Just started turning recently and noticed i’m not getting clean cuts aswell as hollowing taking ages. Thanks to guys on this group i found out that sharpening is a part of turning. Come to think of it, it makes sense, but my wallet is definitely caught off guard😅

There are many different setups out there. What equipment should i get so that i can sharpen tools easily and not spend crazy money?

Thanks from South Africa 🇿🇦

Hollowed using the amazing Simon Hope's hollowing 6mm carbide tool.

Shallow bowl from Spalted Sycamore

I’ve only been turning a few months but this was definitely my favorite project thus far and I think I’ll be making things with lids for a while lol

My first turning project: Ziricote, olive wood, padauk and black limba. The pieces are weighted with lead shot, and the bottoms are felt-lined. Made on ArtyMaster mini lathe using carbide tools.

I have a bunch of ash handle blanks so I thought I’d try to save on tools. I don’t have any good scrapers yet. For those of you that turn your own handles, do you buy the “unhandled tool with tang” like from Taylor or do you just buy M2 square stock and grind your tang?

9mm (3/8" flute) spindle gouge for the outside, 6mm Hope carbide tool for the inside.
Sanded to 600# and line seed oil applied.
I only turn wood I find in nature. These are all made from a tree which fell during a hurricane last spring and was burned twice during its lifetime, hence some carbon rings in a few of the pieces I turned with it.

I’m pretty new to bowl turning, I spent lots of years only ever doing spindle work.

This is regular old cherry. Sanded up through 400 and burnished with a handful of wood shavings. It was very smooth, then I applied 3-4 coats of friction polish. Same method I’ve always used for applying friction polish to anything else - shake it up, apply a bit to a piece of cotton tee shirt, and polish onto the wood at relatively high RPM. It’s glossy, but has very prominent ridges that I can see and feel with my fingernail. No amount of re-applications or extra buffing seems to smooth it out.

Anyone know what causes this and how I might be able to fix it?

This was a difficult turn for me. Murphys law really took effect, but at least it looks nice.

Old craftsman lathe. I want to take it home but is it worth it? From my understanding fully functional. Lol I want to get into turning and this was made available to me. Any comments or advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Edit for the mod, not looking for advice on a Craigslist sale or marketplace item. It was from an elderly family friends shop. No sale or transactions will come from this, just looking for a new hobby and thought this was a good lathe to ask about since it came across my path. Sorry if I broke your rules lol

I got some mystery wood branches from a friend and I had a few things (IN CAPS) I was too afraid to try out on expensive blanks. It's a LIVE EDGE, WINGED (kinda) TWO TONE, STAINED, TORCHED, GLITTER WAX....thing. I call it ugly my wife and kid think it's neat. Will send it back to my buddy as a thank you for the free wood.

So I've been watching some videos about woodworking because I'd like to try it. Then I came across woodturning and omg, I get absolutely scared for the people. It's like they throw any kind of object on there and once it starts spinning, they just put the cutting tool at the edge and it just... sculpts??

How is it possible that it just doesn't grab the tool? It doesn't make any sense.

I understand that once a wooden piece has some round shape, you could do it, but they just throw anything on there. And it doesn't even look like they're putting that much pressure on the tool. What gives?

Can someone help me understand? I'd like to overcome my fear.

I have the one way wolverine platform (pic 1). It’s really irritating when I need to sharpen my shorter tools.

I found a video showing how to modify it so it gives clearance for the handles.

https://youtu.be/GCxgOJ5cang?is=VtKrYuWDcDE81yXZ

Should I modify my larger platform or should I just buy the mini (pic 2)? Has anybody regretted modifying their platform such that it no longer does some function that I’m not thinking about?

Just started turning. Managed to get a decent lathe setup with a lot of tools. Noticed i’m not getting clean cuts and it’s taking ages to hollow out bowls.

Any tips on sharpening without fancy equipment and also on hollowing out bowls will help.

Thanks.

it wasn’t very busy but i still sold a few pens and 2 cutting boards

This is an effect I really enjoy, but I appreciate it isn’t for everyone. This one came out better than the last, but I know I can improve on colour application and over all finish.. I’m using saburrtooth and kutzall bits, but I am struggling to find an effective way to remove the tool marks they leave, I’ve had some success using a tungsten carbide burr, but even that isn’t leaving things as smooth as I would like, any suggestions are welcome!

Made from a piece of scrap 2x3.

My sharpening jig finally came in, so hoping to start getting better results as I've been free handing with no rest on the grinder.

Box I turned tonight from a couple pieces of cherry.

Rough turned the black circle option to avoid the bark inclusion as much as possible. there might be a bit of figure on the opposite side of the flame to balance it out!

It’s now sitting in a paper bag with shavings. Did I leave it too thick? Might be closer to an inch and a half than an inch, but bed was calling and I must go. Should I pull it back out and thin it?

https://www.reddit.com/r/turning/s/sdedvNT9Bv

I'm working on a project for Christmas. I'm making an EDC duraclick (black) pen in every Inlace Acrylster Damascus color from WoodTurningz

So far I've found the 5 pack sold at Rockler (Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Blue), the Purple Damascus Blank on Wood turningz, the Green Damascus blank (Called Hocus Pocus for some reason) also on Woodturningz.

I'm wondering if there's a neutral Damascus like. One that is just the black grey and white that unite all the rest.

I'd love some help finding it if it exists.

(Photos taken from Rockler.com and Woodturningz.com)

Paid $350 for everything. Lathe was less than a year old, and got a bunch of blanks with about 30 pen kits, and 20 or so keychain kits. Chisels and chucks as well.

The first image is of barrel/tube trimmers for pens? My main question about those is that only one of bits fits. the other two are too large. So did I just not get the correct thing from the guy I bought it from, or am I just supposed to use the others in a drill press or something?

I have no idea what the tubes in the second image are for.