A beginner from Mississippi

[parkerdurham]

Hello, all,

My name is Parker Durham, and I'm from DeSoto County, Mississippi. I recently purchased my first lathe and have begun going down the woodturning rabbit hole (and woodworking in general). While I have experience with crude projects and working on functional projects with my dad growing up, I've never taken the dive into more artistic woodworking. As an avid turkey hunter, I began collecting calls (mainly trumpets) a few years ago, and that's what sparked my interest in different kinds of wood and the art of woodturning.

While I've lurked on this forum as a guest, I look forward to learning from those more experienced than me and sharing my learning experiences (most likely drastic failures) as I go forward. Thanks for having me!

 

[woodtickgreg]

WELCOME! From Michigan.

 

[vegas urban lumber]

welcome

 

[Nature Man]

Welcome from Bulverde, TEXAS! Quite a few call makers on this site. Jump in with any questions you may have. Chuck

 

[parkerdurham]

Thank you gentlemen!

I hope to have an operational setup within a week or so. Currently, I have:
- a Grizzly T25920 12" X 18" wood lathe
- 8 piece M2 HSS gouge set
- 4 jaw chuck (unsure of brand, but it was recommended and one of the more expensive options)
- 2 carbide gouges (one square and one round)
- live center
- drive center
- sharpening jig

I know I'm missing:
- Jacobs chuck
- Bench grinder for sharpening
- calipers
- mandrels

I'd really appreciate any advice as to equipment I should consider that I've not listed here (or recommendations for a specific brand/model for those I did list).

 

[JD1137]

Welcome from Illinois Parker! Glad you are already asking questions as you begin your journey.

My first bit of advice is to search your area for a woodturning club. You can find nearby turning clubs by searching through the American Association of Woodturners (AAW). Should show up through a simple Google search. The reason for finding a local club is so you can attend a meeting, OR, if the club is too far away for you to travel, you should reach out to them anyway and ask them if they have any members that live near you.

The purpose of all of this is to find a mentor in your area. Every club has mentors, or folks who are willing to help new turners, and it will pay huge dividends for you to team up with ann experienced person. Might just be for an hour, here or there, but it will be worth it. There shouldn't be any charge to you to meet up and get some of your questions answered.

Other than that ----- based on your list of equipment, the first thing that stands out to me is you don't have a grinder, which you will need to properly sharpen your HSS tools. Until you get a grinder, you will probably need to learn with your carbides.

I would recommend you look at the videos produced by Craft Supplies USA - https://www.youtube.com/c/CraftSuppliesUSA/videos
Kirk deHeer (and Mike Nish) does a great job introducing basic projects you could try, in addition to properly using the tools and being safe. There's other pros out there with good videos on-line too. Be careful though and do some reseearch on the video producer before just jumping in. Some of the amateur folks have some pretty shoddy safety related issues you won't want to follow.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress through your turning journey!

 

[woodtickgreg]

My piece of advice when building up a shop and adding tools is to buy things as you need them, not because you think you will need them.

 

[Eric Rorabaugh]

Welcome from Virginia. I believe you'll like it here. A lot of call makers here (several make trumpets) that are helpful. And just about any sprcies of wood that you would ever want. Jump right and enjoy. Hopefully you've read the rules to see how everything works here. If not, take a few minutes to read them.

 

[Cloud of Sawdust Farms]

Hello, all,

My name is Parker Durham, and I'm from DeSoto County, Mississippi. I recently purchased my first lathe and have begun going down the woodturning rabbit hole (and woodworking in general). While I have experience with crude projects and working on functional projects with my dad growing up, I've never taken the dive into more artistic woodworking. As an avid turkey hunter, I began collecting calls (mainly trumpets) a few years ago, and that's what sparked my interest in different kinds of wood and the art of woodturning.

While I've lurked on this forum as a guest, I look forward to learning from those more experienced than me and sharing my learning experiences (most likely drastic failures) as I go forward. Thanks for having me!

Welcome from the squarish state on the other side of Memphis from you! I'm not a woodturner at all -- scrollsaw is my specialty -- but there's no shortage of woodturners here who can help. We're mostly a friendly bunch, most days.

 

[Tclem]

My piece of advice when building up a shop and adding tools is to buy things as you need them, not because you think you will need them.

Dang. I bought stuff before I got married because I wanted it. Not needed it.

 

[Tclem]

Something about those Mississippi people. They always get booted in this group

 

[daniscool]

Welcome from Austria. I haven’t turned for a long time but here are my ten cents: buy a high speed grinder.

Then CBN wheels. Some people recommend diamonds. I don’t. At higher temperatures the carbon in the diamonds reacts with the iron in the HSS. Then they wear out.

You could get a wet grinder (tormek) with a diamond grinding wheel. It will be somewhat slower because of the slower rotational speed but will be useable for non HSS tools as well. You can also sharpen carbide tools on slow speed diamond. I wouldn’t do that though. It is dangerous and requires some intimate knowledge of bevel angles and such.

 

[Firewood Potter]

Welcome from the heart of Dixie.

 

[SENC]

Welcome from SE NC!

