Multiple bowl gouge grinds?

[Mike Novak]

I’m wondering if people use different grinds for different tasks, or just stick with the grind that’s most familiar to them?

The gouge I use most is ground similar to what Glenn Lucas uses (I downloaded his sharpening guide). I also have a 40/40 grind, but don’t use it very often. Then I have a BOB that’s almost never needed. I have tried several others, but always go back.

I have a theory that good results is more a matter of learning how to use a particular grind than having the right grind for the task.

Thoughts?

 

[Ron Solfest]

You’re probably correct. I’ve heard said that the expert turners could turn with a sharpened hoe.

In my case I’ve adopted fairly similar grinds that are modestly swept back. I’ve locked in the Wolverine jig and use the same settings for all spindle gouges, detail gouge, and bowl gouges other than the distance from the wheel to provide different angles (35deg for spindle/detail gouges, 40deg for 3/8” bowl gouges, 45deg for 1/2” bowl gouges, and 50deg for 5/8” bowl gouges, I have a Robust 5/8” that I sharpen at 55deg…still not happy with that gouge, also have a BoB I freehand sharpen much steeper and without much for wings).

 

[hughie]

I have several different angles for various purposes. 55' for going across the bottom of an open deep sided bowl, roughing gouge is 40' as most of other gouges are. Like Ron I have several at 45', mainly larger dia 1/5, 5/8,3/4. Tipped tools made from Tantung I have had to change the angle on the wings to get around the weakness of the steel, not sure of the angle there as I did it by eye. It works, so I never checked it.

 

[john lucas]

I have 3 grinds on my bowl gouges. 40 degree nose on two. My Thompson V with an ellsworth appearance. A Robust 1/2" U shaped that i put a 40/40 that i call 40/45 because i grind slightly longer wings. Then I have a Robust 5/8" that has a 55 degree ellsworth grind. My bottom of the bowl too is a Hunter Badger cupped carbide tool.

 

[hockenbery]

I’m wondering if people use different grinds for different tasks

For most bowls & hf exteriors I use an Ellsworth grind for hollowing bowls I use an an Ellsworth grind with the heel ground off
For the first inch inside a cut rim bowl I often use a Michelson grind on a 3 how/8 diameter bar gouge.
For problem punky woods I sometime use a finger nail ground spindle gouge

For platters I often use a 40/40

For spindles I use and SRG with traditional grind, fingernail spindle gouge, sometimes a continental gouge with a slight wing

 

[Steve Nix]

I use a 55 degree swep bask on all my bowls, inside and out then a scraper to remove and minor tool marks. This grind has served me well on hundreds of bowls Omer the years. I stick with what works for me. I advise this for any turner.

 

[Odie]

Almost nobody uses the traditional grind anymore.....except for a few old die-hards like me!

I use it exclusively and can do just about anything I want it to do, because it's all about sharpness and how that sharp edge is presented to the wood. These two things require separate individual skill sets, and work together while the skill of the turner makes it happen.

The traditional grind can have multiple bevel angles, and still be appropriately called the traditional grind. Because of that, usefulness can vary greatly.....again, depending on the skill of the turner.

Sometimes the "new and improved".......isn't!

=o=

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Straight out of Keith Rowley's "Woodturning: A Foundation Course" from 30 years ago. And if I recall some numbers:
60° bowl gouge, with swept wings.
35°(?) for spindle and roughing gouges.
??? for skews. 30 or 35°?
70-80° for scrapers. Maybe? I dunno, they all work as long as they are sharp and my hand-eye coordination hasn't forsaken me. Maybe I should dig out my book and check them over. Maybe.

I dunno, I haven't changed from, nor re-checked those angles since several Presidents ago. (I'm just a periodic guy.) I sharpen, I cut, I resharpen, I cut some more... I don't think about it. I just do it. Shavings from some woods, chips from others, and nice surfaces every time.

Anyone here that thinks that they've thought of something new, like bevel angles, compared to the past... to the total history of turning a lump of wood on a lathe, would be mistaken. Sharp edge + practiced hand = good results. That's all. Don't get hung up in the ever changing minutia marketers create for us, it will probably not mean much to your results in the long run. Unless you really like experimenting, then have at it.

