Getting started turning

Dave Black

Member
Messages
638
Location
Central PA
I have a jet 1236 lathe that I got about 12 years ago. I haven't used it too much and I decided to start to make some bowls and sell to get money to buy a sawstop PCS. I have a CHEAP set of chisels that came with the lathe. I want to start getting some better tools for the lathe but I can't spend much or that kinda defeats the point of making money for the sawstop. I was thinking about getting a nicer gouge and some sort of jaw chuck to start with. In the past when I have done some bowls, ( like 2 bowls) I just used the faceplate with screws but I wasn't a big fan of that method. Maybe that is the best method, I don't know. I saw Mark Cothren's thread http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13180
and saw that he was using a jaw chuck to hold the bowl. I was looking at the chucks from grizzly and was thinking about getting one from there. Any thoughts where so start?
 
Last edited:
Thompson Tools - Sells some very nice tools and if your only looking for gouge to start you will not go wrong with one of his tools. If your going to spend the money for a good gouge you might check out his line of lathe tools. Randy is also a memeber here on the site and easy to talk to if you have questions.
 
I have 3 of the $99 grizzly chucks (yea I know I am lazy and don't like changing jaws) but the Vicmarc VM 100 jaws will fit the grizzly chuck. I also have the Vic VM 100 and it is a excellent chuck but pricey. They are a great chuck for the money.
 
I'll second Dougs tools.I have several of them,just ordered a 3/4 skew from him.A good thing about Doug is that if you call or email him,he will be more than happy to help you pick out the tool best suited for you turning needs.He's a great guy to deal with.
 
I was looking at the $42.50 grizzly 4 jaw chuck, any thoughts on that one? If that is not a good one I could probably get the $99 chuck but right now I would like to keep costs down. Is the 4 jaw chuck the best way to turn bowls? Thanks for the info on the gouges, I will take a look at them. I have done a few very simple bowls on the faceplate but thats it. Any info on bowl turning would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Dave,
I use both the face plate and the chucks... I like to start the bowl on the face plate until I get the tenon cut on the bottom for the chuck. I've tried just using a drive spur, but I don't think it's as effecient as the face plate... that's just my opinions and my way of doing.

I use the PSI 4 jaw Barracuda chucks.. I have 2, plus a smaller one I forget the model of right now... all are PSI chucks though... If you are doing larger bowls, you might look at a larger chuck, but I've turned up to a 12 inch bowl on the ones I have. The only thing I don't like about them, they use tommy bars to tighten, I would really like to have a single key.. sometimes I need 3 hands to get a piece on the chuck.

I don't have really good tools, most of mine came with my original lathe which was a Ridgid from Home Depot.. another set I got when my son gave up his lathe, a Jet 1014 and a set of tools... plus I bought a few cheapies from harbor freight that I played with for sharpening, etc... my bowl gouges are Benjamine best from PSI, they're about $50 for the set of 3...
 
I was looking at the $42.50 grizzly 4 jaw chuck, any thoughts on that one? If that is not a good one I could probably get the $99 chuck but right now I would like to keep costs down. Is the 4 jaw chuck the best way to turn bowls? Thanks for the info on the gouges, I will take a look at them. I have done a few very simple bowls on the faceplate but thats it. Any info on bowl turning would be appreciated. Thanks

Dave I also have the $42.50 chuck. It was the first one I bought and haven't been sorry. It uses tommy bars but like I said it works just fine for the money for me was good buy.
 
I was looking at the $42.50 grizzly 4 jaw chuck, any thoughts on that one? If that is not a good one I could probably get the $99 chuck but right now I would like to keep costs down. Is the 4 jaw chuck the best way to turn bowls? Thanks for the info on the gouges, I will take a look at them. I have done a few very simple bowls on the faceplate but thats it. Any info on bowl turning would be appreciated. Thanks

Dave I also have the $42.50 chuck. It was the first one I bought and haven't been sorry. It uses tommy bars but like I said it works just fine for the money and for me was good buy.
 
I am going to be stopping at woodcraft tomorrow and saw that they have a woodriver 4 jaw chuck for $86.50. Would this be a better option than the Grizzly $42.50? Anybody have the woodriver chuck?
 
Anybody know if other jaws can be bought for the Grizzly $42.50 chuck, I would assume that there are others, but grizzly doesn't show any.
 
If I were you, I would forget about buying better tools to make bowls to sell to earn money to buy a table saw. By the time you make enough money for that saw, you aren't going to want it anymore! :rofl: You'll be lusting for an even bigger and better lathe, a bandsaw, a chainsaw, a pickup truck, so on and so forth. Besides, a table saw is just an expensive platform to hold turning blanks!

Seriously though, if this is the route you intend to take, Doug makes some of the best tools out there. They don't have handles, but there is a lot of satisfaction in making your own tool handles. Good luck with it!
 
I know grizzley makes a knock off of the vicmark 100 chuck people rave about. Been thinking about that myself as a second chuck. Not sure of the price though but it is popular and good. I wouldn't go to cheap on a chuck.
 
I ordered the Grizzly $42.50 chuck and got it last week, I'm sure its not the greatest chuck in the world but it will do for what I'm doing. I turned a small bowl last saturday out of some dry walnut that was lying around but I ended up with a funnel instead. I realized that turning large bowls on the swiveling headstock wasn't very fun so I decided to make another headstock for my jet 1236 lathe. I have all the stuff I need laying around. It will attach to the bed of the lathe and be powered from the factory headstock so I will still have variable speed. I will "gear" down the bigger headstock so I will have the slower speeds for the large bowls. I am thinking of making it with a 24" swing, maybe slightly bigger. More thoughts to come.
 
Top