Chisel Sets ??

[Seth Poorman]

Hey guys
Got my Powermatic lathe last week, Im ready to start turning,but Im looking for a good set of chisels to start with.. I will be mainly needing something for my drawer pulls 3/4" to 2" and Pen turning.
I was thinking of a midi set HSS from Penn State (6 piece set for $49) but dont know much about there Steel..Sorby and Henry Taylor I know are better steel.. With a small set do you think it matters if I go cheap or
the best..??
Thanks Seth..

[Bernie Weishapl]

Seth I have their $69 set and have bought several other singles from scrapers to bowl gouges. To me they are as good as any of the others I have bought and a lot less. The only one I won't compare them to is the Crown ProPM Ellsworth. I would and will buy again from PSI.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Hey guys
Got my Powermatic lathe last week, Im ready to start turning,but Im looking for a good set of chisels to start with.. I will be mainly needing something for my drawer pulls 3/4" to 2" and Pen turning.
I was thinking of a midi set HSS from Penn State (6 piece set for $49) but dont know much about there Steel..Sorby and Henry Taylor I know are better steel.. With a small set do you think it matters if I go cheap or
the best..??
Thanks Seth..Seth, just my opinion but if I were in your shoes again I would go with the HF tools to start and give myself a chance to learn sharpening on something inexpensive. Now you heard me say inexpensive not cheap. HF Lathe tools (the $36.00 set is not cheap. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47066 The steel is plenty good enough to learn on with no sacrifice in productivity. I also like the wood carving set they have I use most of them for small detail work. I think when I bought mine it was about $15.00 and had about 12 tools. Once you get the hang of it then by all means, dive head on into the Vortex. Now if you just want good tools I really like the P & N.

[Mark Hubbs]

I have the HF set also. I bought it off the self at one of their retail stores for about $45. The surface of the blades are not finished as nice as more expensive tools, but they are heavy good steel and cut great.

I also have one of their old carbon steel sets that I bought 10 years ago. I think they cost $10 back then. They work fine, but are light and need frequent resharpening. :(

[Mark Pruitt]

Ditto the HF set. Make sure it's the 8 pc HSS set though. Hard to believe that anything that good could come from HF but it's true.

[Seth Poorman]

I just found a Sorby Micro Set at Rockler and it comes with a shear scraper, for $134.99. thats the first set I found that had a shear scraper.
WC has a Micro set from Pinnacle for $40 but no shear scraper, do you think its worth the extra cash for the Sorby????:rolleyes:

[CPeter James]

Contact Rich Rossio at
"disoorder@aol.com"

He has the Benjamin's Best tools at lower prices than Penn State and faster and cheaper shipping, too. I just bought about 20 chisels from him and also the steb center. The steel is super hard and they take and hold a good edge. I did spend a little time cleaning them up, but it was not necessary. I have compared the BB tools to more expensive ones and find little difference and none as far as holding an edge.

CPeter

[Frank Kobilsek]

Seth

If you are buying Sorbey check Grizzley. They are always the cheapest for Sorbey tools.

I bought a beginers set of Pinnacle tools from Woodcraft to fill out the missing piece of my collection. Occassionally that is on sale for around $99 or 109. Holds an edge but I hate the handles, a fixable problem

I think a good value in full sized tools is the Artisan line from Crafts Supply. They are Henry Taylors relabeled.

Enjoy your new machine
Frank