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Which Hunter tool would you buy

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I have for a long time wanted a Hunter carbide tool. I can only get one at this time, but there are many choices. Jimmy Clewes let me use his Mate 1 at the symposium and I did like that. It is only available on his site. Hunter has the Viceroy that may be similar. Then there is the Hercules and Osprey.
If only one, what would be your choice, cutter size and style. I turn mostly things less than 12", some small boxes, spindles. Note I have used the flat style carbide and didn't really like them. I have Thompson gouges and scrapers and planning to buy a D-Way skew and spindle gouge.
 

hockenbery

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John Lucas has some excellent YouTube video on using the hunters.
Google - John Lucas woodturning hunter
You will see videos on the hunters. Clicking one will lead you to the others.
@john lucas will hopefully chime in.

One thing we all love to do is get more tools.
For new turners I recommend mastering the basics with the bowl gouge and spindle gouge before building the tool chest up. Also concentrate on turning lots of the same item. There is soooo much to learn in woodturning and so many tools. Too many beginners get so many tools that they never get good with any one of them.

Since you are doing boxes, you likely have a good mastery of the spindle gouge and the hunters will be a natural addition to the gouge for finishing. The Hunters will give you a terrific finish cut on boxes and small bowls too.
 
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For boxes I think either the #4 or the swan neck which is a #5. I have both but rarely use the swan neck. For bowl I would love to have a Hercules from John's video looks to be a great tool . I do not know much about Jimmy's tools so cannot comment on them.

@hockenbery It sounds like he already has a good mastery of gouges.
 

john lucas

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Without a doubt the Hercules or Osprey. The only difference between the two is the square shank. The both work the same and do the same thing. If you use the tool mostly in the scraper mode then the Hercules is better. I also prefer the Hercules for roughing out bowls, again used mostly as a scraper. If your already pretty skilled with the bowl gouge then the Osprey is the better tool because it handles much more like a bowl gouge when used in the bevel rubbing mode.
I thought the Clewes tool is somewhat limiting for some shapes and can only be used as a scraper.
Al's advice on spending more time with your gouges is good. The Hunter's have 2 advantages of gouges. They work as scrapers really well and you don't have to learn to sharpen. I also prefer them for the bottom of box bottoms. In that case I use the #4 or #5 for box bottoms. However the Hunter tools will work better for you if you get really good at bevel rubbing cuts with a regular bowl and spindle gouge. The Hunters will cut cleaner in bevel rubbing mode but aren't as versatile as bowl or spindle gouges. Most of the time now I use my bowl gouges and spindle gouge for the bulk of turning and use the Hunters where I need a really clean cut.
I did teach a class recently that was 4 hours long so we didn't have time to teach bevel rubbing and sharpening. I used a wide selection of the Hunter tools and the Hercules seemed to be the best for all the different shapes. I had them turn a candle holder but I had included pretty much all the various shapes that you would use in all turnings in that one candle holder.
To learn more about the Hunter tools go to youtube and type in john60lucas/hunter and it will bring up my videos on those tools.
 
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