Shopsmith Forums

I saw the below listed lathe tools on Craigslist. Would any of you wood turners out there be willing to tell me what I'm looking at and whether or not it is a good buy?

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/tls/3523127490.html

Thanks,
Doug

These appear to be the newer HSS models. Not too bad.

These are also an amazingly good buy for a starter set.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-high-speed-steel-wood-lathe-chisel-set-69723.html I have seen a few reviews on these and they compare favorably to Benjamin's Best and some other Chinese MFG lathe tools.

42.99 and you get 8 lathe chisels. Except for a bowl gouge, these are both viable options for getting started.

I for one would prefer the Shopsmith set. I have a couple different sets from Shopsmith that are excellent. I have looked at the Harbor Freight set and was feeling a bit uncertain about them. Another customer leaned over and suggested I pass on them. He claimed to be a turner who had a set and was not pleased. Jim

That's a decent price for the SS set, also, I think the above Harbor Freight set is the one that a member of our local turning club said was quite good for the money, if it's high speed steel.

fjimp wrote:I for one would prefer the Shopsmith set. I have a couple different sets from Shopsmith that are excellent. I have looked at the Harbor Freight set and was feeling a bit uncertain about them. Another customer leaned over and suggested I pass on them. He claimed to be a turner who had a set and was not pleased. Jim

Gotta wonder why.

Steel quality(and handle design etc.) are about the only thing not correctable(I be thinking grind here).

Reasonable and average price for a set of SS chisels. Not a great deal but ok.

I have a set (dating from the early 1980s) (among many others from Sorby, Hunter (carbide), PSI (Benjamin's Best), Sears Craftsman and a few home made ones) and the SS are pretty decent. They sharpen easily and seem to hold an edge well. I've tweaked the spindle gouge and the round nose quite a bit to fool around.

for $35 you get a serviceable set of tools. I'd buy them.