• Beware of Counterfeit Woodturning Tools (click here for details)
  • Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Paul May for "Checkerboard (ver 3.0)" being selected as Turning of the Week for March 25, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

roughing out large blanks

Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
712
Likes
187
Location
Montfort, Wisconsin
After roughing out several large bowl blanks my arms are shot. After watching David Elsworth on DVD he suggests resting the handle of the gauge on your hip for leverage.

My gauge isn't long enough.

So my question - what length handle? I see Thompson has a 3/4 inch gauge with a 20 inch handle making it the longest of his line.

Right now I have a 5/8 inch Sorby gauge ground to an Ellsworth grind. Maybe I could take that handle off and make a longer handle?

I have at least 60 blanks waiting for me to rough out. :D

Dave F.
 

john lucas

AAW Forum Expert
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
8,321
Likes
3,576
Location
Cookeville, TN
My handles aren't all that long. When you add the shaft length to the handle length it really doesn't have to be very long to rest on your hip. I would take a guess at 14 to 16" max. I do have one of the new Thompson handles on my 5/8" gouge that I use for roughing the big stuff.
To make it easier on you keep the tool rest close so much of the force goes down into it. I use a pivoting type of cut when the wood is really out of round. By that I mean that my left hand acts as the pivot point and I use my hip to move the gouge in an arc. This takes off a very even amount of wood with each pass which greatly reduces the fatigue factor.
What used to wear me out was trying to sort of manually push the gouge through the work. I would end up taking too big of a bite and that would slam the tool back and forth and really make me fight it.
Another trick that helps is to start the tool in a rounded area if you can. At first of course you can't but after you establish a more or less round area start the cut there and lead into the out of round area. It helps you control the size of the cut.
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
Why rest on your hip? Puts you at an automatic disadvantage, because when the handle drops below 45 degrees to the toolrest, you're carrying the bulk of the load and giving away mechanical advantage as well. Instead, concentrate on getting that gouge as near level with the toolrest as possible, consistent with the pattern you're using. A narrow, fast-sweep gouge (cylindrical) can be used effectively parallel to the bed. Broader sweep and extent may want a 20 degree (or less) drop. Let the rest carry the load!

Then don't keep stuffing the tool into the work. Swing the business end into and through the wood in an arc, running off the edge of the wood. Then go back and do it again. Like whittling. Once there's a bit of round wood to help, start swinging and pushing with bevel support. If the piece is badly prepared, you may want to lock your elbow into your ribs and pivot full body for the entry cut, though with the tool well supported and nearly horizontal you will have a huge mechanical advantage.
 

Steve Worcester

Admin Emeritus
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
2,690
Likes
93
Location
Plano, Texas
Website
www.turningwood.com
If you see the video , you would understand better. Hips is relative. He shows a complete stance at the lathe, legs apart, standing close. Your arms create a triangle. Left arm at your side, hand on the top of the gouge in an overhand grip. Gouge parallel to the bed, and the rear of the handle resting on your side, usually above or in the spare tire on the side area (dependent on lathe height). Your right hand grips the handle at the back end and can twist the handle and open and close the flute to allow for more/less aggressive wood removal, like a motor cycle throttle.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
316
Likes
52
Location
Fort Collins, CO.
Steve explains how David roughs very well and his method works well also. My 3/4" gouges have 17" handles on them which I like for the extra leverage when the tool hangs over the rest a little to far. They are also easier to snug against the body when rough turning. My 5/8" gouge has a 15" handle which seems about 2 inches to short when roughing but I still use it albeit not as much. Also in lite of Ms. Kelly's passing from a blank exploding it is a good idea to learn to turn left handed and wear a face shield. You can then stand behind the blank when rough turning and not in the line of fire.

Edit: My handles on the 3/4" gouges are 21" and the 5/8" measures 18" although I think oneway calls it a 17" handle. Sorry I was going off of my bad memory. I just turned a bowl and measured them while out in shop.
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
. Gouge parallel to the bed, and the rear of the handle resting on your side, usually above or in the spare tire on the side area (dependent on lathe height). Your right hand grips the handle at the back end and can twist the handle and open and close the flute to allow for more/less aggressive wood removal, like a motor cycle throttle.

Sounds like what I described, doesn't it? Ribs, not hips.

