Like many of you...I have 3/8", 1/2", and a 5/8" bowl gouges. What is your preference for using long wing grinds...a specific diameter or do grind long wings on all your grinds? thanks...j
-
November 2025 Turning Challenge: Wall Hanging! (click here for details) -
Sign up for the 2025 AAW Forum Holiday Swap by Monday, November 24th (click here for details) -
Congratulations to Konstantin Gusev for "The Nutcracker" being selected as Turning of the Week for November 17, 2025 (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.
Long wing grinds...
- Thread starter John Grace
- Start date
Wings on all. Some with Irish grind, some with Hannes grind.
I like mine 3/4 inch from tip to end of the wing
1/2” bg’s are my experimenters - try new grinds with them, as I find no real other use for them. I can do anything with a 5/8” that a 1/2” will do. 2x 5/8” (45* for initial roughing, 60* to the finish) and a 3/8” have a Hannes hatmaker grind.
The 45* rougher is one of Lyle’s signature Thompson 5/8” wide V’s, the V10 material holds up best getting through bark and inclusions during initial roughing, and the wide V hogs material without clogging.
The 45* rougher is one of Lyle’s signature Thompson 5/8” wide V’s, the V10 material holds up best getting through bark and inclusions during initial roughing, and the wide V hogs material without clogging.
That's what I've always done, with just a bit of a convex curve on the edges. A pretty generic, time-tested, no-name shape.
I use Hannes' Vector Grind Fixture and always make the wing as long as it can be made.
Well, I never use a swept back grind gouge any more. After a 3 day work shop with Stuart and Allan Batty, and discovering the 40/40 gouge and BOB tools, that kind of eliminated the need for them. The swept back grind is a "jack of all trades", but it is also a master of none, and I think the specialized tools work better, at least for me. This is why I developed my old robo rest, mostly because what was available at that time wasn't very good. I use dedicated shear scrapers, spear point for the outside, and a round nose or ) nose for the inside. I do all of my heavy roughing cuts with the Big Ugly tool.
robo hippy
robo hippy
Wings on all of mine too.
I use the 40/40 and traditional grinds as well. There are many ways to cut a bowl or other shape. I like having all these grinds available to use the strengths of each, and use different approaches depending on the shape/contour I’m after.
The 40/40 is very good for removing a lot of material with little to no tear out, but it is limited due to the bevel angle. I start 99% of bowls between centers. With the TS engaged, the 40/40 is limited in how much of the OD can be cut. A pull cut with a long wing grind gets in to the tenon, and all the way up to the rim if desired. A ~60* bevel allows a lot more of the OD to be done with a push cut (with TS in place). This can be a traditional or long wing grind.
The 40/40 will hog out a good portion of the ID, and works well for starting final thickness cuts at the rim, but it’s use gets limited by the bevel angle . That’s where a steeper bevel long wing, using a flute up cut, or steeper bevel traditional grind come in - to finish the deeper parts of a shape, or get through a sharp transition to the bottom.
The 40/40 is very good for removing a lot of material with little to no tear out, but it is limited due to the bevel angle. I start 99% of bowls between centers. With the TS engaged, the 40/40 is limited in how much of the OD can be cut. A pull cut with a long wing grind gets in to the tenon, and all the way up to the rim if desired. A ~60* bevel allows a lot more of the OD to be done with a push cut (with TS in place). This can be a traditional or long wing grind.
The 40/40 will hog out a good portion of the ID, and works well for starting final thickness cuts at the rim, but it’s use gets limited by the bevel angle . That’s where a steeper bevel long wing, using a flute up cut, or steeper bevel traditional grind come in - to finish the deeper parts of a shape, or get through a sharp transition to the bottom.
I have no gouge in use that is not sharpened with the Vector Grind Fixture. I say that because the one 3/8 U 10V tool that I had ground specifically for the transition area of a bowl between the side and the bottom where tear out can occur, that tool has disappeared from my shop. Will make another when needed. But the Vector grind gives the best rendition of the hat makers grind which for me works with everything I do or can do. I do not need any other grind and as I stated above I roll that as far left and right to get the longest wing possible. All my backup gouges are in the tool drawers with Doug's original grind on them and they will stay that way until I need a new one which at this point in my life I doubt that I will ever have to start a new one. My wife will have a field day when it comes time to let them go as I'm pretty sure there are well over a hundred in those drawers.
Thanks for mentioning my gouge. It has a parabolic flute and different from what Thompson sells.
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2004
- Messages
- 9,298
- Likes
- 6,048
- Location
- Lakeland, Florida
- Website
- www.hockenberywoodturning.com
My most used gouges are 5/8 diameter bars with an Ellsworth grind. - my wings are close to a inch.
I keep one 5/8 dia bar gouge with a 40/40 for platters
I have a 3/8 bar gouge with a Michelson grind.
I haven’t found wings useful on the small gouge. The Michelson grind makes terrific finish cuts in areas where larger tools can’t work effectively. It is great for hollowing smaller turnings.