I do a lot of turned pieces for my award and gift shop. I have been turning for 30 years, always with traditional tools. I was very impressed with these tools! While they will never replace my array of traditional chisels, they are a nice addition. They are easy to use and create a nice finish cut. They are slower that a well maintained set, especially for roughing, but take less skill and allow for easy finishing.

I wanted to try these as a supplement to my large collection of HSS turning tools. I could not be more happy with how they work

Great value.

great tools, little bit of learning curve, but has shaved my time in half

I consider myself an intermediate level woodturner and use a Powermatic 3520. I recently bought a set of three Savannah Mini Turning Tools for turning pens, bottle stoppers, rolling pins and similar small to medium sized spindle type projects. I wanted to see how the carbide tipped tools compared to my conventional selection of gouges, skews and scrapers. I found they were much easier and more enjoyable to use for spindle turning.

Expanding my experiment, I turned a 10-inch diameter, 2-inch deep bowl a few days ago and used the mini set instead of my much larger Ellsworth Signature bowl gouge that I normally use. I was amazed at how much easier it was to turn this camphor wood bowl. With the Ellsworth gouge, clearing material is a bit quicker and the cut is smoother but I need to be on constant guard to prevent an often disastrous catch. Not so with these carbide tipped tools.

As Phase 2 of my experiment, I ordered a large size Savannah 7586 Large Size set, a Simple color coded 12-inch handle set and a full size Simple 17-inch handle set. I intend to use these for bowls larger than 6-inches in diameter.

Physical Comparison

Savannah 7586 - Overall length = 21 ½ inches, forward hand palm swell handle diameter = 1.60 inches and rear hand handle diameter = 1.37 inches.
Simple 12-inch set "“ Overall length = 18 ½ inches (handle = 11 ½ inches and effective tool length = 7 inches), forward hand palm swell handle diameter = 1.16 inches and rear hand handle diameter = 1.02 inches.
Simple 17-inch set "“ Overall length = 26 ¼ inches and the handle diameter is 1.31 inches along its entire length. It has much greater mass than the other two sets.

Subjective Assessment

1. All three sets are very high quality. Any of these will likely be in use for a decade or more.
2. Replacement cutter heads for all three products seem to be readily available.
3. Both the Savannah and Simple 17-inch sets were the length I expected after reading the Amazon description. However, the Simple 12-inch set was significantly shorter than I had expected.
4. I have large hands and the Savannah wooden handles feel the most comfortable for me. It has a thin rubber coating under the rear hand that aids in maintaining a firm grip.
5. The Simple 12-inch (really 11 ½ inch) handle diameter is too small in my opinion. There is no rubber coating. My lathe is in my Florida garage and I am concerned these handles may be slippery when my hands sweat in the summer heat and humidity.
6. The Simple 17-inch handle diameter was better but still a bit too small for me. Also, the foam wrap compresses significantly. I'm not sure this will provide as firm a grip as the other two and I'm also concerned that the foam will not hold up for the years I expect to use these tools. The underlying handle diameter is 1-inch.
7. The square and circular cutter heads of the Simple 12-inch tools are the same dimensions as those of my Savannah Mini set at just over 0.4-inches.
8. The square and circular cutter heads of the Simple 17-inch and Savannah 8576 Large Size set are the same size. The roughing cutter head is about 0.6 inches and the circular cutter head diameter is just below 0.6-inches.
9. The roughing cutter edge on the Savannah gouge has a slightly rounded or radiused whereas both Simple gouge cutters have straight edges.
10. The sets are effectively three different lengths and sizes. My opinion is that the smaller Simple set is suitable for small to medium diameter spindle projects and bowls up to three inches deep. The large Savannah set can handle any spindle project larger than a pen or twig pot and bowls up to four inches deep. The 17-inch Simple set would only be appropriate for very large spindle projects (larger than my Powermatic 3520 will handle) and bowls in excess of 8 inches diameter where the extra reach and mass are a benefit. The throw length of the tool and handle make it awkward and less suitable for smaller projects.

I am going to keep the Savannah set because it meets my needs and feels the best in my hands. The other two are too small or too big for my situation and I am returning them to Amazon. However, both appear to be excellent quality and would perform very satisfactorily in the appropriate situation.

Of course, this is only my opinion. Your mileage may vary.