Is it only design that allows
"style," or can there be personal styles of tool use?


I think that without personal styles of tool use, there would
be very little advancement in tool design.
Look at a bowl gouge and all the different shapes.
Watch how R Raffan uses the skew, and how his is shaped.
Open up any turning tool catalog and see all the tool designs
that carry someones name.
Being self taught, with the aid of a few books and videos I've found
that some tools have a lot of different uses. The more I turn,
the more uses I find for some.

After watching two turners demonstrate spindle turning at an AAW
Symposium, there styles of turning and the tools they used were
as different as night and day. Both were accepted as being correct
methods of turning. One used gouges,skews and a parting tool.
The other used only a parting tool and a small 1/4" scraper.

I discovered that I had been using a 1/8" parting tool in much the same
way as one of these turners. Though I never saw it used this way
in any of the books or videos. And all the time thinking that I was using
it wrong.
Personal styles of tool use, yes there's no dought in my mind.
By the way one of my favorites is ,
The Robert Sorby Oval Skew Shear Scrapper.
Jim