Hi everyone,
I have been turning bowls for several months now and have been getting bigger and bigger. Everyone seems to enjoy the bigger bowls, so, I've been turning them quite a bit. So far I have been doing everything with a 3/8" Sorby Fingernail gouge, and a 1/2" Crown-Pro Ellsworth Bowl bouge. My biggest issue with the big bowls (16" or so) is roughing them out. It is difficult, and takes me forever. My process for roughing out is that I screw a round plywood pattern board to the bark side of the block, and cut all the way around the pattern. It actually works great, and gets the blank almost round with very few flat edges. I can get my faceplate centered pretty close. My bandsaw isn't big enough to cut these blanks round. That is why I use this method. Here is my question. Should I get a bigger bowl gouge? I have a couple of big spindle roughing gouges, but I hear over and over that you should never use a roughing gouge on a bowl. It would be nice to have a bigger gouge for hollowing also, as it seems like it takes forever to hollow out those big bowls. I have a Nova DVR 2024 lathe that is rated at 2.3 HP, so I shouldn't have any power issues there. I am just looking for ways to make things a little easier and more enjoyable, and any input or advice on gouges or technique would be much appreciated.
Thanks
I have been turning bowls for several months now and have been getting bigger and bigger. Everyone seems to enjoy the bigger bowls, so, I've been turning them quite a bit. So far I have been doing everything with a 3/8" Sorby Fingernail gouge, and a 1/2" Crown-Pro Ellsworth Bowl bouge. My biggest issue with the big bowls (16" or so) is roughing them out. It is difficult, and takes me forever. My process for roughing out is that I screw a round plywood pattern board to the bark side of the block, and cut all the way around the pattern. It actually works great, and gets the blank almost round with very few flat edges. I can get my faceplate centered pretty close. My bandsaw isn't big enough to cut these blanks round. That is why I use this method. Here is my question. Should I get a bigger bowl gouge? I have a couple of big spindle roughing gouges, but I hear over and over that you should never use a roughing gouge on a bowl. It would be nice to have a bigger gouge for hollowing also, as it seems like it takes forever to hollow out those big bowls. I have a Nova DVR 2024 lathe that is rated at 2.3 HP, so I shouldn't have any power issues there. I am just looking for ways to make things a little easier and more enjoyable, and any input or advice on gouges or technique would be much appreciated.
Thanks