3/8 Spindle/Detail Gouge

[Daniel Henry]

I'm an "old" guy when it comes to many forms of woodworking. While not a complete "newbie" to woodturning, I'm certainly not an "old" hand. I have a few tools in my arsenal, rough gouge, scraper, negative rake scraper, bowl gouges, skews, and part tools (made one). I can pick up these tools with a degree of confidence in their proper usage and in understanding my mistakes. But there is another tool that is makes my turning life not so pleasurable. That tool is the 3/8 spindle, detail gouge. I can be making a great cut (for me), then SUDDENLY bam and that is a loud BAM. I have viewed and reviewed several videos on this and other sites regarding this specific tool. Is there a detailed video available on the do's, don'ts, and secrets of this tool? The business end is the traditional fingernail grind.

Happy New Year

Dan

 

[Earl McLain]

Will be watching this thread. I could make a video covering exactly half of what you're thinking--the DON'Ts!! Took a class with Bruce Dannenhauer of West Michigan Woodturners last summer and he spent a week trying to teach me "the dance" with my spindle gouge. Here i am, nearly 6 months later and the past two weekends finally felt like it's starting to come together. I've got a supply of poplar blanks cut, but i hadn't been diligent about cutting a coves & beads stick before i start EVERY session until recently, which is something else Bruce worked hard at communicating!!
earl

 

[Brian Gustin]

Seems to me if you have mastered a bowl gouge, spindle detail gouge should be no different - just floating the bevel so the cutting edge just touches the work.. Only tool I still have difficulty with is the skew... or sometimes I will get a run back if I am not paying attention (on ANY tool) but once I had bowl gouge use figured out, I applied the same concepts to spindle gouge, and had no issues - I did notice if it has a finely pointed fingernail grind (depending on how you grind it) it's easy to get a catch if you try to bring it straight on.. I usually approach my work at a bit of an angle - trying to visualize my bevel being parallel to the cut I want to make, then rock back a little bit towards the heel (anchor, heel, bevel, cut) before leaning the gouge into the cut... Kind of like the same motion you might make cutting a bead with a skew?

 

[hockenbery]

These gouges need the user to ride the bevel
If the cutting edge touches the wood before the bevel or if tool comes off the bevel you get a catch.
Also you want to avoid having the center tip touch the woo except for special cut like boring.
Having the tool rest a bit above center helps to keep the bevel on the wood.

With the spindle gouge ABCs are essential to using it happily and productively.
Anchor Tool on the tool rest tool not touching the wood
Bevel - move the tool to have bever on the wood not cutting
Cut - raise the handle and role the tool to engage the cutting edge.

MY suggestion is to put on a fire wood stick you can turn to 3” diameter
Mark it off in 1/2” increments and turn beads end to end
Round it down again and repeat.

Put on another stick. Mark this off every inch and cut coves end to end

Then turn 10 finger spin tops using just the spindle gouge.
Mount the block in a Chuck, tuRn the point, turn the handle

@john lucas hAs pretty good video, Stewart Batty videos are good too.

 

[hockenbery]

If you are an AAW member you can find videos from the AAW web site
These videos have been evaluated by AAW volunteers for safety and good practices
You will get a list of video line that include Lucas, Batty, and other good ones.

From the home page click resources



Click information




Click video source






Enter the search criteria another search for coves

 

[Daniel Henry]

These gouges need the user to ride the bevel
If the cutting edge touches the wood before the bevel or if tool comes off the bevel you get a catch.
Also you want to avoid having the center tip touch the woo except for special cut like boring.
Having the tool rest a bit above center helps to keep the bevel on the wood.

With the spindle gouge ABCs are essential to using it happily and productively.
Anchor Tool on the tool rest tool not touching the wood
Bevel - move the tool to have bever on the wood not cutting
Cut - raise the handle and role the tool to engage the cutting edge.

MY suggestion is to put on a fire wood stick you can turn to 3” diameter
Mark it off in 1/2” increments and turn beads end to end
Round it down again and repeat.

Put on another stick. Mark this off every inch and cut coves end to end

Then turn 10 finger spin tops using just the spindle gouge.
Mount the block in a Chuck, tuRn the point, turn the handle

@john lucas hAs pretty good video, Stewart Batty videos are good too.

I must clarify an earlier response. I used the words a "degree of confidence" regarding usage and understanding mistakes. A "master" I am NOT. Mr. Hockenbery, I am a member of AAW. Thank you for those words of advice. Especially, "avoid the center tip touching the wood . . . .". I don't remember hearing that. Thinking about your words and my mishaps, I'm sure I have been allowing the tip to touch the wood.