If it works, keep doing it. If not, change it up. But always enjoy yourself and your efforts.

 

[Richard Coers]

To me, that 40/40 is an internet and marketing gimmick. I have two grinds and use a shallow arc scraper for cleaning up the bottom of the inside. I use the Irish grind and the Hannes grind.

 

[Dean Center]

I'd say you're on the right track, Mike. You've got several options, but you're gravitating to a particular grind. Learn to use that one well. Someday you will want to try something different, and you might like it better. By that point you'll be a very good turner and the pros and cons of new or different grinds will be easy to assess.

 

[Tom McDonnell]

For bowls I mostly use a 40-40 gouge along with a 60 bottom bowl gouge because I can platform sharpen them quickly.

 

[Bill Blasic]

All my Thompson V gouges are sharpened with the Vector Grind Fixture with a 180 grit CBN wheel. All other Thompson tools are sharpened on the other wheel an 80 grit CBN with Robo platform. My other main tools in use are the Hunter carbides and they rarely have to be turned a little in use.

 

[Kirk Amidon]

I am all over the place. Have a couple with the 40-40, a couple with a swept back grind, one bottom of bowl with a very traditional grind, and now one which is between a swept back and traditional, where the nose is 60* or so.

Definitely use them for different purposes, and find my interests and preference for grind changes here and there, hence the variety. I like the swept back for roughing, the 40-40 for shaping and finish cuts, and the BOB for, well bottom of some bowls. I'm finding that I'm picking up the 60* semi swept back one more and more though.

The swept backs are sharpened on the varigrind, while all the other are freehand/platform sharpened. I'm probably the only moron who cannot use the varigrind properly. I don't like my varigrind, as it is darn near impossible to get the gouge even every time. So what happens is that it is slightly rotated, so more needs to be taken off one side or the other. This costs me time and / or tool steel. This issue is not something encountered with platform sharpening, so I'm moving that way as well.

 

[hockenbery]

For those starting out master one tool and grind then expand your horizon.

One exercise Jimmy Clewes did in a class for our club was a spherical bowl hollowed with a 3/8 diameter gouge with a traditional grind. Small gouge easy to change the bevel angle. 45 degrees to hollow the first third. Grind to 60 degrees for the next third.
Grind to 80 degrees for the bottom third.

The swept back grinds give turners extra options not achievable with the traditional grind.
I learned the flute up cut with the leading edge of the wing on the Irish grind from its inventor Liam O’Neil
It cuts nicely where a push cut can’t ride the bevel.
Then from David Ellsworth I learned to use that flute up cut to turn the inside wall of natural edge bowls.

I have never found any other method of turning an inside wall on a NE bowl that can match the smoothness I get with the flute up cut with an Ellsworth grind. Second place for me is the Michelson for this.

 

[Darryl Fective]

I have a few bowl gouges, mostly 1/2" or 5/8" depending on how you measure. I don't really measure angles, but a couple have a 35 or 40, and a couple have about 60, then the rest are an angle in between. The sharper ones are for softer wood and details. They have long swept wings that I can lay on the piece at a sheer (or is it shear?) angle and make a skew-like cut, or closed for a sheer scrape. The steeper ones are for bottoms of bowls. The in-between angle is for everything else.

 

[robo hippy]

I do keep one David Ellsworth signature gouge around just for show and tell. It is ground down to a nub and I had to grind a flat on the shaft so I could get it into the jig. Then I took a 3 day work shop with both Stuart and Allan Batty. That convinced me to switch to the 40/40 and the various BOB tools. While many think of the swept back grinds as being a "Jack of all trades", which it is, it is also a master of none. The specialized tools just work better and more efficiently for bowl turning. All of my BOB tools are sharpened at the 70 degree mark on my robo rest, and the 40/40 is sharpened at the 45 degree setting. The actual measures are 5 degrees off. Spindle detail gouges are 40 degrees. All scrapers are 70 degrees. All NRSs are at 30/60. Tomislav uses 50 degree scrapers and seems to get a very clean finish on his bowls with that angle. I have one some where in the shop but haven't used it much, have to go back and try again. My skews are at the 30 degree setting on my platform. and that seems to work, though I think true skew masters use a more acute angle.

robo hippy