Bowl Turning Lathes

5 Comments

1. I am pretty happy with this set. I will be comparing this set to a 5 chisel set I previously purchased from Woodcraft at a sale price of $86 after tax, original price was $130 + tax. The PSI set cost me under $50 with free shipping and no tax. The blades on the PSI chisels measure between 6.25 to 6.5 inches from ferrule to tip, which is the same as the more expensive Woodcraft set. The Woodcraft set came with what I felt were clumsy, overly large, overly long, and slippery handles that felt too light, while the PSI handles are made with denser/harder/heavier wood that IMO handle better for more detailed work. The overall fit and finish of the PSI set is better, except that the Woodcraft set is sharpened better. For some reason, the edges of the PSI chisels that are supposed to be flat (not the ground cutting edges) round over near the tips of the new tools. Grinding/sharpening gets rid of the problem for good but that means you’ll have to spend more time preparing the tools for use. This is the reason I gave it 4 stars out of 5. The PSI set also comes in an softwood/plywood case while the Woodcraft set came in a sad cardboard box. Funny enough, the PSI case needed some fixing just as I had read from the other reviews here. It wasn’t broken though, there just wasn’t enough glue applied to the lid and bottom of the case. A tiny bit of glue and some light clamping pressure fixed it up like new – a job that really should be a piece of cake for anyone. Amazon did a good job of packing it. The case is actually a nice touch. It’s good enough to use on it’s own, but I keep all my tools in a large rolling chest with drawers. The tools will roll around even if your drawers are lined with the good tacky drawer liners, so I unscrewed the hinges of the box, removed the lid and placed the box in one of my shallow drawers. This saved me the trouble of having to make individual partitions for each chisel inside my drawers to keep them in place. The PSI set was overall better, cost about 40% less, and came with three extra chisels, so I returned the more expensive set. I found all the tools included useful, except I don’t need two skew chisels of similar size so I plan on grinding the tip into a different shape when the need arises. The well known Sorby chisels are good, but I couldn’t justify spending $30-$40 for just one tool when an extra $10-$20 buys me eight of these.
   Rating: 4 / 5

2. After using several of the tools from this selection three of the tools began to loosen from the handles. I have been turning some seasoned stock and maybe these tools can’t handle hardwoods. They seemed to work fine with green stock. Other than the loosening of the handles they perform fine. I solved the problem by shimming the tool stock back into the receiving end of the handle.
   Rating: 3 / 5

3. We really haven’t had the chisels long enough to tell how well they hold up. I got them as a gift for my husband, and he likes them a lot, though he’s only used them a few times, and you can’t beat the price. I can, however, highly recommend the company for its customer service. One of the chisels developed a crack in the handle a little while after we got them. I emailed the company, and within a little over a week, we had a replacement chisel mailed to us.
   Rating: 4 / 5

4. This set seems like a good beginner set, not extremely expensive, but it doesn’t stay sharp for very long. I am quite happy with it though. would recommend.
   
   Rating: 3 / 5

5. It is true that they require sharpening often…but for the money, you really can’t go wrong…unless you”ve been turning for a while and are ready for the next step. I’ve turned dozens of piece (exotic hardwoods – we’re talking hard wood) and I am happy with the tools. I need to resharpen about twice per piece…but I’m ok with that.
   Rating: 4 / 5

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