craftsman turning tool sets

As Richard Raffan wrote in a recent article, buying a cheap starter kit is never a good idea. Chances are that these sellers bought a better lathe and better, HSS tools. Graham

Well, I don't know if you'd call them cheap or not, but the $80 HSS set from Harbor Freight is often recommended for beginners. I bought one many years ago and it's been well worth the money. The handles are ugly Chinese mystery wood, but that's no problem for a turner :-).

Now the $19 set, that's a different kettle of fish!

most of the sets are older probably 20 years or more

and someone is buying them so i would guess the older sets are better than a modern starter set

buyers are paying more than i would pay and i figure that they are sought after for their quality

A lot, if not all of those older sets are carbon steel. 20 years ago, those sets sold by Sears would not have been HSS. Graham

thought the chinese mystery wood came from the usa

but i guess some of it must come from china

so you replaced the handles i take it

i have a cheap chinese set and i like for some things

it heats up horribly fast with dense wood but i can sharpen it with emory cloth quickly and use it on softer stuff

have not replaced the handles as they are adequate i glued the metal collars on as they were rattling

That doesn't sound like HSS.

right that was the point it is not hss however i like them in certain projects

i think better than buying a beginner set is to try out turning with a lathe of a friend then decide what you want to turn and buy just a couple of good tools and grow from there

but of course for some it is more about the tools then using the tools

i am somewhat the opposite and that is why the cheap ones are ok

but you have to know their limits