What I can't understand is why, on the outside of a rough, anything more than a one-inch overhang is ever employed, or even implied. The rest moves in and out, and rotates to boot. Lots of safety in keeping it close, as an obstacle to a dismount, while cutting toward the headstock keeps you at forearm's length to boot. Now couple position with a nice slow speed, not turning a variable up until it vibrates (or dismounts?) than backing off a half-hundred, and you're pretty good.

Not sure what opening or closing the flute means. Skewing it to the direction of travel when a bevel rest is created, then lowering the cutting angle?
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
5,435
Likes
2,792
Location
Eugene, OR
Yes, a couple of things could be going on.

Do keep the tool rest fairly close to the work. I can reach out 3 or 4 inches, but that is too much work. Having a bowl rest which is curved helps.

When roughing, I will generally true up the bottom first (I turn the outside, reverse and turn the inside). Then I proceed to nibble my way down the side. It is a lot easier to start from a flat/round spot and arc into the rough spots rather than try to nibble off all the rough spots in several long passes.

For holding the gouge, I prefer one hand on the blade/steel, and the other gripping just behind the ferule. I do keep the long end of the handle under my fore arm. Gives good leverage, and shock absorption. Holding the tool level just feels better for me.

I prefer a scraper for roughing, but I am in a minority on that point.

robo hippy
 
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Messages
334
Likes
0
Location
Sinking Spring Pa.
Hi Dave are you starting from the tailstock end truing it up and working around to the side or are you trying to go straight in and make the blank round ?
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
712
Likes
187
Location
Montfort, Wisconsin
Thanks for the input. I'm afraid I'm not close enough with the tool rest and have to quit pushing the tool so hard.

I'm working on the bottom first. I use either a face plate, screw, or the bowl driver Al Stirt showed at his demo to shape the outside and form a tenon, then turn it around and hollow out the inside. Pretty standard I think.

How does that 3/4 gauge work out for those of you that have it?

Dave F.
 

john lucas

AAW Forum Expert
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
8,321
Likes
3,576
Location
Cookeville, TN
I hope our not talking about a roughing gouge. That's not a good idea. I had a 3/4" bowl gouge but gave it away. I was given a 3/4" bowl gouge by a friend and I found it too heavy and unwieldy. I can could not take any bigger cut. I use a 1/2" mostly but when roughing really out of round pieces I switch to a 5/8" with a weighted handle. I don't like using it that way for long because the weight gets tiring. It does take away some of the vibration and bouncing so which is why I use it to get past the really bad areas.
Once it's round I will either switch to a lighter handle or go back to my 1/2" gouge.
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
A 3/4 long cylindrical gouge is going weigh a lot. Of course, there are people who think that's a good thing. I just think it makes my arm tired supporting it. Here's my $45 mistake, purchased on the advice of the "heavier and longer is better" types. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Now-This-Is-A-Gouge.jpg That's a quarter out at the end for reference.

There are also a bunch of people who have forgotten the roots of bowl turning and decided that there are certain gouges, used for hundreds of years, which are just "too dangerous" to even demonstrate to amateurs. John is one of them. Closed door, non-professional turner, so don't do this at home. A look at this dangerous tool in use, and how long the handle needs to be to remove wood comfortably. http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view&current=DontDoThis.mp4

Back before gouges they did the same with hook tools, which are REALLY short gouges mounted 90 degrees to the shank. They plunged them for inside work, which meant the whole curve was cutting. Huge pressure, which led a lot of folks to put the handle under their armpit. http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/turning.htm or http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/pole-lathe.htm

Gouges presented to the wood properly will remove shavings which fall to the ground, not fly, though a tool with uniform thickness and curvature will allow you to place shavings where you want. Here's a view just letting them heap up. http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n28/MichaelMouse/?action=view&current=1012052.mp4 Normally I'll turn the flute a bit more to the left so the shavings fall into the bag that keeps me from having to chase them with a broom and shovel.

