woodriver bowl gouge opinion and lathe ideas?

[calvinjanes]

okay, i ma working on a budget (only 15 and no job so its hard to get nice stuff) but i am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the 1/2 in wood river bowl gouge http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005238/28845/WoodRiver-12-Fingernail-Bowl-Gouge-.aspx
just wondering if its any good. also, i am wanting suggestions for a 14"+ capacity lathe that wont break the bank. doesnt have to be a full size. could be a mini or a midi. just for making bowl. my dad lathe isnt all that great. its a delta he got a few years ago. dont know what model, its got a lever to adjust speed, 14" capacity, and an iron bed. the headstock doesnt sit straigt on the bed at all. its about 1/4" off to one side. it makes a rattling noise at lower rpms, and seems like its always out of balance. if theres anything to do to fix this short of a new headstock or lathe, let me know please.
happy turnings
calvinjanes

 

[Steven Antonucci]

Don't know a whole lot about the WoodRiver gouges, but you can probably scrounge some tools at your local woodturning club on the cheap. I've seen sets go for $10-20, and the steel matters more than the brand.

As for the Delta lathe, a buddy of mine had one and we used to turn on it together once in a while. Nothing on the lathe ever locked tightly or aligned easily, but it's far from the worst lathe in the world. If you have a local club, you can often buy a second hand lathe as members move up. A quality lathe doesn't really wear out.

Steve

 

[Gregg Adams]

LOL Calvin. That sounds like my lathe(yikes). A bit intimidating till I got used to the rattles. It's not too bad once I get my workpiece fairly round. I also would like to get a nice gouge like that. It makes me wonder if the $150 gouges are really that much better than the $50 ones. I'm finding out that this hobby can get expensive! I hope you find the answer to your question... I'll be interested to hear it

 

[odie]

okay, i ma working on a budget (only 15 and no job so its hard to get nice stuff) but i am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the 1/2 in wood river bowl gouge http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005238/28845/WoodRiver-12-Fingernail-Bowl-Gouge-.aspx
just wondering if its any good. also, i am wanting suggestions for a 14"+ capacity lathe that wont break the bank. doesn't have to be a full size. could be a mini or a midi. just for making bowl. my dad lathe isn't all that great. its a delta he got a few years ago. don't know what model, its got a lever to adjust speed, 14" capacity, and an iron bed. the headstock doesn't sit straight on the bed at all. its about 1/4" off to one side. it makes a rattling noise at lower rpms, and seems like its always out of balance. if theres anything to do to fix this short of a new headstock or lathe, let me know please.
happy turnings
calvinjanes

I have several of the WoodRiver bowl gouges. They are produced in China and are HSS. The steel seems to hold an edge fairly well. If you are used to the English turning tools like Sorby and Taylor, etc., the first thing you will notice is the flute is ground more narrow.......more like a V shape than the U shape I've gotten used to. This means the point of the ground edge will have to be sharpened a little differently, but not that big of a deal. You'll notice it will have handling characteristics that are a little different than you're used to.

Are the WoodRiver tools worth it?......Yes, I wouldn't mind having a few more, but my preference would remain with my English HSS tools overall. For someone on a budget, these WoodRiver tools will get the job done.

ooc

 

[Jerry Hall]

A budget for a $630

Turning shop HERE.

 

[MichaelMouse]

LOL Calvin. That sounds like my lathe(yikes). A bit intimidating till I got used to the rattles. It's not too bad once I get my workpiece fairly round. I also would like to get a nice gouge like that. It makes me wonder if the $150 gouges are really that much better than the $50 ones. I'm finding out that this hobby can get expensive! I hope you find the answer to your question... I'll be interested to hear it

I have found that steel wins over wood 100% of the time. I have also found that a lot of turners grind their gouges rather than sharpen them. They take a lot of metal off when I watch them. I have thousands of sharpenings on my favorite gouges and there's still some more room. Makes the 50 dollar gouge last as long as the Vanadium alloy types. My 5 dollar types are carbon steel, so they don't get as much contact time any more. When they were all I had....

A lathe that isn't rigid is a nightmare. Try extra support like steadies or use the taill as much as you can.

 

[Dale Jablonski]

I also am on a budget and have purchased several Wood River gouges. The only thing I don't care for is the handles are a bit on the light side.

 

[john lucas]

I'm not sure I've even seen a gouge for $150. The vast majority of gouges are well under that. Heck I can't justify that much for a gouge. I buy the Thompson gouges which are state of the art and half that price. That being said I like the P@N gouges from Woodcraft and the Packard brand from Packardwoodworks. They are relatively inexpensive and good quality.
You can loosen the headstock and re align it if necessary. If your just turning bowls and not using the tailstock it won't matter if it's not straight. Many of us used swiveling head lathes somewhere in our careers and purposely moved them off center.
Those lathes do make noise but an awful lot of turners have turned an awful lot of work successfully on them. I'm a fan of the new Delta 12" mini. It's not 14" but will do most of the things you would want other than turn larger bowls. In my area bowls in the 8 to 10" are what sell anyway.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Maybe we will do a gouges for grades, get an A in school, get a gouge?

Send me your address (PM) and I can send you some steel. You may have to make a handle.

