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I checked the two bowl-turning sets we have here at the Academy. They are made in England.

With all good wishes,

I checked the two bowl-turning sets we have here at the Academy. They are made in England. The 1/4" gouge is actually 3/8" across on the outside.

With all good wishes,

Am I the only one that thinks sometimes we get a little too particular about our hand tools? Goodness! We could spend more $ on several hand planes than we have shelled out for our Mark V. Is this a good thing? I am aware that some tool steel will hold an edge longer than another, and the value of that difference is completely up to the consumer, and his/her desires.

Am I the only person that used to make his own gouges/chisels from old files and scrap steel? (even used a hand powered grinder) Those were the days when we had more time than money.

I wasn't aware that you guys had steel back then, Chuck. I always assumed you worked in bronze. Or flint.

With all good wishes,

charlese wrote:Am I the only person that used to make his own gouges/chisels from old files and scrap steel? Those were the days when we had more time than money.

No need to feel like the Lone Ranger, Chuck. Back in "the day" I made a set of scrapers and chisels out of old files myself. Never got it together to make a gouge, though. After I started hearing about how some of these old converted files could shatter in use, I invested in some "real" turning tools. I have to admit, the SS bowl turning tools are much easier to use than my old file tools, mainly because of the weight difference. The SS tools are so much stouter, which makes them more controllable and, interestingly enough, the added mass seems to make it easier both when taking light, finishing cuts as well as when hogging off lots of material.

All that being said, I will admit that I haven't yet tossed my old file tools. Its easy to raise a really sharp burr on that file steel and when nobody is looking I sometimes still use a couple of my old favorites, an angle scraper and a roundnose scraper. I am more careful to keep the rest close to the work and to take really light cuts, but every now and then, I do still use 'em.

Nick wrote:I wasn't aware that you guys had steel back then, Chuck. I always assumed you worked in bronze. Or flint.

With all good wishes,

You could always find steel, from an old "Model T" chassis or bolts from an old piece of farm machinery.

Flint was a little tough for me to get, but there was plenty of granite!:p