Woodworker's Journal winter-2009, страница 9

This five-piece turning set from Crown comes pre-sharpened, so they're ready to use right out of the bcx. It is a very serviceable group of tools that will get a begirner turning in no time and alow your skills and craft to grow. Rockier Woodworking and Hardware sells the five-piece set for around S190.

On these pages, you will find our recommendations for simple solutions to meet those three basic turning needs. There are, of course, many other high quality options for these components. But the three we suggest here will get you across the turning threshold at a minimum of out-of-pocket expense and with the opportunity to grow your skills and the scope of your turning challenges.

There is a Season: Turn, Turn, Turn!

As with any shop upgrade, you can approach it in a variety of ways — buy new, buy used, try out your buddy's lathe to get the feel of turning ... it's up to you. But if you are going to start turning wood, you need a lathe, and it doesn't have to be a big one. The JET JWLrl220 Wood Lathe, for example, is a mini lathe with a 3/4 HP motor and 12" capacity. That means you can turn bowls and other objects up to 12" in diameter. Small lathes are great for turning pens, spindles, duck calls, bowls, flat turning — all the stuff you can do on a big lathe, just in smaller scale. You can buy it new for about $450. If you fall in love with woodturning, it will likely not be the last lathe you buy. But you will probably keep the mini lathe around the shop anyway, even if you step up to a full-size lathe later on.

The WorkSharp™ WS3000 is one of the easiest systems we've found to sharpen those tricky curved-edge gouges. It also does a great job with flat surfaces. Keep it close to your lathe so you can sharpen as you turn, just like the pros do it.