Take the gouges and grinds you own, get your SO to turn the lathe by hand, and experiment with your presentation. When you find it. put the lathe on its slowest and practice, practice, practice. The best cut is the one that puts the least strain on you, which is why long handles, which will allow bullying the wood usually get people in trouble. They're especially fun to try and use for inside work.
 

john lucas

AAW Forum Expert
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
8,321
Likes
3,576
Location
Cookeville, TN
MM I won't argue that you can use a rough out gouge to turn anything. Used properly. I have done it to prove to my fellow turners that it can be done. The problem is I have seen an awful lot of damaged rough out gouges due to beginners trying to use them on bowls. They are simply too easy to get a catch and it's usually disastrous to the tool and possibly the turner. consequently I don't teach it and don't advise it. Many other instructors feel the same way I do which is why we would like to see it called a spindle roughing gouge and not a roughing gouge.
I will use a skew occasionally to turn parts of a bowl when it is the right tool for the job. I don't recommend that either and won't teach it unless an advanced student is having the same problem I had and skew is the solution.
Just because we as advanced turners can do something with a tool doesn't mean we should teach it. Safety first.
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
143
Likes
0
Location
The Adirondacks
I'm a beginner. I don't understand why it's a problem to tell me "This is a roughing gouge. You only use it on spindles. It's not intended to be used on bowls." and let it go at that? I can fathom that it's dangerous to use on bowls, and won't.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
316
Likes
52
Location
Fort Collins, CO.
To answer your question Dave the 3/4" gouge works great. I will production rough turn bowl blanks so I have two 3/4" sharpened along with my 5/8" and two 1/2" gouges. Once they are dull I will sharpen them and go back at it. I don't feel any fatigue with my 3/4" gouges with 21" steel tubing as handles but I like the feel of heavier tools when roughing. The longer handles also seem to balance the weight of the gouge itself. Many will give you their personal preference so try them and see what feels best to you.

MM if you don't want your 3/4" gouge send it to me and I'll put it to good use.
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
Just because we as advanced turners can do something with a tool doesn't mean we should teach it. Safety first.

Of course not. Let the poor beggars flounder and suffer in ignorance.

Wait ... that means they don't need teachers!

That's what we teach - the safe way to use the tools. Let the tool salesmen tell them what to buy. Or what to call it.

DB - you probably wouldn't want my monster anyway. He's an A2, and the other guys would snicker at you behind their hands. Cuts nice, but weighs too d*mn much.
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
21
Likes
0
Location
WA
I've been taught from the get go (I've been turning for 3.5 years now) by some of the best turners in the world (Dale Nish, Paul Chilton, Rex Burningham, Kirk DeHeer, Jack Wayne and Eric Lofstrom) that one should never use a roughing gouge on a bowl. "Roughing Gouges are designed to take square spindle stock down to round and should never be used for roughing bowls. Using a roughing gouge to rough turn a bowl blank may result in a serious catch that may break the tang of the tool and result in serious injury." To hear M. Mouse advocate the use of this tool in this way seriously makes me question all the other advise I've heard him give here. Take your life into your own hands if you want to use a roughing gouge on bowls.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
5,435
Likes
2,792
Location
Eugene, OR
The thing with the spindle roughing gouge is that it "can" be used on a bowl. On the outside, it does okay, more difficult to use on the inside. The thing is it really isn't that well suited for heavy roughing. With the continental type, or broad sweep gouge that is shallow and has a ) profile on the nose, you can angle it very high for a good clean shear cut. It just doesn't bite deep enough for roughing, unless you aren't concerned about time. I have one of the new 'fluteless' gouges from Doug Thompson. It has the ) profile on the nose, so again, you can get high angled shear cuts, both inside and outside the bowl. It is on a heavy solid round 5/8 bar stock and will take shock loads well, but it isn't a roughing tool. Finish cuts only. People think I am strange for using scrapers for roughing, and maybe other reasons as well. It just works better for me.

robo hippy
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
I've been taught from the get go (I've been turning for 3.5 years now) by some of the best turners in the world (Dale Nish, Paul Chilton, Rex Burningham, Kirk DeHeer, Jack Wayne and Eric Lofstrom) that one should never use a roughing gouge on a bowl. "Roughing Gouges are designed to take square spindle stock down to round and should never be used for roughing bowls. Using a roughing gouge to rough turn a bowl blank may result in a serious catch that may break the tang of the tool and result in serious injury." To hear M. Mouse advocate the use of this tool in this way seriously makes me question all the other advise I've heard him give here. Take your life into your own hands if you want to use a roughing gouge on bowls.

