Is it worth that much money?

[John Hicks]

the mystery of metallurgy

 

[R Henrickson]

Now that is what I call ingenuity!!

That's how it's been done for centuries across North Africa and into the Near East. Spindle turning with a bow lathe. Wood has always been expensive there, so most turnings were done from small pieces. Wood was too valuable for things like bowls or plates --- pottery was much cheaper to produce, whatever the size of the item. Yet the woodturners guild was one of the largest in Ottoman Cairo, and spindlework turned from wood was ubiquitous in vast numbers of houses and other structures -- furniture, window screens, dividers, balusters, etc etc. Some was incredibly complex. Window screens often had 100-200 pieces *per square foot*, and typical window lattices were 10-20 square feet (so 1000-4000 pieces for a single window).

 

[John Torchick]

Just think- that is how it was done in the past. Saw a photo of an Egyptian chair that had beads and coves on the legs and spindles.

 

[David Shombert]

I'm a little late to this discussion, and others have already expressed the same take that I have on this, but I'll just add my $0.02 - I always choose Doug Thompson's tools first. Idon't see much difference among any of the higher quality tools, steel-wise, but Doug is a great guy, an individual (not a big corporation), and has done a lot for the woodturning community. He's been helpful to me on more than one occasion. I just plain like the guy so I give him my business whenever I can.

 

[Odie]

Is it worth that much money?​

In my opinion........no.

I have given my thoughts on this over and over again on the AAW forum. I realize that the "herd think" that plagues the turner community makes many turners think they are getting something of value by using steels that are far harder than the old M2 standard. I probably resharpen 3-4 times as much as anyone using these exotic steels. However, when you consider I can resharpen scrapers in about 15 seconds, and gouges in less than a minute......what is the advantage?

=o=

 

[Bill Alston]

I have a Crown M42 spindle gouge that is supposed to be of superior steel. As a hobbyist though I haven’t noticed any difference in performance or edge retention than a Henry Taylor gouge I bought many years earlier. In spite of putting exactly the same grind on both gouges I still prefer the Henry Taylor.

 

[David Shombert]

My $0.02 worth:

• Recall the old adage - “It’s not the sword, it's the swordsman”. Almost anyone can make almost any tool work effectively once they develop the skill.
• Also - I might be alone in this, but I buy Doug Thompson’s tools because I like the guy. He makes a quality product, is personable and helpful when I see him at a gathering, and is a bit quirky. I like that.

 

[john lucas]

I use mostly Thompson tolls but still have a few others. None of them hold a really sharp edge very long. The thompsons hold what I'll call stage 2 sharpness (still sharp by most people's stanards) for a very long time. I haven't figured out how to run a serious test on this. I have some douglas fur that tears out at the slightest loss of a very sharp edge. I'm surprised ar how little you can cut with any tool and lose that edge. When cutting hard woods the thompson just keeps cutting. Still testing tge Robust tooks but they are pretty good. My older m2 still cuts but is harder to push through the wood. However its all subjective because its impossible to make the exact same cut every time.

 

[Bill Blasic]

I personally would never ever touch a C&S tool, if you want an M42 tool get a D-Way as he was the true source of the M42 tools. I was going to do a review of Robust bowl gouges and in agreement with Brent I would state that I worked in the Thompson Tool booth in the article. I myself thought that they were just HSS and the coating did little or nothing and a close friend (a Professional turner who knows I would never reveal his name) who I knew had used them said the same thing. But the magazine closed shop 7 articles away from being published. Don't get me wrong the Robust tools have a lot of redeeming characteristics and the article was not a bad review, but HSS is HSS which I don't use. I have over 50 published articles most of which were reviews and let me tell you that it is darn near impossible to write a bad review about turning equipment. Folks like Brent, Doug Thompson and Mike Hunter and many many others strive to give you products that work as advertised. I am just 1 turner with just 1 voice, you may find in your voice differences.

 

[Todd Carris]

Excellent thread, thank you everyone for contributing as it’s very educational. Like Bill I prefer to sharpen unhandled and I personally prefer a wooden handle I’ve made myself.

This is a bit of a spin off from the topic but I really like the ability to travel with many tools from my shop to our clubs learning center or other shops minimizing the # of handles I have so I’ve gone with Jimmy Clewes Quick Release, made by Doug Thompson but does fits many other tools whose tangs are round, and customized my Milwaukee Packout with Onreva foam. This allows me to bring many tools very easily. For me that’s mostly Thompson and D-Way. Here is a photo of one of my drawers.

 

[Roger Wiegand]

So the 5/8 Jaimeson bowl gouge made by Thompson is currently $99, and a very nice tool. The Benjamin's Best gouge is $33. In my hands a bowl gouge lasts about a decade. So the Thompson gouge costs me a little under 3 cents a day while the BB is only a penny. (Though, based on my experience with it and the longer flute length I suspect the Thompson will wear out a lot more slowly) For me it only has to be slightly better to be worth the extra 2 cents.

 

[robo hippy]

Well, with sharpening any tool, bench tools included, the freshly sharpened edge degrades pretty quickly by a certain amount, then keeps a "working" edge for much longer. Since I do all of my roughing with scrapers, when turning bowls, I may get a couple of finish cut passes with a tool before needing to go back to the grinder. I never use a honing card. I have lost too many of them, and with my grinder rest, it takes seconds to refresh the edge.

robo hippy

 

[Thom Schuck]

I was wondering if the high prices for turning tools, such as Thompson, carter and sons...etc, worth the high price? I have been using crown cryo and pro pm gouges at a much lower price, and I'm not sure I see much of a difference (I have one Thompson). They have to be sharpened at the same intervals, and I believe the pro pm gouge actually gets a sharper more durable edge (sharpened on a tormek with a 600 diamond wheel). I of course like to buy American, but my pocketbook is usually full of cobwebs.

I have many Doug Thompson Tools. In my opinion Thompson steel is the finest steel for turning tools. They hold an edge forever. I just hit them with my DMT card and back to my machine. Cindy Drozda makes her own line of signature tools as well. Cindy uses Doug Thompson steel. Cindys tools show up wicked sharp so be careful. Yes they are worth every penny. Yes I have a couple of Crown and a bunch of Sorby. Yes they are excellent tools. It all comes down to the steel they are using and Like I said before, Thompson & Drodza tools you will never regret. BTW…. Doug Thompson makes his own handles as well. I dig Thompson Handles. They just fit in my hand just right. If you ever want to try carbide, look no further than Mike Hunter. Mike is a super nice guy and highly receptive to phone calls and contacts. There you have my humble worthless opinion. Thom Schuck, Portland Oregon