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Pinnacle vs Crown

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Choice for similar 8 pc set of Crown vs. Pinnacle turning tools for about the same money. Any thoughts or advice on which set you would prefer and why?
 
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crown vs pinnacle reply

The Crown 8 piece set is on sale at WoodWorkers Shop in Illinois for only $200 till Dec 24th. This set usually sells there for $257. Find it at:http://www.woodworkersshop.com/Crown_Woodturning_Sets.htm
I can't say if the Pinnacle is a Woodcraft house brand, I just don'w know. For those of you who picked the Crown, you didn't say why they are your choice. Thanks for everyone who replied to my original question.
 
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Ditto.
If you desire a market where manufacturers communicate with and innovate based on customer feedback, it is necessary to support those companies who have an affinity to the community. So I would recommend you purchase Crown.

Woodcraft is a great retailer, so buy your Crown tools there if you want. It will send a message.

I seriously wonder about how and where the Pinnacle brand is made. Is the material the same? HSS in China could be anything. It’s up to Woodcraft to tell us the Rockwell number for these tools vs. Crown.

Then it is up to us consumers to decide to buy or not. In my experience, the typical China supplier is the lowest-bid widget factory. Good quality can be had there, but the cost of good steel is the same everywhere (China imports high grade tool steels).

So the price should not be so much lower for the same thing. When it is, that is a clue: it is probably not really the same thing.

If Chinese tools are all you can afford, these may be the best Chinese tools, but don't assume they are as good as anything else.
 
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Between the two I'd choose Crown. They will be of better quality.

If you're new to woodturning, I'd recommend leaving both behind and buying a less expensive set of spindle turning tools. The main reason is that you will need to get used to sharpening those tools and messing up or grinding down an expensive set of tools costs you a lot of money. If you are really interested in spindle turning the go ahead and get them, but if your primary focus is bowl turning, then you might be better off purchasing a cheaper set and spending the money on some good Crown or Sorby bowl gouges.

For inexpensive spindle turning tools check out Harbor Freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47066

I don't recommend them for anything else, and yes, you should support the better companies, but you shouldn't spend excessively when in less than a month you may be dropping $70+ a gouge for Sorby or Crown bowl gouges or hollowers.

I bought a lathe 3 years ago and a spindle set came with the lathe. I haven't really gotten the use out of the tools because I've spent so much time on bowl turning. Unfortunately the spindle turning tools are of minimal use in bowl turning, you don't use them to rough out or much else. Yes the spindle gouge is great for detail work, but I don't use the scraper much but for a couple touches. I do have 3 different bowl gouges and really need to get one more. Your preferences and methods may vary from mine.

Regards,

Brodie
 
Joined
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I a few weeks ago I bought the begines 6 piece Pinnacle set for $100 at Woodcraft. I had started turning with Carbon steel tools that were my Dad's and bought bowl gouges and other tools around that set. I needed to return his tools as he wants to try turning again so I tought the Pinnacle set was a quick way to reload the middle of my tool set. They are OK but I suspect the Crown tools would be better. I suspect I will make new handles for the Pinnacle tools as thier oversized handles are just too big on the smaller beginers tools. They were not ground to any usable shape when I receive them. For a 100 bucks they solved my problem and the beginer set best fit the gaps in my collection. My Favorite brand is Henery Taylor and I often buy the Artisan line at Crafts Supply as they are Taylor tools just discounted.
Frank Kobilsek
 
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The day I bought my Laguna 12/16 at Woodcraft in July of last year (my shutdown hobby that became an obsession), the owner's daughter, an experienced woodturner, talked me into the Pinnacle Cryogenic tools to get started. She sold me those and all the standard stuff (Nova G3 chuck and some other expensive necessities). I've gotten a lot of use out of all of them, though not really a fan of the 3/8" bowl gouge or the spindle gouge. Anyway, I am slowly upgrading with some D-Way scrapers, Carter and Son, and Thompson gouges. In fact, based on a number of recommendations here and a random guy at Woodcraft last week, I have the Lyle Jamieson/Thompson bowl gouge on order, with the Thompson handle. It's supposed to get here Monday!

I have no experience with Crowns, but it seems more experienced hands have weighed in decisively on the English tool. I have a couple of dozen vintage Sheffield straight razors that take incredible edges, so I know the quality of English cutlery (plus, I'm an Anglophile, teach British lit., trying to tour every country in the Commonwealth, etc.). If I had seen all this, I would have gotten the Crowns, but I really had no idea at the time. Enjoy!
 

hockenbery

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Lyle Jamieson/Thompson bowl gouge on order, with the Thompson handle. It's supposed to get here Monday!
A great tool. My favorite for the Ellsworth grind. flute is a bit sweeter than the Henry Taylor which is a great flute.

most Of my tools are English origin. most from Crown or Henry taylor. Also have a couple of Hamlet tools.
 