Ah, tough to disagree with all those second-hand opinions, even when you are presented with video evidence to the contrary, and the indisputable history of turning where all the "big names" of the day and all the wannabes were using it safely. Have we 21st century types suddenly become incapable, or are we just too mentally lazy to look at what's going on?

"May" and "can" relate to the operator, not the tool. As long as you don't do a Reid :p and try to use it as a scraper or try to use it as the author of that infamous article which partnered the word "spindle" to the gouge does, you'll learn to love it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuGMZ3SBlYs&feature=related Imagine what might happen if he tried to use the tool as he does here, only with a bowl blank. I imagine that's his reason for writing the article he did. Not sure if it's Hubris or poor scholarship that blames the tool. Would have been easier if he had watched a video like this. http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n28/MichaelMouse/?action=view&current=PeelandPare.mp4 Curls, not chips, and anyone who's ever worked wood with edges knows that's what s/he wants.
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
Robo. Not that it's difficult to use an 1 1/4 specifically on concave surfaces, but it's a real chore to try and use it in confined spaces. Especially difficult for someone like myself who leaves that pillar in until the last. Old timers took the right angles off their gouges' edges to reduce possibilities of catches in the narrow pieces, though they didn't cut on the rounded part as the cylindricals do now. They also had narrower long and strong tools to work with, but the deep patterns had one fault in common with today's cylindricals, and that was a narrow radius curve. Much smaller sweet spot.

I like my forged patterns because they are narrow, but actually have a broader sweep than my 1 1/4. They make shaving all but the steepest sides a pleasure, and, since they are normally sheared to keep from leaving small ridges, they cut down a grade or two of paper as well. They can't be overfed as scrapers can, often with disastrous results, because the bevel will kick them back away from the wood if I try.

One small point of physics to pick with you. You are absolutely correct in swinging through and off the edge when working a piece to circular. It keeps a smaller face in contact, greatly reducing the upward force on the handle as you do. However, it is best to do this peripheral work first, because the piece is balanced faster when irregularities are removed from way out on the lever's end. Go back to the bottom and run out and up to the rim after you get most of the irregularities cleared.
 
Joined
May 13, 2007
Messages
201
Likes
3
Looks like the "Make Dust, Not Shavings" method.

Now where did that 60 grit get to?
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
Looks like the "Make Dust, Not Shavinggs" method.

Now where did that 60 grit get to?

Yet, there must be people out there who do it that way, or you wouldn't hear complaints about roughing being hard on the hands and recommendations for gloves with padded palms. Nor would people want to support heavy gouges with heavy handles to gain inertia. When you take small slices it's better than small bites, but even small bites are MUCH better than large, like his. Safer, too.

Do they make 30 grit? I still have 4ea 60 grit 3" velcros from my starter kit, which had five each of four grades, purchased about twenty years ago. Don't imagine it's much good now, but the torque of the stuff would near break a wrist back then.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
316
Likes
52
Location
Fort Collins, CO.
MM qoute: Nor would people want to support heavy gouges with heavy handles to gain inertia. When you take small slices it's better than small bites, but even small bites are MUCH better than large,

Coming from someone who obviously does not understand the concept of time is money. I just finished rough turning the outside of a bunch of blanks. I was actually saying to myself how grateful I was to have a longer heavier tool to get the production done. Then I came in and read the quote above. You can have your little 1/8" slice, I'll take my 1/2" to 3/4" slices anyday in the production roughing, besides it is a lot of fun.

BTW MM: If you were to teach your grandson how to type a letter would you teach him on the a type writer or computer. After all they both work. I would hope you would teach him on the computer since that is the technology/science he will need to continue on in life. Apply this analogy in turning bowls with your roughing gouge/bowl gouge debate. One is antiquated but still works albeit not as safe for beginners and the other is newer technology/science and safer. I for one am glad the professional turners, who teach, understand this as you don't seem to. Not saying what you're doing is wrong, just dated by todays standards.
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
183
Likes
0
Not to take away from what you've shown MM, but a bowl gouge with the wings ground long can be pulled or pushed to make the same cut. When I rough a bowl that large, I usually pull a 3/4" shaving with the handle way down on my hip and cut with the entire wing. Because the wing is in shear, I can make a bandsawn bowl ready to be turned around in about 3-4 cuts.

