easy wood bowl gouged

[jeff oldham]

Can anyone tell me about the easy wood bowl turning tools;;are they worth it;;;I am new at bowl turning and needless to say had a horrible experience on my first bowl but actually the only tools I was using was a. Shopsmith roughting gouge and a skew chiesel;;;need some good comments;;;thank you

[Dennis Ford]

The easy wood tools are good quality and are popular, personally I think they are over-priced. More important than the brand of tools; I think you need some hands-on instruction to keep you safe while learning.

[David Delo]

Jeff,

If I'm reading correctly, you used a spindle roughing gouge and a skew chisel attempting to make a bowl. If that's correct, my advice to you would be to unplug the machine and not use it again until you have the proper tools for bowl work. Never use a roughing gouge for any bowl work especially if your just starting to learn turning.

As for the Easy Wood Tools, they can/do help the beginner be able to complete projects and gain confidence. Just remember these tools are carbide scrapers so the finish you'll get won't be as good as you would get with sharp high speed steel, meaning you will have more sanding to do.

I'd suggest you google Robo Hippie, Lyle Jamison or John Lucas. They have a number of videos on YouTube covering many different subjects. You'll find many others also with great content. Also just use the search function on this board and you can learn a lot but above all else, get yourself plugged into a local turning chapter.

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm a newer turner and I've rough turner about 15 bowls (waiting for them to dry - but did finish one). I watched many videos and read on the forums and knew the spindle roughing gouge is a no no for bowls. So be careful. I bought a set of Sorby tools and there was a small bowl gouge included. I was having heck of a time turning without a catch until I found from help here that the gouge grind was way off. I corrected this and I felt like a real turner - curlies everywhere. I then purchased a decent 5/8" bowl gouge and love it and bowl turning. You will find you need to invest in a sharpening system too (Hint: it's called the turners vortex).

I too have been interested in carbide tools. I know they are scrapers but want to try them out anyway. The retail tools are $100+ but use google you will find videos of how to make your own. Just this past week I bought some cutters from AZCarbide and keystock from McMaster and hope to get time to make at lease one tool this weekend. I will have to make my own handles but for the few tools I bought hardware for it will cost around $15 each.

Mike

[Reed Gray]

You don't say where you are, but best advice is try to find the nearest club. They are just about every where. There is no substitute for a hands on lesson. Most clubs have mentors, and the demonstrations are huge for learning. I do have a bunch of clips up on You Tube, just type in robo hippy.

robo hippy

[Dale Gillaspy]

A couple of thoughts here.... 1st, I fully agree with David's statement on the roughing gouge. It's "new" title is the spindle roughing gouge. It is not only dangerous to use on cross grain situations, but it could explain a lot of your frustration.

As far as EWT goes, I think they are top notch. Yes, they are a little pricey, but all carbide is not created equal. I'm not a metallurgist, but I know these are all made 100% in the USA, with top quality carbide. Scrapers, who cares??? at the end of the day, people look at the finished product, not how you got it there.

Whether you go down the EWT road or go to traditional gouges, Reed is right. There is no substitute for a hands on lesson or two, or twenty. You can go to Woodturner.org and find a link to a local club in your area.