Really tired of feeling stupid

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Haynie

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Joined
May 20, 2011
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Ok, here it goes. Since I started the tool purchasing process I seem to get further and further over my head. I probably feel this way because I am over thinking the situation.

Turning tools still have me baffled and someone told me their HF turning tools have lasted them many years of turning so I am going that direction. Problem is, I bought some stone cutting wheels from them many years ago and damn near lost an eye when one of the carbide bits came off. So, needless to say I am hesitant.

Sharpening wheels. I have a 10 inch bench grinder and need a sharpening wheel but have no clue what to get. One of my old employees told me to get 600 grit. Seems too fine to me. Of course he also said you should be able to see yourself in the blade. He made bamboo rods for a while.

Chucks-Holy cow! Is there a decent quality one for a decent price some where? Those things are crazy expensive. Anyone know about the wood river chucks and what will work on the jet 1014?
 
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woodcraft has the nova midi with two sets of jaws on sale for $99 right now...been using one for years and never had a problem.
 
I got a Nova midi chuck for my Jet 1014 and drilled several hundred blanks with it - it is still going strong after 5 years. I won a set of pin jaws, that makes it much easier to drill blanks. Well, hold them for drilling.

The HF tool set works well. I sharpened them with a whetstone for several years. You don't need a lot to get started. Get the set of transfer punches while you are there. For less than $10 you can take apart any pen with them. Slide in the right sized punch and hammer out any pen parts.
 
Heck, my first set of turning tools were HF($10) I just ripped off the handles and made new ones, still have them, just hardly use them anymore.
 
if you go with HF dont get the cheapest one. the lathe is made from stamped sheet metal. i have one and wish i bought the next one up with the cast iron bed. i had to build a laminated wood base to mount it to so it would be more rigid and not flex.
 
Haynie said:
Turning tools still have me baffled and someone told me their HF turning tools have lasted them many years of turning so I am going that direction. Problem is, I bought some stone cutting wheels from them many years ago and damn near lost an eye when one of the carbide bits came off. So, needless to say I am hesitant.
Click to expand...

buy a woodchuck and be done with it...I haven't found a bad use for it yet....best $75 I have spent in my shop.
 
Haynie said:
Ok, here it goes. Since I started the tool purchasing process I seem to get further and further over my head. I probably feel this way because I am over thinking the situation.

Turning tools still have me baffled and someone told me their HF turning tools have lasted them many years of turning so I am going that direction. Problem is, I bought some stone cutting wheels from them many years ago and damn near lost an eye when one of the carbide bits came off. So, needless to say I am hesitant.

Sharpening wheels. I have a 10 inch bench grinder and need a sharpening wheel but have no clue what to get. One of my old employees told me to get 600 grit. Seems too fine to me. Of course he also said you should be able to see yourself in the blade. He made bamboo rods for a while.

Chucks-Holy cow! Is there a decent quality one for a decent price some where? Those things are crazy expensive. Anyone know about the wood river chucks and what will work on the jet 1014?
Click to expand...

600 is ridiculously fine. This article helped me understand what I was doing when sharpening.
http://www.morewoodturning.net/articles/sharpen.pdf
With that in mind, I would recommend one of each of these wheels.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...ton_3X_Grinding_Wheel___norton_3x_wheel?Args=

As far as chucks go, I also recommend the Nova midi. If you watch for it, occasionally CSUSA will have a sale where you get the chuck, pin jaws and 4 inch jaws all for under $180.
 
The only three things I buy from Harbor Freight are:
1. ZIP TIES (everybody makes crappy zip ties).
2. Transfer punches (these are real crap too, but the sheet rock wall I thow them through when I make a mistake doesn't really seem to mind the quality that it is fed).
3. Tarps- I buy these when I gotta have one now, because I didn't plan very well and they are the cheapest of the cheap.

IF I ever get all of the feeling back in that hand that the POS HF drill bit took away, or ever pay off the surgeries, you can bet I'll make a fist and put it some place that the HF guys WON'T appreciate very much!

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.....IF you are extremely lucky!
 
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buy a woodchuck and be done with it...I haven't found a bad use for it yet....best $75 I have spent in my shop.[/quote]

I HAVE found a bad use for it!!! The Woodchuck SUCKS as a flip flop modifer....it cuts way to sharp and way too close to the toes:biggrin:
 
Another good thing to do is find a club of turners in or near your area. You well get lots of help and may a chance to try different items before you spend a lot of money.
 
I've been using the HF turning tools since I started 3 years ago. I do have other tools as I expanded into bowls and other things but still use the HF set for pens and other spindle turning. Buy the more expensive set. It goes for $50 or $60.

Your coworker gave you mis-information on grits. It sounds more like he is sharpening carving chisels, not turning tools. Big difference. Follow the advice already given by others. You could also by the Woodcraft slow speed grinder. It already comes with the wheels you need and doesn't cost musch more than the wheels you would buy for your current grinder. You would then still have your current grinder for other things.
 
PenMan1 said:
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.....IF you are extremely lucky!
Click to expand...

There are only two things I can add to this.

A friend told me many years ago and it has stuck with me ever since....
Quality not Quantity

The other is something a saw on here and it is so very true....
You can cry now or you can really cry later.

Meaning you can cry now from the pain of the cost on your wallet, or you can cry when the cheap stuff does not work as well as you want or fails and you have to buy the quality stuff anyway.
 
GoodTurns said:
Haynie said:
Turning tools still have me baffled and someone told me their HF turning tools have lasted them many years of turning so I am going that direction. Problem is, I bought some stone cutting wheels from them many years ago and damn near lost an eye when one of the carbide bits came off. So, needless to say I am hesitant.
Click to expand...

buy a woodchuck and be done with it...I haven't found a bad use for it yet....best $75 I have spent in my shop.
Click to expand...