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I live in the United Kingdom and I have been inside the Crown factory which is a turners worst nightmare hundreds of beautiful tools in various stages of manufacture

On one occasion when I first stated turning I took a Ashley Iles scrapper into the Crown factory to ask about converting it to a negative rake scrapper. I stood and watched the tool being reground and after a number of minutes I said that's good enough

I was told good enough not acceptable and the tool had to be ground properly or it could not leave the factory
So even though the tool had not been made by them thier same high standards applied
 
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Lance Mirrer

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Since this thread is 16 years old, I wonder whether Gary has decided yet.
More seriously, I would love to know what was decided and if the set is still active, as I suspect the Crown set would be.
 
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after 16 years he probably regrets buying set of tools.....buy no more than 2 tools at time and learn to use them.....surprizing the number of tools you have compared to the tools you use
 
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after 16 years he probably regrets buying set of tools.....buy no more than 2 tools at time and learn to use them.....surprizing the number of tools you have compared to the tools you use
How does one know which tools they end up using without trying tools that in the end they dont use much? Ask 10 turners their favorite 5 tools in order. The lists will all be different.
 
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How does one know which tools they end up using without trying tools that in the end they dont use much? Ask 10 turners their favorite 5 tools in order. The lists will all be different.

My list of favorites, or even what types I use, would be very different 5-10 years ago from a current one. I have a number tools which are now seldom used, if at all, but that's due in great part to changing interests. More than five years ago, a lot of my turning was bowls, hollow forms, and such like, but in the last several years I have probably turned 1-2 bowls a year. In recent years almost all of my turning work has been spindle-based or various types of multiaxis work; much of that involves specific tool needs.

In some cases tools (some name brand ones) have been abandoned simply because they were poor quality; most of those were simply given away. No Thompson and D-way tool is in that collection.

I never did buy a set of tools when I started -- purchases have always been piecemeal and ad hoc.
 
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I have several Crown bowl gouges in different sizes and I like them very well. I don't have any pinnacle tools............Yet!!:)
 
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Following up on my post on Pinnacle tools above, the 3/8" spindle gouge seems kinda flimsy and unstable in use. Part of that could be my general lack of confidence with the spindle gouge, which I'm working on.

That said, I am sort of in the market for a nice spindle gouge that's a little more heavy duty, not so prone to tool-rest chatter. This is another area where the terminology is kind of confusing. There are so many detail gouges, spindle detail gouges, etc. I am looking for "the one." I'll probably spring for a really good one from either Thompson, Carter and Son, D-Way, or a similar maker.
 
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@Aaron Harris - havent used any Pinnacle tools, but it could be you are just expecting too much from a 3/8 spindle gouge. Back off on the cut size, and keep extension off the tool rest minimized (I sometimes use a 3/8” bowl gouge if I cant get the tool rest closer).
 

Lance Mirrer

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When I ordered my first lathe (15 +/- yrs ago), I ordered two sets of tools with it. Intending to try both and decide which was worth keeping. Kept both of them as I often found the size difference or slight angle variations worked better in some places. I still have a few of the originals, and have only sold some due too many of a particular type.
 
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Following up on my post on Pinnacle tools above, the 3/8" spindle gouge seems kinda flimsy and unstable in use. Part of that could be my general lack of confidence with the spindle gouge, which I'm working on.

That said, I am sort of in the market for a nice spindle gouge that's a little more heavy duty, not so prone to tool-rest chatter. This is another area where the terminology is kind of confusing. There are so many detail gouges, spindle detail gouges, etc. I am looking for "the one." I'll probably spring for a really good one from either Thompson, Carter and Son, D-Way, or a similar maker.
Thompson spindle gouges come in regular, shallow and extra shallow. Either the shallow or the extra shallow could be described as a detail gouge, and both have a lot of steel under the flute.

A round stock spindle gouge with a fingernail grind is a pretty forgiving tool. If you are getting excessive chatter with it, it's probably you rather than the tool. The tool may not be sharp, you may be extending too far, you may be getting off the bevel and cutting just with the edge, you might be taking too aggressive a cut, your tool rest height could be off, you may be using it on unfriendly wood (elm, ash, oak, highly figured maple, very hard exotic, etc), and so on. If sharpening your tool doesn't fix the problem, maybe have a mentor check out your technique.
 
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Thanks for the tips Doug and Dean-I definitely need more fundamentals work on that one tool. I should probably break out the poplar practice spindles for some more bead and cove practice.
 
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The differences between the spindle detail gouges, and the bowl detail gouges baffle me. Both are shallow flutes, and the nose profiles are very similar. In use, they are 'detail' gouges so used only for highlights and little things. They kind of remind me of small continental type gouges, but with a heavier flute. They are not for roughing. I prefer heavier tools for most of my work because they just fit my hands better. A 3/8 detail gouge would not feel comfortable in my hands. Add to that , that when doing detail work, I want the tool rest as close as possible.

robo hippy
 
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