IMO, you'll want an 8" grinder, one that runs at 1700 rpm rather than 3500 rpm. If cash is no issue, and since you already have HSS tools, get some CBN wheels to start - traditional wheels are just fine, but you'll need to balance, clean, flatten, and replace from time to time. There are lots of inexpensive grinders out there, and most work fine... but search around for a good, used Baldor, they do come up from time to time and the additional weight (to reduce vibration and add stability) and horsepower make sharpening easier and more pleasant. If you go with a lower end grinder, plan to bolt it down to something solid and the likely need to balance the wheels (One way, and I'm sure others, make wheel balancers).

Though learning to sharpen freehand is among the best skills to reduce sharpening time and also allows you to play with specific grinds for specific work... but in my experience this can be very frustrating until you gain some experience. So, I'd recommend getting a sharpening jig set-up - Wolverine and Kodiak are great examples. Having used both, I'd lean towards Kodiak for the simplest repeatability set-up, and I definitely prefer their flat rest over the Wolverine.

If working within a budget, I'd start with a basic grinder with standard wheels and a Kodiak system - WoodturnersWonders has packages that include both and will make initial setup a breeze and accurate - then upgrade wheels when replacement time comes.

 

[SENC]

Something about those Mississippi people. They always get booted in this group

We're fine with Mississippians, it's the Sillissippians that cause all the problems.

 

[parkerdurham]

Welcome from Illinois Parker! Glad you are already asking questions as you begin your journey.

My first bit of advice is to search your area for a woodturning club. You can find nearby turning clubs by searching through the American Association of Woodturners (AAW). Should show up through a simple Google search. The reason for finding a local club is so you can attend a meeting, OR, if the club is too far away for you to travel, you should reach out to them anyway and ask them if they have any members that live near you.

The purpose of all of this is to find a mentor in your area. Every club has mentors, or folks who are willing to help new turners, and it will pay huge dividends for you to team up with ann experienced person. Might just be for an hour, here or there, but it will be worth it. There shouldn't be any charge to you to meet up and get some of your questions answered.

Other than that ----- based on your list of equipment, the first thing that stands out to me is you don't have a grinder, which you will need to properly sharpen your HSS tools. Until you get a grinder, you will probably need to learn with your carbides.

I would recommend you look at the videos produced by Craft Supplies USA - https://www.youtube.com/c/CraftSuppliesUSA/videos
Kirk deHeer (and Mike Nish) does a great job introducing basic projects you could try, in addition to properly using the tools and being safe. There's other pros out there with good videos on-line too. Be careful though and do some reseearch on the video producer before just jumping in. Some of the amateur folks have some pretty shoddy safety related issues you won't want to follow.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress through your turning journey!

Thank you sir! I know of a couple "friends of friends" that I've planned on reaching out to for advice, but I'll definitely look at the AAW and see if there are woodturners closer to me, would be great to form a relationship with someone with shared passions and who knows infinitely more than me. I'm on video 3 of Craft Supplies' Woodturning 101 series, and I feel I'll be rewatching multiple times!

 

[parkerdurham]

My piece of advice when building up a shop and adding tools is to buy things as you need them, not because you think you will need them.

This is a great piece of advice. It's funny how easy it is to let the mind wander about an entire custom shop before I have the slightest bit of skills or ability. I hope to get the fundamentals down before going too crazy.

 

[parkerdurham]

Welcome from SE NC!

IMO, you'll want an 8" grinder, one that runs at 1700 rpm rather than 3500 rpm. If cash is no issue, and since you already have HSS tools, get some CBN wheels to start - traditional wheels are just fine, but you'll need to balance, clean, flatten, and replace from time to time. There are lots of inexpensive grinders out there, and most work fine... but search around for a good, used Baldor, they do come up from time to time and the additional weight (to reduce vibration and add stability) and horsepower make sharpening easier and more pleasant. If you go with a lower end grinder, plan to bolt it down to something solid and the likely need to balance the wheels (One way, and I'm sure others, make wheel balancers).

Though learning to sharpen freehand is among the best skills to reduce sharpening time and also allows you to play with specific grinds for specific work... but in my experience this can be very frustrating until you gain some experience. So, I'd recommend getting a sharpening jig set-up - Wolverine and Kodiak are great examples. Having used both, I'd lean towards Kodiak for the simplest repeatability set-up, and I definitely prefer their flat rest over the Wolverine.

If working within a budget, I'd start with a basic grinder with standard wheels and a Kodiak system - WoodturnersWonders has packages that include both and will make initial setup a breeze and accurate - then upgrade wheels when replacement time comes.

Thank you sir! I'm looking to buy a good grinder today, and this advice is so helpful. I've already bought the Wolverine grinding jig and Vari-Grind attachment, I hope its not too inferior to the Kodiak.

 

[parkerdurham]

Welcome from Virginia. I believe you'll like it here. A lot of call makers here (several make trumpets) that are helpful. And just about any sprcies of wood that you would ever want. Jump right and enjoy. Hopefully you've read the rules to see how everything works here. If not, take a few minutes to read them.

Thanks Eric! (and everyone who has welcomed me). I can already tell this forum is an invaluable resource and just judging by the responses to this introductory post, can tell it's full of some great people. I appreciate you all!

 

[Eric Rorabaugh]

Wait til the dysfunctional family part kicks in, then say its full of great people!