A comprehensive run down and critique of Australian online wood turning stores and suppliers.
I’ve found that there seems to be a large number of woodturning stores online, and they often seem to offer a quite fragmented range of woodturning tools, and or consumables. So I’ve gathered together a list of Australian online stores here and added some notes on what they sell and what sort of value they seem to offer.
Machinery House / Hare & Forbes
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/
This is where I bought my lathe and my wet stone sharpening system. They have some pretty good prices, especially on sale items and they are a big national company with fast and reasonably priced shipping! The lathe cost less than $35 to ship from Perth to Adelaide!
Pop’s Shed
Another source for Australian wood blanks. I’ve also bought a bowl guage from here that was quite reasonably priced.
Perfect Pens and Pencils
https://www.perfectpensandpencils.com.au/
Just bought some Yorkshire Grit from here, and a grinder kit. The shipping was really fast, and the custonmer service inteh way of shipping notifications etc was excellent. Reasonably priced grinders and pen kits, and are the Australian distributor for Yorkshire Grit
Carbatec
National retailer with a bricks and mortar store in Adelaide and online ordering. They have a reasonable range, however many items can be had considerably cheaper elsewhere.
U Beaut Polishes
The home of Shellawax and EEE Ultra Shine they also sell the ‘original’ Vic Wood Rotary Sander (interia sander, spinning sander). prices seem fair, though I have occasionally seen their products cheaper on other sites!
S/E Woodworking Supplies
http://www.woodworkingsuppliesqld.com.au/
I haven’t bought anything here yet however they seem to have a fairly wide range of machiney, finishes and tools. Based in Queensland they look to be a good place to start. Be sure to compare prices as when I checked some Hamlet Bowl Gouges this was the most expensive store by a long way.
Timberbits
This site stocks a large range of U Beaut and Gorilla products and seem to cater a lot to projects such as pen making. They also have a significant range of wood working machinery and tools. In fact they seem to have one of the biggest ranges of turning tools and their pricing is often signifcantly cheaper than other stores. Especially of value is the fact that they offer a lot of unhandled tools.
YouTurn.TV
This is the store of woodturner Brendan Stamp, he stocks a small range of tools and apparel for the woodturner.
McJing Tools Online
A large range of engineering and woodworking tools, and they look to be reasonably priced. I’m not sure if this is because they seem to have stayed clear of the big name brands. They dont have things like polishes and finishes however if you want a forstner bit they seem to be the place to go!
Woodfast Machiney Co.
An Adelaide store that seems focused on machiney but they do have a small range of turning tools and what look like reasonably priced bench grinders.
Timbecon
A larger online retailer, not really targetting wood turning in particular. Stores in Victoria and WA. probbaly similar to carbatec in Adelaide, though they look liek they may have a bigger range of woodturning tools.
CWS
Woodcraft supplies. They stock a lot of craft supplies as well as a range of tools and machiney. A bit of a one-stop shop, but I havent compared prices yet.
The Woodsmith
http://www.thewoodsmith.com.au/
This seems to be the place for wood blanks and some finishes etc. The importer for Rustins finishes.
Woodturning Supplies
http://www.woodturningsupplies.com.au/
An old school website with a catalogue but no online ordering system. Seems to focus on the project turner.
Vesper Tools
https://www.vespertools.com.au/
Australian hand crafted wood working tools. These look to be of heirloom quality and I havent yet had the budget to buy myself one of his lovely squares. I appears he may have previously produced woodturning tools, but I cant see any for sale on the site at thsi time.