Should you stick with same brand of tools?

[mattcullum]

I have finally managed to buy some decent chisels..these..




Having got a few is it better to keep with the same brand? Does having the same style of handle etc make them feel similar? I'm now after some bowl gouges to complete the set. Very dissapointed to be home to late to try them! Quite a find at 60 pounds I think.

Best Regards

Matthew

 

[Bodrighy]

Personally I don't think it matters too much what brand they are, most of us have a mixture and perhaps favourites. You can also get unhandled tools and do your own to suit you. Quaklity of the blades is much of a muchness and as time goes on you will find that some tools such as the gouges and skews will need regrinding to suit yourself anyway.

pete

 

[duncanh]

I don't think the brand makes much difference, as long as you get HSS.
It can actually help to go for a mix of brands as that way you have a mix of handle shapes and colours and that's useful for identifying tools quickly. In my tool rack I have bowl tools and spindle tools separate. If I want my Hamlet medium sized spindle gouge I know that I just need to pick up the tool with the Hamlet colour that's shortish in length - no need to check through all the blades.

As Pete mentioned, you if you buy unhandled tools you can make your own handles to suit you and it makes it even easier to identify tools. It's cheaper too.

 

[Russell]

I have about 5 different brands of tools whats important is what it does and how it feels to handle. Some of the expensive brands and not better than cheaper versions for some tools. On the other hand the expensive brands can be better quality in finish etc such as Ashley Iles and Henry Taylor but you can pay a premium. So its very much down to personnel preference I do have customers who insist on say Robert Sorby so the chisel rack looks uniform and even had customers who have changed a handle on a tool so it looked the same as others on their chisel rack :roll:

 

[tekno.mage]

Like others here I don't think the brand of tool is particularly important providing it's one of the decent ones (ie not a dirt cheap chinese import) and the blade is HSS.

I really dislike having all the handles the same - it's too easy to pick up the wrong tool when they all have identical handles - especially if they are buried in shavings on the shelf under the lathe.

Also I prefer longer heavier handles on some tools (some bowl gouges and big scrapers) and lighter, shorter handles on things like skews and spindle gouges.

I have colour-coded my own tools handles for quick identification using chestnut spirit stains on the pale coloured handles and acrylic paint on the dark ones.

tekno.mage

 

[mattcullum]

Thanks everyone, there was a part of me that liked the idea of them all looking pretty on the tool rack above my lathe (to be constructed!).

I hadn't thought of the easy identification aspect of it, intesresting that everyone has the same opinion. Any of them as long as they are hss, I thought there was a chance of starting a brand war.

The new ones even unsharpened are a revelation, cutting so mcuh easier and the new longer handles offer so much more control, wonderfull.

Best Regards

Matthew

 

[mark sanger]

I like Crown tools due to their good pricing. However I have many other brands depending upon what they make to suit my needs.

I do not find that different handles make any difference.

To identify mine I have colour coded them with insulation tape stuck around the top of the handles so I can see them stuck out of the shavings.. skews are red, parting tools white, etc etc.

This helps me a great deal when they are all lined up under the shavings

 

[user 5053]

I would always advise beginners to buy quality individual tools rather than a whole set as most of them you will hardly touch from one year to the next and will lead to confusion and frustration. Also if you have to start colour coding your tools you have problems. Modern turning has become far too complicated with so many tools and gadgets that you don't need.

 

[dannykaye]

I tend to buy things as I see a need for them and then find what I want on ebay. Mind you for roughing out I have an old marples 1.5 inch gouge that works better than any lathe tool I have ever found and my sorby tools get more use than the rest apart from that.

All that is important really is avoid the cheap no-name stuff and buy decent tools to start with

 

[Jonzjob]

Solfly I couldn't agree more! If you are n the situation of having so many tools to hand then you have got to be wasting a certain amount of time lookng and cash buying the things?

Mine sit on the bench behind me when I'm on my lathe and I find the different handles no different to handle than if they were all the same.

I once read tat if you have more than about 5 gouges that you are using for all of your normal spindle or faceplate turning then you have a surfit.

OK if you are going to do these things that include poking a tool into a tiny hole to hollow a large interior space then you need more, but I am not into this kind of turning.

One of the only special tools I have is one that I made is the one I have for turning captive rings. This was ground from a 1 1/4 inch chisel and has lasted me over 10 years. Not heavily used but last used last week to turn another babies rattle. It cuts both sides of the ring and any size you want.

 

[Ad de Crom]

I have also different brands of tools, Nooitgedagt (Dutch), Becker (German) and Crown (English).
Bought these Crown tools last summer in a toolshop in Barnstaple, and I'm very happy with these tools, as it is hard to buy them in Holland.
My favorite tools are my detail gouges.
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