LCHSS8 Wood Lathe 8pc HSS Chisel Set

After reading some of the negative reviews I was a bit worried but when they came in they were in perfect condition.I never trust edged tools for sharpness so I planned on touching up the edges anyway. Only one of the skew chisels had what I would call a 'Bad' edge.I have done a lot of work in Asia and I realize one product is often sold under several names but I found it odd that these were clearly not 'PSI' but 'Bejamins Best'. No matter, they work fantastic.Just to put them through a quick test I grabbed a hunk of limb from an appricot tree that died in my orchard. I used every chisel to test them and thet were all fantastic. As you can see in my pictures my lathe is a low-end Cummins but I had zero issues. Not a single catch and that is impressive since I did not knock the corners off with the bandsaw as you can see.I may still modify the heel but I would do that even with an expensive set.A few things to note that I read in other reviews:1) If you use these correctly there is never enough pressure to snap the steel. To be sure that doesn't happen, watch Richard Rafan's video on 'Catches'.2) Yes the ferrules may be loose (mine were not). If they are, my uncle who was a proffesional wood worker would litterally soak them in water overnight to allow the wood which had over dried to swell up and tighten the ferrules again. I would think a light oil would work better but I didn't question what he did.3) I love the box it comes in but honestly as soon as my shop is set up they will never see that box again. They will be in a handmade rack behind the lathe.So the bottom line is that I am very happy with the purchase and highly recomend them.

I found carbide quirky and catchy for what I do, so needed to make the proper, HSS plunge. You have to get comfortable sharpening (definitely don't learn to sharpen on a $90 gouge first). All HSS gouges and chisels need sharpening; expensive ones just less often. I just got done roughing a square piece of wood into a cylinder, lazily dwelling on the outer edges of the gouge instead of doing the "even wear roll".I fully expected the edge to need a touch-up, ran my finger across it, and cut it because I didn't expect it still to be fully sharp. Bled on my wood. Very, very satisfied. Truly high speed steel. Another brand had reports of flaws in the steel and breakage. PSI has good QC for the price and the "Benjamin 's Best" they sell as PSI I will use for life. If I buy a fancy tool or two that cost as much each as this whole set, it won't be soon, and I'll know better my favorite ones to choose and get fancy about. I the meantime I will make money with these. I would not have bought the slow speed grinder to sharpen if I would have just remembered I can sharpen on the back of my lathe or spare, cheapo headstock on the bench set to slow enough speed not to overheat HSS and lose its temper. Good to have the grinder eventually but save for a $150 minimum one, I got an orange #100 one and the wheels are junk and it vibrates a little. Anyway get these PSI "Benjamin's Best" gouge and chisels. This model could disappear like other good deals.

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.

Tools are well made. I use them all the time. Easy to sharpen.