Hi Group, I'm getting ready to purchase a set of new turning chisels.
My budget is limited. I'm presently looking at a Savannah 8 piece set,
a 8 piece set of Benjamin's Best and a 8 piece set of Great Neck. The
Savannah and Benjamin's are HSS (M2) and more than likely made in
China. They are also identical. The Great Neck are high quality forged
tool steel and made in the USA. The prices for the sets are within five
dollars of each other. They also have the same tools in them. I'm
inclined to buy American but would like some input. I am also buying a
three piece set of Robert Sorby hollowing tools for a really good
price. Jim

--

In article ,
"James" wrote:

Hi Group, I'm getting ready to purchase a set of new turning chisels.
My budget is limited. I'm presently looking at a Savannah 8 piece set,
a 8 piece set of Benjamin's Best and a 8 piece set of Great Neck. The
Savannah and Benjamin's are HSS (M2) and more than likely made in
China. They are also identical. The Great Neck are high quality forged
tool steel and made in the USA. The prices for the sets are within five
dollars of each other. They also have the same tools in them. I'm
inclined to buy American but would like some input. I am also buying a
three piece set of Robert Sorby hollowing tools for a really good
price. Jim

If you have any "make it yourself" visit "around the woods" and make
some tools.

http://aroundthewoods.com/tools.shtml

Personally, I use old tools until they are pretty well gone, and I'm
cautious about buying new ones. I do like the Jerry Glaser gouges I've
bought, but they are pricy as heck, no doubt about it.

I also find that the typical 8 piece "set" has 3-4 tools I'll use a lot,
and 4-5 I won't use much.

I'd likely go with the Great Neck, of your choices for that set at that
price point.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:03:17 -0500, Ecnerwal wrote:

I'd likely go with the Great Neck, of your choices for that set at that
price point.

I disagree. I'd go with the HSS rather than the tool steel. In fact,
with price a limiting factor, I might go with these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...-lathe-chisel-
set-47066.html

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

On 12/28/2011 07:25 AM, James wrote:
Hi Group, I'm getting ready to purchase a set of new turning chisels.
My budget is limited. I'm presently looking at a Savannah 8 piece set,
a 8 piece set of Benjamin's Best and a 8 piece set of Great Neck. The
Savannah and Benjamin's are HSS (M2) and more than likely made in
China. They are also identical. The Great Neck are high quality forged
tool steel and made in the USA. The prices for the sets are within five
dollars of each other. They also have the same tools in them. I'm
inclined to buy American but would like some input. I am also buying a
three piece set of Robert Sorby hollowing tools for a really good
price. Jim

The conventional wisdom is to not buy a set. You really only need a few
tools - a set will include some you virtually never use. Get HSS
though. I'd recommend a 1/2" bowl gouge, maybe a 3/8" bowl gouge, a
parting tool, and maybe a 1/2" scraper. Add to the arsenal as need and
budget dictate. As the saying goes, "buy the best and only cry once".

Doug Thompson - www.thompsonlathetools.com - makes some good tools at a
good price. The last 1/2" bowl gouge I got was one of his. Note they
come unhandled, but you can either make a handle or buy one. See his
links page for a source.

Keep the bevel rubbin'...

....Kevin
--
Kevin Miller - http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
Juneau, Alaska
In a recent survey, 7 out of 10 hard drives preferred Linux
Registered Linux User No: 307357, http://linuxcounter.net

Larry Blanchard wrote:

On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:03:17 -0500, Ecnerwal wrote:

I'd likely go with the Great Neck, of your choices for that set at that
price point.

I disagree. I'd go with the HSS rather than the tool steel. In fact,
with price a limiting factor, I might go with these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...-lathe-chisel-
set-47066.html



An updated link

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...set-35444.html

Then I would go with the Hamlet 1/2" bowl gouge

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st..._m2_bowl?Args=

I started out with this set and still use them almost every time I turn.
Good qualilty, or were lo those many years ago when I bought them. I see no
reason they still are not.

I bought a set of Benjamin's Best. He needs to try harder.

The above set, with a half inch bowl gouge will get you going very nicely
for less than $135, which should include shipping.

As Kevin said, "buy the best and only cry once". These may not be "the best
of the best," but they are very serviceable tools and will last a long time.

Deb

"Dr. Deb" wrote in message
...

Larry Blanchard wrote:

On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:03:17 -0500, Ecnerwal wrote:

I'd likely go with the Great Neck, of your choices for that set at that
price point.

I disagree. I'd go with the HSS rather than the tool steel. In fact,
with price a limiting factor, I might go with these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...-lathe-chisel-
set-47066.html



An updated link

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...set-35444.html

Then I would go with the Hamlet 1/2" bowl gouge

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st..._m2_bowl?Args=

I started out with this set and still use them almost every time I turn.
Good qualilty, or were lo those many years ago when I bought them. I see
no
reason they still are not.

