help me spend my money!

I know I have a chuck or two in a recent purchase I made. Can't find them or any of the four or five turning chisel sets plus extras and some of those were nice sets.

Anyway, got to have a chuck. The chuck I lost had gray fingers on the bowl jaws which may hint at what it was but unless somebody recognizes the brand with certainty and it is of equal quality I am going to buy the Oneway Talon chuck for my 15" craftsman lathe. The kit comes with the #2 profiled(ridged) jaws or some places my choice between the ridged or tapered jaws. Pricing everywhere with the 1"-8 adapter I need seems to be $230 to $240. "Free shipping" some places might save a little. I haven't dealt with any of the wood turning suppliers in a very long time if at all and would like recommendations who to deal with, that perhaps best sent by PM. Supporting those that support the forums is what I prefer unless there are other overriding considerations.

That out of the way, now for the real reason for the thread. I am going to turn bowls and hollow forms out of green and found wood and definitely am still in the "chicken" stage of watching irregular pieces of wood spin. Which other jaws should I buy to begin with? Will almost certainly have them all before the dealing is done but I am buying stuff left and right at the moment just to get started I don't want to invest in stuff to gather dust on the shelf.

My thought is to add the #3 tower jaws and use a lollipop for cleaning up bowl bottoms now since most of my bowl rims will be irregular with a little luck.

My other "must buy" item right now is a 1/2" drill chuck mounted on a 2M taper. I want a decent quality keyed chuck. Never had a keyless I liked that didn't cost well over a hundred dollars and I'm trying to middle of the road things here. Not the most expensive or cheapest, something to get the job done.

I have a bowl gouge and a ring type chisel hollowing tool coming. I also just recommitted to working part time in a small specialty machine shop making industrial components so I will have toys available to make scrapers and such. I have a few calipers and measuring tools, many more lost in the mountain of stuff buried in storage after the storm I hope.

What else other than safety equipment, I do know what I need there, is on your list of must have items that you would buy as soon as possible?

Thanks to all for any assistance and I hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful Easter with family and friends. I have a date with a piece of spalted oak I am going dance with!

Hu

The Talon is a good chuck. I'd recommend the #2 "profiled" jaws, and don't run out and buy other jaws until you see what you are actually going to need. For what it's worth, I'm not seeing how the #3 tower jaws would be used for finishing bowl bottoms, especially on NE bowls. There are a number of ways to do it with scrap wood in your regular (#2) chuck jaws. I'm short of time right now, but I'll try later to dig up a thread I posted a while back showing how I finish bowl bottoms.

In your video collection, do you have Turned Bowls Made Easy by Bill Grumbine? I highly recommend that DVD. Bill has gotten a lot of us started turning bowls.

Also, in regards to this:

I haven't dealt with any of the wood turning suppliers in a very long time if at all and would like recommendations who to deal with, that perhaps best sent by PM. Supporting those that support the forums is what I prefer unless there are other overriding considerations.

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Since we are not financially supported by anyone other than the members themselves, we are not beholden to any suppliers or manufacturers. You can feel free to mention (and even link to) any suppliers and such that you'd like. We do it all the time here.

Bowl gouge: What kind? I can HIGHLY recommend buying from Thompson Late Tools. By far the best bang for the buck when it comes to turning chisels and gouges.

Ring tool: I have the Oneway Termite, but was never all that happy with it. Works a lot better in the videos than it ever did for me. Other guys love 'em, though.

For a drill chick, I went with the 1/2 Jacobs on a 2MT from CSUSA. I have no complaints and it really gets used a lot!
+1 on Vaughn's suggestion for Thompson gouges...they are the best IMHO. I also use handles from Monster. You'll need something to sharpen with...Wolverine, Tormek, Grizzly are some of the good ones, there are others people like and use.
Hope that helps!

Thanks!

Thanks guys. I have the crown 1/2" English call out bowl gouge which probably makes it a 5/8" or so. I also have a brand new Henry Taylor tool with the gouge and ring and another interchangeable end coming. Can't find out why it was taken off the market and I assume there is a reason for that but the price is free and a friend won't even let me pay shipping. Guess I'll have to buy next time he makes it down. I owe him for the best seafood platter in New Orleans which he paid for last time he was down anyway, I can't lose.

I am going to check out the sites and tools y'all have mentioned, the DVD too of course. The Crown was just because I had a turning Jones and every piece of scrap iron around here was starting to look like a turning tool to me. Figured I was ahead of the game buying something!

I wasn't clear, the #3 tower jaws would be just another set to do the same thing as the #2 profile jaws do just maybe get a better grip on some wood I don't trust. My second trying to turn is a piece of spalted oak, just found wood. Unfortunately although it originally seemed I had cut the rot away it seems to reappear all through the piece and I have spun a drive chuck and had a problem getting quarter inch lag bolts to hold in the faceplate. I am getting some turning done though and learning. Right now the learning and experience is what it is all about anyway. I do have a couple of shallow bowl blanks in the storage unit that I can lay hands on, I may grab something reasonable to turn next time. The people providing a meeting place for the Bayou Woodturners chapter of the AAW sells blanks so I'll probably buy something the second weekend of the month if I haven't went broke on tooling!. Have that fresh oak to grab or I may have to grab a chainsaw and ask my nephew which tree he is tired of! He has too many anyway.

Hu