Depends on what he's turning on the lathe. Those tools aren't a "jack of all trades"...
 
There are many things that HF sells that I would (and have) purchased.

Among these are consumables like sandpaper, starter turning tools like their HSS chisel set (currently on sale for $42.99), their punch set that was so often used by us that PSI stole the idea, their paint pot (currently on sale for $84.99), the 34706 lathe (currently on sale for $249.99!), vacuum pump (currently on sale for $99.99), 115 piece drill bit set, etc.

Lots of stuff that HF sells are good. Are the turning tools as good as a Sorby set? No, but a brand new turner probably doesn't want to apy the $400 dollar difference between the two sets to determine if this is a good hobby.

Is the $249 lathe as good as a similar Jet lathe? Plenty of reviews suggest that it is very, very close. So close that spare parts can be purchased from Jet. The fact that it is $600 cheaper than the Jet 1236 is a bonus.

For some time now, I've been kicking around the idea of getting a metal lathe. When I do, it will very likely be a HF mini.

Regarding chucks, I think I have three now. My first was the CSUSA Apprentice chuck. At $169.99 for the chuck and four jaw sets, it's hard to beat. Even though I have more expensive chuck sets, this one still hops onto the lathe with some frequency.

Regarding the woodchuck and similar tools, if a person has access to a drill press, a grinder, and a lathe, I wouldn't recommend buying one of those carbide tools. They are simply too easy to make in the shop inexpensively.
 
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http://woodturning.pennstateind.com/search/index?query=csc

These two sets are great for starting out as they come with 4 sets of jaws.
CSC2000C uses toggle handles.
CSC3000C uses a chuck key.

I got lucky and got a great deal on the CSC2000C from someone and I have no problems with toggles but there are alot of people who don't like toggles.

As far as tools go, I'm still pretty much a noob with them too, but the penn state chuck is pretty much all I need for my jet mini.
 
I can't knock HF power tools. Their 4 inch grinders rock. Outlasted several major brands on the same work. When one of the name brands burned up the HF was still going. Same with the polisher/buffer. The consumables and hand tools are what almost took my eye out. That is why I am hesitant. A friend is going to loan me some tools and I will be getting the HF set.

Still trying to sort out the different grinder wheels.
 
Mark -- as I remember, you are a fair way from the nearest turning group, so the easy way to get wired into local preferences will not owrk. If you have a friend or someone local who can coach a bit it helps.

Learning to sharpen lathe tools by video, U-tube, and reading a book is a long day. Hands on with someone who has learned some skills make turning more fun.

If you can get some coaching -- listen to your coach and go with the flow of what is reecommended. It may or may not be the best by some opinions, but will work best with you and the coach.

If you are not going to have help and some coaching --- that is the place where carbide insert tools are a good way to start. No sharpening, minimual learning curve, and good success fast. Video to learn to use insert tools is pretty good.

In addition to the Pen Pro noted above - take a look at Mike Hunter's tool named the Hercules. It beats the pen pro in my opinion (yes I have a pen pro) but will cost you a bit more.

Wood River and PSI chucks are value priced -- that is to say, they cost less but are not as closely machined and are built of mystery steel. I have a couple of value priced chucks and one is redlined because of permature wear on the gears.

Noval is a better brand for quality as is One-way Vicmark, and Sorby Partiot. Grizzley is (in my opinoin) between the noval and those value priced models.

If you do not have a live center with a 60 degree center - nova makes a good live center that come with that insert (and others).

Have fun is the name of the game --- and dull tools or fighting how to get good effective grinds on them is not a good path to fun.
 
Grizzly sells the vicmarc clone scroll chuck and I have read nothing but good things about it. It is only $104 and goes on sale twice a year for $99.
 
I use some HF tools I have a chop saw I have used for metal for years no issues, Like it was said before I have a 12.00 4in grinder that just keeps on going when it quits it gets trashed. I have a smaller HF chop saw for tubes and segmenting it is the med one. I have some of their stuff and for light use or if precision is not that critical I say it is a good inexpensive way to see if you like those tools. Any tool company has and can put out junk not just HF!!
 
Made lots of pens for a long time with just a adjustable mandrel, $18-$20 something. If i were just starting out on pens i would buy a PSI collet chuck $85 and a Jacobs chuck $29 for your tail stock and round my blanks between center down to 3/4" or 5/8" to fit the collets so i could drill on the lathe. Later on down the line when you get into other more larger turning you will know what you are looking for and what you need to have in a chuck. Good luck... Carl
 
fernhills said:
Made lots of pens for a long time with just a adjustable mandrel, $18-$20 something. If i were just starting out on pens i would buy a PSI collet chuck $85 and a Jacobs chuck $29 for your tail stock and round my blanks between center down to 3/4" or 5/8" to fit the collets so i could drill on the lathe. Later on down the line when you get into other more larger turning you will know what you are looking for and what you need to have in a chuck. Good luck... Carl
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Very good suggestion! AND when Christmas comes and Woodcraft offers the NOVA Midi chuck with 4 sets of jaws for $125, that makes a nice addition. Then if you want a more "precise" chuck you already own most of the jaws you will need, as long as you stay with Nova.

Additionally, I would forget all about the HF turning tool set. For the same $42, you can buy PSI carbide tipped skew and carbide tipped gouge. Make your own parting knife from a Sazall blade or a hacksaw blade. Those carbide tools last well and cut smoother.
 
Hey PM1 and fernhills thanks a lot. I am also wanting to do bowls as well. Do you think those PSI tools will work for turning bows as well, or is it necessary to get bowl gouges?
 
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