Just because it can be done doesn't really make it a good idea. The knock against using the SRG on a bowl is primarily aimed at new folks using the gouge to remove in inner section. You can use any tool you own on the outer section. New turners need to learn safety and common practice before you start bending the rules...

2 cents

Steve
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
Just because it can be done doesn't really make it a good idea. The knock against using the SRG on a bowl is primarily aimed at new folks using the gouge to remove in inner section. You can use any tool you own on the outer section. New turners need to learn safety and common practice before you start bending the rules...

What rules? Consider the facts, don't make up rules. Though it appears some would rather idolize than analyze, I don't believe most are that star-struck. They will easily determine that the gouge on the right is better supported than the one on the left. No load or low load is less fatigue any way you slice it. A LOT less than stuffing the tool into the rotation as apparently many do. Further, it gives better control, which means greater SAFETY. The gouge on the left can be used inside or out as you see it. The other has all kinds of problems maintaining that presentation around the ways and the rest.

I understand the concept of time as money, but unless I am in direct pursuit of same, I rarely rough more than a half-dozen pieces between other events in my day. Saves time to be a (grand)father to my (grand)kids and a husband to my wife. I also like to keep a lot of fluid flowing through my gravelly kidneys. With the toilet upstairs ... well, it's no strain to work at my schedule, and that's the way I like it. I rarely turn/finish more than four or five dry ones in a day unless I'm against a deadline where being on time is a promise fulfilled. Then there's summer gardening, carving ....

I don't care much for the pull cut on the outside. I find it much easier to lean forward with straight forearms and let the additional bulk added through the years do the work than try to bend my elbows and pull them toward my body. Not to mention that it means I would have to leave room in my small shop to stand somewhere else besides facing into the turning, safely out of the throw zone. I even keep the power switch near the tailstock. Hollowing inside, with a plunge and roll, pull works fine. I like to keep the top flute positioned to throw the shaving sideways or down, rather than in my face.

Not that I can't cut with other gouges, I've just settled on a better way. It's the way I teach, because it's safer and easier than alternatives I've seen. I am not sure where the 1/8" inch shaving reference comes from, DB. Do you mean thickness? Surely you can't have looked at the videos, where, as always, the degree of tilt and percentage of shear can remove shavings pretty much as broad as you mention. Nice thing is, with a good shear, there's not much ridging!

Second shot is from dry maple. I'm sure experts like you gentlemen will recognize that the form of the shaving is very conducive to a good surface. The shaving feathers out of the cut, even though the sharpness angle is relatively high, as shown by the secondary tearing in the belly. I can do excelsior, too, but unless it's a really rapid rate of curvature, it's not really necessary to prepare for three and out sanding.
 

Attachments

  • Gouge-Curves.jpg
    Gouge-Curves.jpg
    66.4 KB · Views: 59
  • ShavingWide.jpg
    ShavingWide.jpg
    107.8 KB · Views: 58
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
183
Likes
0
The gouge on the left appears to be a continental gouge, not a spindle roughing gouge the way I know them (much deeper flute and ground flat across the edge).

You are talking to someone that finishes bowls and hollow vessels on the exterior with a skew, so I get the fact that you can use a SRG or a bowl gouge, or whatever on the outside of a bowl. I think you've lost me if you're telling me that you can cut the inside of the bowl with the continental gouge though. (I believe you if you can, but I'm not seeing how?)

If it is sharpened the way it appears, I cannot see how you'd get a bevel rubbing all of the way down through the inside of a bowl. If you have a second, I'd love to see it in action in a video.

Steve
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
First, kick out the traditional image of the "bevel rubbing" being fore to aft. It's guided parallel to the edge when using a constant-angle grind The combination of skew and lean is what allows the gouge to cut progressively from lead to trailing portion.

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n28/MichaelMouse/?action=view&current=CherryPeelIn.mp4 Wouldn't be much to see around the fist on a narrow bowl, but works fine there, as well.

This one starts with a cylindrical gouge cutting with the limited sweet spot available, and then finishes with the forged form ("continental" or roughing, machts nichts) taking excelsior. Notice how the sharpness angle increases as the tool approaches the bottom. http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view&current=Inside.mp4

The tang of my ancient gouge was loose in the handle. Thus the noise, and not the best surface, but you have to video while SWMBO is willing.

