lathe tools recommendation

[John Grace]

My two cents are as follows...1) Buy tools as you need them. Turning can become expensive quickly and we've all purchased tools that rarely saw the light of day. 2) How do you plan to sharpen your tools and do you have a good eye for it already? If so, then I'd recommend the better quality Thompson or D-Way. If you're just starting to learn how to sharpen or have poor 'touch' with respects to sharpening then I advocate getting cheaper tooling. Saying this with a tremendously large grain of salt...sharp is sharp, a tool either is or it isn't and the better the tool the longer it will stay sharp. If you're just learning to sharpen and/or not particularly good at it, then I'm in the camp of learning on the cheaper tooling and just accept that you'll be making more trips to the grinder. For myself, I started out that way and probably ground away a good 1/2" inch off my first bowl gouge before developing the touch. Losing 1/2" off of a great tool can go a long ways towards the purchase of the cheap version. I now have a variety of Thompson's and my old cheaper tooling and am migrating all towards the better tools now that my sharpening warrants them. Good luck with your decision and enjoy...

[Alan Trout]

Best advice I ever got was from Doug Thompson. He was just starting out making tools and I was just starting out turning. He told me to by a 1/2" bowl gouge and learn to use it. That's what I did. Great advice and you can add tools as you need them. Plus Doug gives back to the turning community very generously. He is a super great human being.

Alan