Most turners, be they master or hobbyist, have collected a motley crew of tools to variously cut, scrape, shave and coax timber into the shapes they've imagined. The plethora of different tool profiles, steel types, handle designs and gouge flute shapes can lead to a complete creative lock-up. I've suffered from this to a degree, when a new "must-have" tool becomes available and suddenly, I cannot continue with a project until I have the tool that will magically transform my work into headline-grabbing art. The reality is that most work can be achieved with around a dozen well-chosen tools. The well-chosen part is where the problems begin as how do you know what's well-chosen and what's just heart ruling wallet?

My modest collection of tools consists of around 20 various gouges, chisels, ring-tool and a couple of heavyweight scrapers. I've another 10 or so that I've made from tool steel offcuts collected from my years as an engineer. Of course, I make my own handles if the supplied one is not to my liking.

Harvesting timber is a question of contacts, in my case. I'm a member of the Cheam Woodturners Association, so I have a number of people I can call on when a particular piece of timber is needed. I work mainly in English hardwoods although some of my pieces are made from exotic timber. Where I chose to use non-native wood, I buy from suppliers who have reached or exceeded the minimum standards for importing sustainable timber.