Wet wood is a pleasure. If you look against the wall, you're looking at continuous shavings yards long folding back and forth. look down in the bottom to see how broad a face the gouge is cutting. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Forged-Peel-Inside.jpg

Demo, cut with the bandsaw, showing the cutting faces both inside and out. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/5-Cut-Shapes.jpg

Not a bad surface, though it was incidental to the cut demo. Finishing would be a bit nicer. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/7-Surface-In.jpg
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
131
Likes
0
Location
Kingwood, TX
That's what we teach - the safe way to use the tools.

This is my problem with using a true roughing gouge for bowl work. While I don't care what you or anyone else uses - I don't recommend using one to beginners. And my point with your post - here is the problem. You adamantly defend the use of a SRG for bowl work and that there isn’t a problem using one - that it’s just a matter of teaching them how to use it properly.

But you aren’t teaching them - you are making statements with some pictures thrown in - but some newbie is going "try" to use one on his own and it may turn out ugly. If you are there in person to "teach" them the proper way then great - but some posts on a forum does not teach them the skills they need to do this safely. And yes we all know that this was the way it was done before the modern bowl gouge was introduced and it worked fine for them (a lot fewer turners back then making bowls btw) and we know your feelings towards modern metals and “named†brand gouges. I’m just saying that a forum isn’t the place to preach what by most of the modern world is considered an unsafe practice when you can’t teach them the safe way to use this tool. Lots of people read your posts on this and other turning forums and take what you speak as gospel and without question. Yield that influence wisely is all I ask

IMHO

Have a great day
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
183
Likes
0
First, kick out the traditional image of the "bevel rubbing" being fore to aft. It's guided parallel to the edge when using a constant-angle grind The combination of skew and lean is what allows the gouge to cut progressively from lead to trailing portion.

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n28/MichaelMouse/?action=view&current=CherryPeelIn.mp4 Wouldn't be much to see around the fist on a narrow bowl, but works fine there, as well.

This one starts with a cylindrical gouge cutting with the limited sweet spot available, and then finishes with the forged form ("continental" or roughing, machts nichts) taking excelsior. Notice how the sharpness angle increases as the tool approaches the bottom. http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view&current=Inside.mp4

The tang of my ancient gouge was loose in the handle. Thus the noise, and not the best surface, but you have to video while SWMBO is willing.

Wet wood is a pleasure. If you look against the wall, you're looking at continuous shavings yards long folding back and forth. look down in the bottom to see how broad a face the gouge is cutting. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Forged-Peel-Inside.jpg

Demo, cut with the bandsaw, showing the cutting faces both inside and out. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/5-Cut-Shapes.jpg

Not a bad surface, though it was incidental to the cut demo. Finishing would be a bit nicer. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/7-Surface-In.jpg


It was great that you could post it, but I struggled to see how you presented the tool to the inside surface. It obviously worked very well, but I still can't really visualize the shape of the tool and how the bevel gets on the inner surface.

Can you post a picture of what you are using in each video? Interested in seeing if your gouges look like what I have seen.

Thanks

S
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
5,435
Likes
2,792
Location
Eugene, OR
I have tried the cut, and it is similar to what you do if you are using a scraper at a shear angle. I figured that as soon as you came off the bevel, you would get a spiral cut, just like a skew. You are not rubbing but bevel, but have a steep angle, and the bevel is at maybe a 45 degree angle to the bowl surface. I found it simple on the outside of the bowl, but difficult on the inside. Nose profile is ) or flatter. If you have seen Doug Thompson's Fluteless gouge, it has almost the same profile. I tried it rubbing the bevel, and that works, then angled the handle more towards the inside of the bowl, and it still worked. Being used to rubbing the bevel, I found it difficult to control and get a smooth, bump and valley free profile. I guess if I practiced it a lot, I could learn, but for me rubbing the bevel is easier.

robo hippy
 

john lucas

AAW Forum Expert
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
8,321
Likes
3,576
Location
Cookeville, TN
I finally got a Thompson weighted handle for my 5/8" gouge. It's great for roughing. It reduces the fatique in my shoulder quite a bit. It tires me out if I use it for the whole bowl.
 
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
148
Likes
1
Location
Woodland, CA
Well, if Dave F. was a little confused at the beginning of this thread, I suspect he is a lot confused after four pages of stuff, only a couple of posts that actually attempted to answer his question.
 
Back
Top