Would this be a correct statement, "riding the bevel on a bowl gouge is much different than riding the bevel on a spindle gouge?"

 

[Brian Gustin]

Would this be a correct statement, "riding the bevel on a bowl gouge is much different than riding the bevel on a spindle gouge?"

Not particularly, no. Technically speaking, because the bevel is the bevel - the wood doesn't care as long as bevel floats along and supports the cutting edge..... but if you mean the way it "looks" to you and how you hold the tool, then yeah it is rather different.. as far as how it might appear to you from your perspective - so rather than looking at the tool and bevel, try and get a feel for it - Follow hockenberry's advice and practice and pay more attention to getting the feel for it - try turning lathe off, put tool on tool rest with a block of rounded wood chucked between centers, and then close your eyes and see if you can feel when you have the bevel laying flat against the wood , then open your eyes and check to see if you do.. you might be surprised! And once you get the feel for it, you can focus more on where you are going, and not on where you are. (which is what I used to do when I first started - trying to focus on getting the bevel down before the cut started, I wasn't paying attention to all the other parts of the equation that are equally , if not more, important.)

So - Riding the bevel is the same, no matter what tool you are using, but the way it may look to you , the perspectives will constantly be changing (and you can't get that perspective watching youtube videos, until they invent cameras that fit behind the turner's eyeballs!) So, trying to position your gouge in the same manner as you do a bowl gouge (typically your detail gouge has a much different angle on it anyway) you'll be bound to get a nasty catch - and each turner likely will have a slightly different experience, depending on the angle they grind their gouges at..

 

[hockenbery]

riding the bevel on a bowl gouge is much different than riding the bevel on a spindle gouge?"

Basically no.
But there is slightly different touch and feel when using the tool

Another difference is the bevel angle of the tool.
A 60 degree bevel will often go into a scrape when you come off the bevel instead of a catch.
A 30 degree bevel will go into a catch when you come off the bevel..

I prefer a 30 degree bevel on my spindle gouge.
A 40 degree is often easier for a novice to use successfully.

 

[Daniel Henry]

Basically no.
But there is slightly different touch and feel when using the tool

Another difference is the bevel angle of the tool.
A 60 degree bevel will often go into a scrape when you come off the bevel instead of a catch.
A 30 degree bevel will go into a catch when you come off the bevel..

I prefer a 30 degree bevel on my spindle gouge.
A 40 degree is often easier for a novice to use successfully.

Thank you for the technical specifications.

 

[robo hippy]

What are you trying to do with the detail gouge? I would be using them more for beads and coves. One possibility would be that you are trying to use the point of the tool to cut with rather than the wing. If you enter the cut with just the wing, that can get real grabby. I think that is because you can't rub the bevel before you start to cut. I also like a 30 or so degree bevel, and the detail gouges tend to be more pointed than bowl gouges.

robo hippy

 

[Daniel Henry]

What are you trying to do with the detail gouge?

While fashioning an answer to your question, I realize that by far my worse BAMS have come from doing other than beads, coves, and the like. May I correctly conclude that this is not the ideal tool for sheer scraping? According to the protractor my gouge has a 34 degree grind.

The dark spot on the tree is prior damage to the wood. The area between the base and the bottom of the tree was done with the spindle gouge and finished with the skew and parting tool.
The door pulls, after getting to round, were turned with the spindle gouge. I'll remove the "points" once the pets are no longer curious.

My motivation for this post came yesterday while making what should have been the finish pass with a spindle gouge. My re-design skills have greatly improved. To complete the re-design work was tedious, time consuming, and nerve racking.

Thanks again

 

[Dean Center]

Daniel, I believe you would benefit greatly from a little one-on-one time with an experienced turner. In 60 minutes, all of your questions will be answered, even the ones you don't realize you have yet. Plus, when the session is over, you'll have a vastly improved confidence in your turning. There's a club in Hot Springs (centralarwoodturners.org) , and another in Jacksonville (diamondstatewoodturners.club), and both likely have some folks just itching to look over your shoulder.

 

[robo hippy]

I prefer actual scrapers for my shear scraping, and have a video dedicated to the subject. Swept back type gouges also are used for shear scraping. The 40/40 grind can also be used for shear scraping, but since it has a rather short wing, generally it isn't used for this. Not sure how you can get a catch from shear scraping with a detail gouge. The bevel does not rub at all, and the wing should just lightly cut the surface. I would guess that the culprit is the point of your detail gouge.

robo hippy