What model# is the lathe?

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

Ah, the Delta IronBed.
I had one of those for a couple of years, my first lathe.
It will make noise at low speeds due to the reeves drive.
As it ages it will get worse. As long as the spindle is true, you should be able to use it just fine.
You should be able to align the headstock fairly easily.
The put a drive center in the headstock and the live center in the tailstock.
Bring the tailstock up till the points are close but not touching.
Loosen the lever under the headstock, as I recall it pulls from left to right.
With the headstock freed bump the headstock to align the point of the drive center with the live center.
You should be able to get them 'point to point'. Lock the tail stock so you don't bump it from true.
Unlock the tail stock and move it before you move the headstock around.
If you cannot get them to line up, there may be a buildup of crud under the headstock preventing it from sitting in the right position.
The headstock will slide up and down the length of the bed in addition to rotating.
You might try sliding it one way or the other and cleaning under it.
Once you get the points aligned Move the headstock lock bar back in locked position ensuring that the points are still in alignment.

The stand on that lathe is bolted together, I would check/tighten the nuts.
Also make sure that the legs are sitting square on the floor and that the floor is level. You can use a level on the bed of the lathe to check.
Sometimes moving the lathe just a couple of inches can result in better balance.
I also used to set some short boards across the braces near the bottom of the legs to hold a couple of bags of cement or sand to help keep it from vibrating.

I have not used the woodriver tools.
But, properly sharpened tools will cut well, once you learn how to use them.
If the price is right for you they will do the job until you think ( and you will ) you are ready to move on to newer/better tools.
This may sound corny ( but it's true ), any tool in the hands of an experienced craftsman will work better than the most expensive tool in the hands of a beginner.
No substituting tools for experience/time at the lathe turning.

I hope you can find someone in your area, a local turning club for instance, for some lessons.
Some of the better new turners in our club are your age and they have been welcomed by the club.

Sorry for the long winded message.
Have fun and be safe. Get a face shield too.
Mark.

 

[Dean Center]

Calvin,
Mark has given you good advice about aligning the lathe. It's a Delta 1440 Iron Bed, the model number is 46-7XX. (the lathe I use at our local club shop is the 46-715). You can go to the Delta/Porter Cable web site and get a schematic diagram, if you don't have a manual.
If you can get it aligned but not keep it aligned, you'll need to tighten the nut that the tightening lever attaches to. When this happens, the lever that tightens the headstock is all the way over to tight, and it's still not firmly fixed. You'll need to slide the head stock over to the middle of the bed and tighten the nut from the bottom of the headstock. I think it's a 7/8" or 1" wrench you'll need. It's possible to overtighten so give it just a 1/8-1/4 turn of tight to start with.
This lathe also has some trouble with the variable speed mechanism. It's possible to fix, but you'll need more expert help than I can provide. There are folks on the forum who can talk you through it.

You've got a potentially good lathe there. With a little tuning you can do just about anything you can do with a $2000 new one.

Dean Center

 

[KellyDunn]

Calvin, tools to get you started. Go to Penn State and check out Benjamins best tools. dont do an ebay thing. They go for more at auction cause folks cant believe they are so cheap. Its the best way to go to get the hang of M2 High speed steel tools on a budget. So cheap you can learn how to grind and not pucker the fanny muscles thinking you are seeing money in the sparks. Good enough steel so you wont complain when cutting wood. As Phil Brennion said to me, these tools are a no brainer for beginners. And I agree with him. I do actually use some of these tools. Bought them to try them out. You get used to flute designs. Some I did not care for as I was used to another design. Sold em. So cheap the buyer thought I was nuts.

 

[calvinjanes]

thanks guys. all really good advice. im not sure which gouge i want. i think i may end up leaning toward the cheaper one, but i dont really like the shape of it.

 

[kevinkabby]

gouges

I have a woodriver gouge I bought, for my first gouge. I can only say from my experience, you will advance faster as a turner if you spend a few more dollars on a good gouge right away. The steel seems to dull faster than sorby. The flute is so small that it will clog up easily. That makes it tough to make even consistent cuts. The best gouge I have used is the PRO-PM. Its flute design is great and it also stays sharp 3 times longer than a HSS gouge.

 

[Brian McInturff]

Calvin, how much were you planning on spending? The Thompson tools aren't that expensive. Buy once and not have to worry about quality. They aren't handled but hey, you can make one. Put it on the list of presents someone can get you. Do you have a way to sharpen one once you get it? Is there a club close enough one of it's members could give you a ride back and forth to the meetings?

 

[odie]

I still have my first bowl gouge. It's a Sorby 3/8 (1/2" diameter) deep flute bowl gouge with the Shopsmith logo on the handle. Got it in the early 1980's out of a Shopsmith catalog. I made my very first bowl on a Shopsmith multi-tool. This is when I still didn't know anything about lathe turning......but the hook was about to be set!

It hasn't been used much for more than a decade, because it's sharpened all the way down past the nub, where the flute exits the shank. Now, I guess you could call it a "shallow flute bowl gouge"! ......it does make an interesting gouge shape, that I play around with on occassion.......

I wouldn't trade my experiences with this Sorby and do it all over again with the WoodRiver........so, you can take that for what it's worth!

ooc