There recently was a thread about cheap turning tools, specifically those at Harbor Freight. It stimulated me to check them out, which I did. Also bought a set. For $40 it's hard to go entirely wrong.
They claim to be HSS, but who knows. I was having a bit of trouble sharpening my new Sorby tools, so I decided to practice on these cheapies. And voila (!) my technique is improving. I tuned up my better roughing gouge this morning and it looks 100% better than it did before, thanks to the experience of grinding those cheap tools. If nothing else, the experience gained through *ruining* a set of $40 tools is cheap training, and insurance against ruining expensive tools.
The bonus is: those cheap tools actually work rather well. The largest gouge--probably a large spindle gouge rather than a roughing gouge--works almost as well as my Sorby gouge of nearly equivalent dimensions. Will it stay as sharp? More details at eleven, or whenever.
Max