As advancement in wood turning must be made step by step, a few simple tools are all that is necessary for the first efforts. These will consist of a few gouges and chisels, and a parting tool, shown in Fig. 10. These are made purposely for such work, and may be obtained from any well equipped hardware store.

The following tools make a very satisfactory set: 1 skew chisel and 1 turner's gouge, each 1" wide; 1 skew chisel and 1 turner's gouge, each 3/4" wide; 1 skew chisel and 1 turner's gouge, each 1/2" wide;. 1 skew chisel and 1 turner's gouge, each 1/4" wide;, 1 round nose chisel 1/4" wide; 1 parting tool 1/8"" wide; 1 pair wing calipers, 6"; 1 pair wing dividers, 6"; 1 wooden mallet, light weight; 1 oil can; 1 oil stove; 1 oil-stone slip.

The gouges, chisels, and parting tool should be fitted with good stout handles in about the proportion shown in the illustrations. For large sizes the handles should be long so as to give good command of the tool when taking a heavy cut. Generally turning tools are sold with the handles already fitted.

The gouge, A, Fig. 10, is the most valuable tool to the wood turner. Any piece that is to be turned is first rapidly brought to a cylindrical form by means of the gouge, and many surfaces having double curves are shaped by its use. Gouges must be well rounded on the cutting edge, and the bevel should be perfectly straight as it is the guide by means of which the depth and shape of curves are regulated. The edge should be a smooth curve, elliptical in shape, so that the gouge may be turned in a small space. The size of a gouge is measured by the width across the concave side, and varies from 1/8" to 1" by eighths of an inch, and from \" to 3" by quarters of an inch.

The skew chisel, or side tool, B, Fig. 10, as it is often called, is a most effective tool, and is used in finishing straight outlined work, such as the cylinder and the cone, and for making convex curves and beads. These chisels are ground with a. bevel on both sides, and at an angle of 35° to their edges. The cutting edge, instead of being at right angles with the side of the tool, is skewed somewhat. This gives better command of the cutting, as it allows a better position of the handle. The bevel must be even all its length, and not made more obtuse as it approaches the cutting edge, as by this is regulated the depth of the cut. This is a very important point, and the beginner must not fail to attend to it. The best of wood turners find it difficult to obtain good results by the use of tools that are not properly ground, and this being the case, how much more difficult it must be for the beginner to do even a passable job if the tools are in bad condition. The size of the skew chisel is measured by the width of the blade. The large sizes should have long handles. The bevel on both sides permits of the reversing of the tool. This will be found to be of great value, a they can then be used in either direction.

The parting tool, or cutting off tool, C, Fig. 10, is used for cutting off finished work. The parting tool is measured by the width across the face, the ordinary parting tool being 1/8 wide. This tool is very often used for making narrow grooves having, at the bottom, diameters equal to some of the more important dimensions of the finished work, the measurements being taken by a pair of calipers. Later on the general outline is brought down to these grooves.

The round nose chisel, D, Fig. 10, is generally made by grinding an ordinary carpenter's chisel to the elliptical form of a gouge. This tool is used in place of the gouge for most face plate work, and especially for cutting recesses where the gouge would be apt to catch in the wood, and so spoil the work.

The next article will take up the sharpening of the tools, and the first one of a series of exercises, in which I hope to make plain the elementary principles of wood turning.