Shopsmith Forums

My recent purchase of a Mark V did not have some of the accessories. Now I am on the hunt for lathe chisels. Are the quality of the SS lathe chisels considered good, or would a good set of Craftsman or some other make of chisels be as good an investment?

Hi ;
welcome to the forum. I find that the SS lathe chisels are as good or better than most of the others. I have a set of SS chisels and they are my "go to" tools. I have recently gotten a set of Benjamin's best from Penn State and the tool steel seems to be of the same quality but I have not used these yet. I also have a set of older Millers Falls chisels that are high carbon steel and these do take a very fine edge but the edge does not last as long as the edge on the HSS steel tools.
If you are trying to decide go for the SS tools if they have not been overground. Some of the Craftsman tools that I have used have short handles which I don't like. The longer handles give more control and I use my SS chisels for pen making. Take a look.

[ATTACH]12791[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]12792[/ATTACH]
Bill V

I like the SS chisels. At a few turning classes I have heard disparaging remarks as others taught the virtues of their tools, but I wonder if they have ever really used other brands. I like the feel and weight of the SS chisels. They sharpen easily, and I can touch them up on a hand stone.
Moderately priced, they work for me.

as bill and gary have already stated the shopsmith chisels are very good. a couple years ago alan lacer did a test of the steel for lathe chisels and included ss, pennstate, harbor freight, sorby and several others. the tests had a lab report for the content of the steel. ss, benjamins best and even the higher priced harbor freight chisels have very similar steel to the sorby's and other much higher priced tools.

The best tools I have used on the lathe are built and sold by http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/. They hold an edge longer than any oyher tool I have ever used except carbide.

Shopsmith are good tools especially for the price.

Bill v,
Great looking pens!!!

Shopsmith brand lathe tools are perfectly good. Just be sure to sharpen after receipt. Very few lathe tools are sharp "out of the box."

hdtran wrote:Shopsmith brand lathe tools are perfectly good. Just be sure to sharpen after receipt. Very few lathe tools are sharp "out of the box."

For that matter any edged tool. I have to purchase an edged tool that was satisfactory "Out of the Box"

Thanks for the 'thumbs up' on the Thompson lathe tools Tom. This site looks plumb promising and from what I am reading and seeing, it has quality and USA all over it. Good to hear from a Ga. neighbor.

tradertom wrote:The best tools I have used on the lathe are built and sold by http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/. They hold an edge longer than any oyher tool I have ever used except carbide.

S
Bill v,
Great looking pens!!!

And his packing of them to ship was excellent too.

I have a number of different brand chisels. Biggest thing you'll find is both handle length and quality and thickness of the steel is paramont on whether it's good, next comes the grind on the chisel.

I have some SS chisels in addition to Craftsman, Ben's Best, Sorby's and a few other I bought used and don't know who made them. If they're HSS with long handles, pretty good. Problem is, even a good chisel sharpened incorrectly will do poorly, a poorer chisel sharpened correctly will do better.

Paul