set is supplied in an attractive presentation box.

I'm not that sure what I'll be turning; I suspect it will be more on the smaller end, e.g. knobs or ornament size say up to 4 inches, the biggest thing that has occurred to me is a candle stick.

If anyone can offer any advice on what one set would give over the other that would be much appreciated. They are both a similar cost

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

DT

 

[Blister]

Best to get HSS ( High Speed Steel )

As to a make its a bit like cars some like Fords other like Nissan

 

[henton49er]

I've got mainly Sorby aand Henry Taylor tools, with the odd Crown and Ashley Iles thrown in for good measure.

I find the Sorby ones very good, but have no knowledge of RP ones.

Mike

 

[chrisbaker42]

Sorby have always been decent quality as long as you follow Blister's advice and get HSS

 

[woodturnerEric]

Record power tools are ok I find,I have all different makes,from axminster perform to sorby,which are expensive for what you get,the R P and Perform tools work just as well as the sorby one in use I find,its what you can afford,if you have pots of cash go for the sorby,I like Ashley Iles the best personaly.regards, Ric.

 

[Aled Dafis]

I bought the Sorby set back in 2002 when I started turning and although my tool kit has grown a little since then, I still use most of the tools from this set during every turning session. I wouldn't hesitate to recomend Sorby, their quality is top notch and the feel and balance of the tools are just right.

I also have the Axminster HSS turning set (4 sets actually) in the workshop at school and for £64 they're OK, nothing special, just OK, most definitely not a patch on the Sorby. The Axminster Bowl gouge is just a big spindle gouge in my opinion, it's flute is nowhere near deep enough to call it a proper bowl gouge.

For £100 you just can't go wrong with the Sorby set!

Cheers
Aled

 

[Tierney]

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'll go for the Sorby set. I can get them from Classic Hand Tools; which is a company that i like to support.

Thanks again,

DT

 

[boysie39]

You wont go wrong with Sorby I still have a couple from the set I bought four yrs. ago.

 

[nev]

doh! missed it.
one of the few opportunities for me to stick my oar in with some knowledge rather than opinion
i have both sets! the RP set came with the lathe and a friend gave me a RS set for 'safekeeping' while he doesnt have a lathe.
and the answer is.....i use both. :roll:
they only really have two tools in common, the roughing gouge and the parting tool. the rest of the sets are a case of the right tool for the right job so theres no 'choice' to make between the just the brands themselves.
so my preference (by no means an expert opinion!) is the following...

pens and smaller objects - RS skew
bigger cylinders - RP skew (bigger, stronger)
roughing - RP (for no reason other than i am more used to it) although it is shorter than the sorby (which i use for the really big stuff :shock: )
parting - the RP is narrower so usually gets used for actual parting but i do use the wider RS one if i need to remove a larger amount of wood.
bowls - henry taylor superflute. no contest.
The Sorby set seem to keep their edge longer than the RP

so the answer is... there is no answer :mrgreen: you will do fine with either set but as you progress you may find that different tools are required and then the world is your lobster!

 

[jumps]

Nev, the OP lists the RS parting tool at 1/8" - how thin is the RP one then???

 

[nev]

hi jumps
working in new money ones 4mm the other 6mm approximately

someones going to tell me now that its not a parting tool i bet :?

 

[chipmunk]

For what it's worth I'd suggest buying the Robert Sorby set purely because RS are a specialist edge tool maker whereas Record are more generalists.

If you examine Robert Sorby tools, every one is tested for hardness (little dimple at the bottom of the tang) whereas many other tool makers, such as Crown I believe, only tend to batch test. This tends to make them more expensive but probably worth it if it's your first set of tools.

Did you see that Stiles & Bates have the RS set at £106?

http://www.stilesandbates.co.uk/product.php/section/6550/sn/A67HS_MST

HTH
Jon

 

[jumps]

hi jumps
working in new money ones 4mm the other 6mm approximately

someones going to tell me now that its not a parting tool i bet :?

Nev,

If the OP's RS set has a 3.2mm parting tool (which RS list themselves for their starter set) I was just highlighting that it's possible you are comparing a different one (set) when you say the RP one is thinner. That was all.

 

[nev]

hi jumps
working in new money ones 4mm the other 6mm approximately

someones going to tell me now that its not a parting tool i bet :?

Nev,

If the OP's RS set has a 3.2mm parting tool (which RS list themselves for their starter set) I was just highlighting that it's possible you are comparing a different one (set) when you say the RP one is thinner. That was all.

very possible. i dont know the age of the kit ive got but one of the timber blanks that came with it was from yandles and had a little sticker on it 'to be collected by mr H (previous owner) sept '92!
should be well seasoned by now

 

[jumps]

this is possibly not the best value recommendation............

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8pc-WOOD-...642196559&po=&ps=63&clkid=4914102664817824971

 

[nev]

this is possibly not the best value recommendation............

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8pc-WOOD-...642196559&po=&ps=63&clkid=4914102664817824971

and he sold 40 at that price! :shock: (almost #-o )

what is the third tool in the photo?

 

[Tierney]

For what it's worth I'd suggest buying the Robert Sorby set purely because RS are a specialist edge tool maker whereas Record are more generalists.

If you examine Robert Sorby tools, every one is tested for hardness (little dimple at the bottom of the tang) whereas many other tool makers, such as Crown I believe, only tend to batch test. This tends to make them more expensive but probably worth it if it's your first set of tools.

Did you see that Stiles & Bates have the RS set at £106?

http://www.stilesandbates.co.uk/product.php/section/6550/sn/A67HS_MST

HTH
Jon

Curses, I had just placed my order with Classic Hand Tools, that's £12 cheaper, maybe it didn't have the attractive presentation box; which is surely worth £12!

this is possibly not the best value recommendation............

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8pc-WOOD-...642196559&po=&ps=63&clkid=4914102664817824971

I had spotted this on the bay; but, thought it was some sort of joke actually!

Thanks again for all the replies, particularly nev's which efffectively said by both

DT

 

[Jonzjob]

Well, our Mr ebayer certainly has an expensive sense of humour! I would expect a good small lathe with them at that price?

Either the decimal point is in the wrong place or they are daimond tipped solid TCT jobbies?