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Best woodturning chisel

Updated: 24 October 2026

You want one woodturning chisel to buy first, and the amazon.co.uk star lines do not agree with each other. One listing is 4.8 from 28 reviews and has not been used by the United Kingdom reviewers here. Another is 4.6 from 641 and is a named 20 mm roughing gouge. This page applies one score rule and one price rule to the eleven listings in the [woodturning chisel comparison](/hub/hand-tools/woodturning-chisel). Best here means the clearest amazon.co.uk evidence for a named spindle tool on 22 October 2026. Peter F. read the listings and public UK sources. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You want one woodturning chisel to buy first, and the amazon.co.uk star lines do not agree with each other. One listing is 4.8 from 28 reviews and has not been used by the United Kingdom reviewers here.

Our top picks

Faithfull Faithfull 20 mm roughing gouge

Best overall

Faithfull Faithfull 20 mm roughing gouge
9.4/10about £32.81
View offer
Faithfull Faithfull 8 mm spindle gouge

Best value

Faithfull Faithfull 8 mm spindle gouge
9.3/10about £18.87
View offer
Faithfull Faithfull 16 mm roughing gouge

Alternative

Faithfull Faithfull 16 mm roughing gouge
7.7/10about £25.86
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.The rule for this page
  2. 2.Top pick, 20 mm roughing gouge
  3. 3.Value pick, 8 mm spindle gouge
  4. 4.What this ranking does not cover

The rule for this page

The score is the amazon.co.uk star rating divided by 5, multiplied by 70, plus the review count divided by 500 and capped at 500, multiplied by 30. A 4.6 from 641 becomes 94. A 4.8 from 28 becomes 69, because twenty-eight reviews add almost nothing once the cap is 500. That is why the SIIIXS six-piece carbide set, B0FBRX5NQ5, stays out of the winner’s place. It is £111.43, and 4.8 from 28 is the highest star line. The three United Kingdom reviews say the tools have not been used. No UK sentence describes a cut.

Top pick, 20 mm roughing gouge

The top pick is the Faithfull 20 mm roughing gouge, B002XFWANK, part FAIWCTROU20F, at £32.81. The score is 94, the highest in the table. amazon.co.uk shows 4.6 from 641 reviews, and the 50 texts saved for this comparison are marked United Kingdom. The bullets describe removing a lot of timber, planing a spindle blank and shaping gentle curves. Faithfull says the chisel needs a final sharpen before first use, and UK reviews call the factory grind rough. One longer UK review says the tool is limited once you are experienced. If the lathe work is a bowl, this gouge is the wrong winner. The bullets do not describe bowl hollowing.
Faithfull Faithfull 20 mm roughing gouge

Testsieger

Faithfull Faithfull 20 mm roughing gouge
9.4/10about £32.81
View offer

Value pick, 8 mm spindle gouge

The best value is the Faithfull 8 mm spindle gouge, B002XFWAUS, part FAIWCTROU8F, at £18.87. The score is 93, one point behind the top pick, and the price is the lowest in the capture. amazon.co.uk shows 4.6 from 479 reviews, and most of the 50 saved texts are marked United Kingdom. UK reviewers use the small flute for tight curves and small spindle items. UK buyers say the packet or an older description said roughing gouge, while the tool in the hand is an 8 mm spindle or fingernail gouge. People who wanted the small gouge say that is what arrived. Buy it only if a spindle gouge is what you wanted, and look at the flute before you mount a blank.

What this ranking does not cover

A Record Power 6-piece HSS set is listed by the maker at £229.99, with a published contents list that includes a bowl gouge, and it is UK-made. Faithfull’s own 8-piece HSS box has a list price of £264.28 including VAT on the maker’s site, which is not the amazon.co.uk street price of the singles here. None of those kits is an ASIN in this table. The first-tool list is on the buying guide. The ranking also does not choose a carbide bar. The DEEFIINE four-piece carbide set at £49.49 has UK reviews that describe a small bowl and more sanding, which is a different cut on HSS vs carbide. Skip both picks if you are about to hollow a bowl.

Common questions

Which listing has the most UK reviews?
The Faithfull 20 mm roughing gouge shows 4.6 from 641 on amazon.co.uk, and the 50 texts saved for this comparison are marked United Kingdom. The 8 mm spindle gouge is next, at 4.6 from 479, with most of its saved texts also marked United Kingdom. The score uses that count, capped at 500, so both listings sit near the cap. No other row here has a review count in that range.
Why is 4.8 from 28 not the winner?
The SIIIXS six-piece carbide set is 4.8 from 28 and £111.43. At that count the volume share of the score is small, so the stored score is 69, well behind 94. The three United Kingdom reviews say the set has not been used. A star average without a described cut does not beat a 20 mm gouge that UK texts use for spindle roughing.
Is the £18.87 spindle gouge actually a roughing gouge?
The title and the bullets say an 8 mm spindle gouge. The part number is FAIWCTROU8F, and several UK reviews say the packet or an older description said roughing gouge. Buyers who wanted the small spindle or fingernail flute say that is what they received. Check the steel in your hand if the label and the title disagree.
Who should skip the 20 mm roughing gouge?
Skip it if you are hollowing a bowl. The bullets describe spindle blanks and gentle curves, not bowl hollowing. Skip it if you need a case, or if you will not grind a rough factory edge before the first pass. If you already have a roughing gouge and you want detail, look at the 8 mm spindle gouge or the 15 mm skew.
Does best mean best bowl tool?
No. Best on this page is the strongest reviewed spindle roughing gouge in the capture, plus the lowest-priced spindle gouge with a large UK sample. The DEEFIINE three-piece bowl set at £72.85 is a different job, and UK reviews on it describe loose ferrules. A carbide set used for one small bowl is a different cut again.
How does this sit next to Robert Sorby if no Sorby price was captured?
UK reviews compare the feel and the price with a Robert Sorby the reviewer already knows. They call the Faithfull tools worth the money and not the same standard. This page does not quote a Sorby price, because none was taken from the sources used here. A Sorby gouge is a different purchase, outside this score.

Related pages

Bowl gouge woodturning

Woodturning chisel

Woodturning tools for beginners: which profiles first

How to use a woodturning chisel before the first cut

HSS vs carbide woodturning: when to grind or replace

Sources

Public UK sources listed below, plus the amazon.co.uk listings for the eleven ASINs. Checked on 22 October 2026.

  1. HSE: Wood dust (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. HSE WIS28: Woodturning lathes (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. HSE INDG291: Providing and using work equipment safely (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. AWGB: Woodturning safety (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. Thameside Woodturners: Tools (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. Record Power: 6-piece turning tool set (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. Faithfull: HSS roughing gouge 20 mm (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Robert Sorby: Standard spindle gouges (retrieved 22.10.2026)