I bought a set of Benjamin's Best. He needs to try harder.

The above set, with a half inch bowl gouge will get you going very nicely
for less than $135, which should include shipping.

As Kevin said, "buy the best and only cry once". These may not be "the
best
of the best," but they are very serviceable tools and will last a long
time.

Deb

Hi Larry,

Dr. Deb is correct. This set from HF is a great set. They also have 2 other
cheaper set. The $40 is ok, but spent the extra $ and get this one. The
tools are heavier steel and the handles are better. What ever you do, do not
buy the $20 set. That's just a waste of money. The bowl gouge is a good
choice to. Good luck.

Dan

On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:24:11 -0600, Dr. Deb wrote:

An updated link

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...steel-turning-
set-35444.html

Then I would go with the Hamlet 1/2" bowl gouge

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/
Turning_Tools___Bowl_and_Spindle_Tools___Hamlet___ Hamlet_M2_Bowl_Gouge___m2_bowl?
Args=

I started out with this set and still use them almost every time I turn.
Good qualilty, or were lo those many years ago when I bought them. I
see no reason they still are not.


Interesting - I got my link just before posting. Now, less than 24 hours
later, it's gone and yours works. I do note that the sets were different.

The set referenced by the current link looks just like the one I bought
many years ago. I've replaced a couple of the handles when I had nothing
better to do as I disliked the appearance. But like you, I found the
quality good. I'd go so far as to say unmatched at the price.

I've also had good luck with some of the house brand at Woodcraft and the
carbide roughers at:

http://www.woodchuck-tools.com/index.htm

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

On 12/28/2011 7:19 PM, Kevin Miller wrote:
On 12/28/2011 07:25 AM, James wrote:
Hi Group, I'm getting ready to purchase a set of new turning chisels.
My budget is limited. I'm presently looking at a Savannah 8 piece set,
a 8 piece set of Benjamin's Best and a 8 piece set of Great Neck. The
Savannah and Benjamin's are HSS (M2) and more than likely made in
China. They are also identical. The Great Neck are high quality forged
tool steel and made in the USA. The prices for the sets are within five
dollars of each other. They also have the same tools in them. I'm
inclined to buy American but would like some input. I am also buying a
three piece set of Robert Sorby hollowing tools for a really good
price. Jim

The conventional wisdom is to not buy a set. You really only need a few
tools - a set will include some you virtually never use. Get HSS though.
I'd recommend a 1/2" bowl gouge, maybe a 3/8" bowl gouge, a parting
tool, and maybe a 1/2" scraper. Add to the arsenal as need and budget
dictate. As the saying goes, "buy the best and only cry once".

Doug Thompson - www.thompsonlathetools.com - makes some good tools at a
good price. The last 1/2" bowl gouge I got was one of his. Note they
come unhandled, but you can either make a handle or buy one. See his
links page for a source.

Keep the bevel rubbin'...

...Kevin

there is a philosophy that says buy some cheap tools, find out which
ones you use alot and then replace them with good ones - if you get
carbon steel tools you can sharpen to a better edge but you will need to
do it more often - maybe every few minutes.

On 12/28/2011 07:24 PM, Dr. Deb wrote:

Larry Blanchard wrote:

On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:03:17 -0500, Ecnerwal wrote:

I'd likely go with the Great Neck, of your choices for that set at that
price point.

I disagree. I'd go with the HSS rather than the tool steel. In fact,
with price a limiting factor, I might go with these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...-lathe-chisel-
set-47066.html



An updated link

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece...set-35444.html

Then I would go with the Hamlet 1/2" bowl gouge

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st..._m2_bowl?Args=

I started out with this set and still use them almost every time I turn.
Good qualilty, or were lo those many years ago when I bought them. I see no
reason they still are not.

I bought a set of Benjamin's Best. He needs to try harder.

LOL. I concur. Love the way you phrased that.

The above set, with a half inch bowl gouge will get you going very nicely
for less than $135, which should include shipping.

As Kevin said, "buy the best and only cry once". These may not be "the best
of the best," but they are very serviceable tools and will last a long time.

One thing to note, the set is primarily spindle tools. Nothing wrong
with that if you're going to be doing spindle work. I focus mostly on
bowls so I'd probably pass those by. But that's just my personal bias.
Get the tools you'll use. No matter what the quality of the tool, if
you don't use it, it's useless...

....Kevin
--
Kevin Miller - http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
Juneau, Alaska
In a recent survey, 7 out of 10 hard drives preferred Linux
Registered Linux User No: 307357, http://linuxcounter.net