Reddit mentions of Hurricane Turning Tools, Woodturning Roughing Gouge, High Speed Steel, 1 Inches Flute

First off, pick up a inexpensive roughing gouge. Very easy to use, and it's the right tool for turning square things round. Once you've done that, then you can use your micro set to shape. Here's the one I use. That brand is sold on Amazon and is quite the bargain for what you get in a tool.

A 1/2" gouge is generally (not always) going to be a bowl gouge. While a usable tool that will expand your abilities on the lathe, it's a bit of overkill for the task you're after. I'd use a spindle gouge or a detail gouge. (Pretty much the same tool but sharpened differently for different effect.) I'd go with a spindle gouge now since they are a bit more forgiving than a detail gouge while learning, and you can always sharpen it to a more dramatic angle later on. Again, check amazon for their Hurricane line and see if they have one as it's likely the best bang for your buck and will save you some cash. 3/8" is a good size, but you could go smaller for your work as well if you were so inclined.

That said, it sounds like you shouldn't put too much money into tools until you go down the rabbit hole of sharpening. You could spend a few bucks on some diamond cards and do it by hand, but that will take forever and you'll be less inclined to keep your tools sharp. The generally agreed upon system is the Wolverine system with the varigrind jig paired with a bench grinder. (Ideally a slow speed grinder, but if you're careful you don't need that. Mine is a $15 clearance ryobi that I upgraded the wheels on.) This complete system can run $150 (used, if you're lucky) to $300+ depending on how crazy you want to go. The good news is, much of it can be bought in stages based on need. For instance, you don't need the varigrind attachment yet if you're not using spindle / bowl gouges, so you could save you $50 for now. And when you get really good at that system, you can start eyeing the Tormek systems. Mwah-hah-hah-hah-ha! (Don't. They are amazing, and I'm glad I have one, but I also wouldn't recommend it to most people. Love mine...but the price is STUPID.)

Basically...you have a rabbit hole to go down. Your tools should be sharpened multiple times during turning for the best finished product. My best advice is to search this sub for the many sharpening posts and get a feel for other people's experience.

Good luck!

The catch is, while you'll be "done with it" in terms of not having to sharpen, it's kind of a false economy in that you'll never progress to the level you could have with the traditional gouges- carbide will never leave as nice a surface as a gouge in the hands of a skilled user, and I think that making the traditional crisp shapes that you see on things like table legs and stairway ballusters would be impossible with carbide.

I would say before you give up and go with carbide, try out at least one or two of the nicer gouges- a 3/4" spindle rouging gouge and a 3/8" or 1/2" spindle/detail gouge is a good place to start. The Artisan line recommended above is a good bet, and if you want to go a little less expensive but still pretty good, try the Hurricane line on amazon. There really is a huge amount of difference in a properly shaped gouge with better steel and the HF tools, which are in turn based on an old Delta/Craftsman pattern that for some reason have had an enduring popularity with various manufacturers over the years. (It puzzles me in the same way the "1440" lathe keeps popping up under different colors of paint despite being one of the worst designs ever).

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/130/3147/artisan-Spindle-Roughing-Gouge

https://www.amazon.com/Hurricane-Turning-Tools-Woodturning-Roughing/dp/B008B86DLS

I just got the Hurricane roughing gouge for $24.00 off of Amazon.
Careful though it jumped up to $34.00 soon after I bought it. As of this posting it is now $23.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B86DLS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1