Peachtree tools?

[Sean Hughto]

So I got an e-mail last week offering a deal on a set of 8 turning tools for $52. It said they were HSS, so I decided to give em a try mostly because I thought they'd be good fodder for some personalized grinds I've been wanting to do, e.g., special scrapers, diamond point spindle tool and stuff like that . So they came today. I haven't put metal to wood yet or even to a grinder, but they look really rather decent and come in a nice box even. So my question is has anyone used these and have any comment? They seem almost too good to be true in a certain way for the price. So let me know if I should be ready for then to snap off in use or are radioactive or anything, okay?

:D:D

[John Keeton]

Sean, I got that email, too. IMO, nearly all the M2 HSS tools are the same metal. The only differences (and, they can be significant), are thickness, size, profile, etc. This set looked very similar to the Harbor Freight set, except the handles may be a little better. However, I had no way of knowing the thickness. But, still, they seem like a good deal. I have had good luck with Peachtree stuff in the past.

[Art Kelly]

May as well boil this back to the surface: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?74789-Is-all-M2-steel-created-equal

[Greg Just]

I have a set of the HF purple handled tools which are probably similar to the Peachtree tools. I use some of them a lot and the others I plan to re-work the others into custom tools to my liking.

[John Keeton]

Art, I think the 2008 thread is accurate, but in the common price range of $30 - $60 for an eight piece set, I think one will find all of them are imported from China, and aside from dimensions, there is little difference in the metal. And, for that matter, for my purposes, there are only two grades of tools - cheap HSS, or CPM 10V (A-11) as used by Doug Thompson. I would not even consider something in the middle (Sheffield HSS) as I don't think the small difference in cost, if any, between that and the CPM is worth not getting the best.