think the high speed steel is the later version of these tools. They were
originally in carbon steel. As I recall, all of the tools were quite short,
but usable. I have an old set of Buck Bros. tools that are almost
identical, but are slightly longer. They too, are carbon steel. The Bucks
hold an edge quite well. I can't say about the Craftsman tools, but I
expect they would need to be sharpened fairly often.

Barry


"Alan Van Art" wrote in message
news:4YX0d.1827$yJ3.1819@trndny08...
Went to a flea-mkt and picked up a set of old Craftsman Turning tools
cheaply. I was wondering if anybody knew anything about these tools, I
realize they aren't exactly Sorby tools, but I won't be afraid to
experiment
with different profiles with them. They came in a blue box with metal hook
closures in the front. The top of the box has a metal badge with the
Craftsman name, and 'Guaranteed Highest Quality'. Inside, the box has
dividers between the tools. The tools have nothing marked on the steel.
The
handles are very red in color, pretty obviously not the natural color of
the
wood, but stained or dyed or tinted. There is a small decal on each handle
with the Craftsman name and aforementioned catch phrase. There are 8 tools
in all. As far as weight, they are lighter than my Crown tools, but
heavier
than the cheesey Jet tools that came with the lathe. Looks like only two
of
the tools have been used, but the box has seen better days (on the outside
at least).


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