Bowl gouge lathe tool review - who uses the best tool metal?

Learn what metals are used for lathe tools and which one is the best. Can expensive tools make better turnings? Are handled tools worth it? Quick change handles? Sharpening frequency and much more

[d-waytoolsboxmastertoollin]

Appreciate how you are encouraging folks to not get discouraged at the beginning and just get turning. It is such a wonderful craft and hobby! It can be overwhelming sometimes when you are first starting out, but everyone starts at the same place - skills increase with shavings and good mentoring. Glad to hear your positive experience with D-Way Tools, always happy to help if you have any questions.

[northernhumidor]

Carter and son makes probably one of the best bowl gouges I have ever used. I use it daily.

[orcasea]

Great video! Clears up a lot of confusion for new people.

I have a slow-speed wet stone. I imagine they are fine for chisel sharpening, as well? I've never heard them mentioned in all the videos I have watched on the subject.

[keving]

I just wanted to say thanks for the video. I am new to turning and prefer to buy decent tools to start. I was looking at other brands but this video made me take a look at D-Way Tools for the first time, and as you said I found their website quite helpful. They did not seem to be as expensive as some of the other higher end brands in my area, so I took the plunge and purchased 2 handles and 5 tools last week. They are beautifully machined and I am looking forward to trying out soon! In addition to the ease of sharpening that you mention, I also like the ease of storage of quickly taking the tool our of the handle. I will not be turning all the time, and have a relatively small shop, so to be able to disassemble and place them in a small drawer with custom tool holders is also a bonus.

[Ethan-pbjq]

The original owner of D-Way is Dave Schweitzer who contributed the D to the name. He sold to Jimmie Allen some years ago. Dave is a contemporary of both Ellsworth and Raffan. I agree that M42 and A11 steels make the best and most durable tools; science confirms that by researching the metals and not just the tools. A consideration your valuable video omits is customer service and the responsiveness of the owner. Jimmie often answers the phone when I call and when I leave a msg or send an email I hear back right away. In one of our conversations Jimmie told me I couldn’t go wrong buying from Doug Thompson which I found refreshing. I recently visited a retailer of C&S tools and the employee there, unprompted, bad-mouthed C&S staff which turned me off from both the retailer and C&S.

[timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy]

I have one m42 tool, a Henry Taylor 5/8 gouge. It is definitely a long lasting edge. But as you said, any tool will cut, depends just how long. I have a square end scraper that's a vintage buck bros, and I think it's just carbon steel. I use it only to make mortises and I pull burr once to do the mortise and then another time to clean it up

[victoryak]

Love your presentations on this channel. Got a lot of good and helpful advice from the one on cbn wheels and such. I’m new to turning and researching pretty much everything so appreciate your wisdom. In researching tools, techniques etc, was impressed with some of Stuart Betty’s presentations and was curious about the 40/40 grind and if you’ve been using that and also which intermediate priced tools (decent but not necessarily top tier) you’d recommend? Some things I’ve watched suggest starting w the cheapest but I feel that this is questionable advice. I’d rather learn with tools that will be highe enough quality instead of having to relearn things learned on inferior tools! Thx again for the great channel. I was looking at the Hurricane ones as well as a decent starter tool.

[MD-enzm]

I have had good results from the higher end hurricane/crown tools. I think they are the same thing anyways - I suspect hurricane rebrands the crown. The top of the line hurricane is an M42 cryo, and the top of the line crown is a PM-PRO - powdered metal. I found one reference to M42 being powdered, but not certain on that. Both seem to really hold an edge well. I haven’t tried the Thompson or D-Way but have heard good things and might try those out next time I need a tool. I don’t like to switch handles though - I prefer to have a dedicated handle for each tool.

I usually use a Veritas Mk 3 (which I bought for general woodworking) to flatten chisel backs, and I recently tried that to flatten/polish the tops of scrapers. M2 seems to really wreck the aluminum oxide. It must be too hard. Interestingly, the PM and M42 seem to be easier to sharpen - making me wonder if they’re basically like the Veritas PM-V11 alloy which they say is faster to sharpen than A2 but also holds an edge longer - it’s also powdered metal.

[alangreen]

I lost the will to live after 20 seconds

[iancompton]

if you are a new turner there are better videos on tools than this video - and just a point to note - all of the top tools are ALL HSS -yes they are different composition but they are still all HSS.

[terrytenley]

You are so novice.. not qualified.. Why buy junk tools.. save you money for Carter and sons m42 tool steel.. The best .. period.