Woodturning is a process of making, building, or carving something out of wood by the use of a machine called lathe. Unlike other types of woodworking, woodturning uses an immobile tool which cuts and shapes a moving wood.
The Tools Used in Woodturning Kits
The tools used in this art work are mainly made up of three variable forms of carbon steel, steel, high-speed steel, as well as powdered forms of metal. Among the three kinds of steel, the high speed steel tool upholds its efficacy longer and requires less frequent sharpening.
Listed below are some tools suggested for a woodturning kit:
• Roughing gouge - This is a broad fluted gouge which primarily rounds a spindle that is usually made up of wood, and to approximately form it. Due to the somewhat frail connection of the tang which connects the blade to its handle and the large cut it takes, it is not commonly used for cutting end grain. It is also dangerous for creating bowls or any other design or style of faceplate work.
• Spindle gouge or also known as the Detail gouge - This is a shallowly fluted gouge that places details on the different spindles, as well as beads (elevated sections of the turning usually in half circles within a particular cross section) as well as some coves (relieved sections of the turning).
• Bowl gouge - This is a deeply fluted gouge which is for rotating the outside as well as the inside parts of the vessels and bowls. Compared to a spindle gouge, it commonly has a thicker pipe as a shaft, plus a longer handle because it is created for cutting farther away from the hand rest and be able to deal with the forces required in turning a huge bowl.
• Skew chisel - This is a broad, sharply pointed chisel that has its rim running at a certain angle that covers the entire length of this particular tool. It is used to smooth out plane spindles, cut different types of beads, and put in a lot more details. Today, skew chisels are never used on faceplate work but only used on spindle work and are polished after sharpening to generate a razor edge.
• Parting tool - This is a pointed device that is used to divide (part off) work from this particular lathe, and to build a straight edge by means of dividing large as well as small diameter sections. Broad parting tools, which are also referred to as bedans, are utilized in order to make uniformly sized spindle sections.
• Hollowing tool - This tool has many different kinds and they are primarily used to cut out the deep portions of vases, hollow vessels, and steep bowls. They commonly appear as long-handled and this is for the purpose of keeping adequate leverage when you are working with a deep vessel, beyond the hand rest.
• Scraper - This is a device used to smooth out wooden items that were cut using other tools by scraping the fibers that are contained in the wood instead of cutting it. It also gives shape to materials that are impossible to do using other devices. A sharp scraper, especially the ones made today, has some sort of a burr that can be located at the edge that cuts the wood, but only a scraper that is not sharp actually scrapes.
• Bowl saver - This is a device used for coring out the inner part of a certain bowl. It saves the wasted wood material and allows it to be used to make a bowl of a smaller size and limits the quantity of wood chips made when making a certain bowl fairly hollow.
• Auger - This is a drill bit used to drill a hole half-way or all the way through a wooden item. It is used for creating a hole for a lamp cord which is the first step in shaping out a vessel or bowl.
• Chatter tool - a kind of scraper that is bendable and used to add beautiful and highly decorative designs to turned items.
• Wire - a plain wire that occasionally comes with handles at both or either sides used for burning lines into the piece with the use of friction.
• There are also different types of tools used for special purposes, and some are a combination of the tools mention above, like, thread cutting tools, skew/chisel combination, medium fluted gouges, ring cutting tools, etc.
Most of the tools mentioned above require more sharpening compared to tools used in other woodworking activities for the reason that these woods undergo a great speed.
Success Through Woodturning Kits
However, success in woodturning does not merely depend on the tools used but it also greatly depends on other important factors, like understanding the science of revolving bodies and points of tangency, harmony of mental and motor activities, development of technique and accuracy, and etc.
This may sound a little bit complicated to some but most people find woodturning pleasurable because it combines art, design, and science to create objects of beauty.
