Turning Tool Selections
(I refuse to call them sets!)

Oh the pain and the grief of it all!  My arm is twisted well up my back as I type this page (pretty nifty, eh, one-handed typing?)  I have railed for years against the purchase of sets of turning tools, on the basis that I believe that these generally represent poor value.  Why?  because I reckon that most sets contain one tool that is little better than useless.  They also normally contain at designs of tools that, whilst adequate for starting out woodturning, will soon be outgrown.

For the absolute beginner, especially if the budget is tight, there may be a justification to purchase a carefully-selected collection of tools and certainly many folk prefer to give a gift in a pretty box than one that is necessarily the best considered.  So-o-o-o-o-o I have relented a little and selected a couple of tool sets from two of the better-known manufacturers, both of which represent good value for money.  I have then taken the step beyond and have pleasure in presenting the ToolPost's very own Journeyman selection of woodturning tools.

Why Journeyman?  Because in the "good old days" (when most artisans lived at starvation level!) the next stage of a craftsman's life after completing his apprenticeship was to go out into the world as a Journeyman, travelling the country, even the world, working for different "Masters" and absorbing all he could of their craft and art before returning home and, if he was lucky, setting up as a Master tradesman himself.  What I have tried to accomplish is a selection of tools that will remain with the aspirant turner for as long as he turns (barring loss, theft or errant behaviour!)  Each and every one of these tools is going to be as useful today as it will the last day you ever turn anything in wood: they are both basic and "eternal".  They are not selected on price, but solely on the grounds of usefulness.  I still have every one of these tools in my toolbox today and they form the core of my turning armoury.  The contents of this veritable Pandora's box, The ToolPost Journeyman Turning Tool Set, are:-

• HCT065- 1.1/4" Roughing Gouge with 14" Ash handle
• HCT068- 3/8" Spindle Gouge (round bar) with 10" Ash handle
• HCT083- 3/8" Bowl Gouge with 14" Ash handle
• HCT092- 3/16" Diamond Parting Tool with 10" Ash handle
• HCT100- 1/2" Rectangular Skew Chisel with 10" Ash handle
• HCT142- 1" x 3/8" Heavy Duty Bowl Scraper with 14" Ash handle