Musing on Arch's musings

Use a different gouge. always easier to cut with a good bevel riding than to fiddle freehand. Imagine the stability of you scraper with the antirotation capability of a bevel contacting the work. One-handed possible, though two recommended.

I've got a raft of 5 or 6 bowl gouges, and probably a dozen more at work, ring tools, rolly munro and the crown heavy duty scrapers. After a reasonable amount of play I like the gouge best. It leaves the least amount of damage to sand, and offers maximum control. I guess I've witnessed too many guys whip out a scraper for cove work on spindles, I'm jaded against them. Don't get me wrong, a scraper has it's place, but it seems it's the last tool of resort in my arsenal.

While I get a great deal of mileage using a skew on spindle work, I always rough in & rough shape a bowl using a scraper. I have two home-made scrapers with shallow LH / RH curves ground into them for smoothing out curves. I bring the exterior to shape & then make a smoothing cut with a gouge. I don't own a true bowl-gouge so the scrapers are the last steel on the inside.

So, I would guess that my experience / perspective rather closely mirrors yours in the above matter.

Bill

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Similar results. I keep practicing with the bowl-gouge, but I am still faster with the 1-1/2x3/4 scrapper. Like you though, the shear cut finish is nice, saves a lot of sanding time.

There is now and has been for many years a general consensus amoung many that if you scrape instead of cut, you aren't really a good turner. I have heard that for years, and certainly heard it from many a demonstrator when they say "what you need to do here is practice riding that bevel all the way to the outside", etc. They never pick up a scraper.

I learned to use a bowl gouge, and I like it. But when I have a deep vessel of sorts (like the one I just finished - 4" across, and 7" deep) I cannot get the angle to use a bowl gouge to finish the insdie bottom. Then comes the scraper. Sometimes the angles seem to keep me from getting the transition from bottom to side finished without ridges, then out comes the scraper. I have a 1/2" x 1" that is about

10" on the blade, and if I don't get too agressive it will leave a great surface.

But this has come to such a head that in one of the latest woodturning magazines they have an article by none other than Mike Darlow on the "cutting v. scraping" issue. He concedes that he seen nationally known turners (Sorin Berger?) make bowls with little more than a roughing gouge and a 2" scraper.

But he does in an off handed and nebulous way give up the fact that scraping could be an accepted way of woodturning. He makes it abundantly clear that he is a cutter, but allows there might be room for scraping.

Scraping is easier to learn, easier to control, and easier to teach. So why not use the scraper? I dunno. I have no idea. Even Darlow admits that he has had better luck teaching scraping rather than using the bowl gouge. Yet in his article, he seems (at least to me) to let on that he could accept scraping, yet not approve of it.

I say screw 'em. However you get the wood shaped the way you want is your business. Scrape, cut, grind, drill, or saw any way you want to get to the end is your business. Probably 99% of all turners are hobby guys anyway, so why not learn the easiest way to do something so you can get the most pleasure out of your hobby?

And I have never seen anyone set a pretty piece down because it was scraped, not cut. And strangely, most turners don't even seem to care.

Robert

Every area of human endeavor seems to have its Pharisees who want to insist on the 'right' way to (pray, carve, turn, dance, quilt, cook ... fill in the blank).

Will their way work? Sure.

Is their's the only way? Jesus sure didn't think so. Whenever they got in his way, he handed them their butt in a paper bag.

Those guys who turned the worlds biggest bowl didn't use a (Oneway, Stubby, Woodmaster, Robust ... again, fill in the blank) ... they used a farm tractor.

The only tool before the finish that matters is the final one. For most of us, that tool is sandpaper. How you get to the the sanding stage is up to you.

Bill

I have figured for some time that the scraper is misnamed. With the 3 basic tools; scrapers, gouges, and skews, you can shear cut and scrape cut, it depends on how you present the tool to the work. robo hippy

I have to agree -- the idea is to have fun and how you go about it is your business. Save your distain for important things like the wusses who use a pencil to do the crossword puzzles when they should use a pen. 8^)

on the end for working with bowls with a rather small diameter >opening. (One with a shaft that actually has a curve to the left.

You mean like this?

They are offered there with different size, patterns and cut angles. But out of all the tools you can make youself, a scraper has to be the easiest. A piece of tool steel, a large planer blade, etc., and you have your blank. Grind with patience, and you have yourself a custom designed scraper.

I have seen giant ones made out of car or truck springs (2" x 5/8" !!) that hog out wood as fast as any contraption or tool I have ever seen. The guy that made the tool is a turner that turns on a homemade bowl lathe; he has a small store/show area in front of his house outside one of our tourist towns. He cannot afford tools, nor would it occur to him to purchase any. To him it would probably be a sin against all he held dear to actually to purchase a tool.

In my own way, I admire that.

Robert Robert

(One with a shaft that actually has a curve to the left.

I have used one of the triangle burnishers on my scrapers to turn an edge, but that one doesn't seem to be as strong as the one I get fresh from the grinder. robo hippy

Hi Bob

If I understand you right, than that tool would be called "The guaranteed humongous catch tool" ;-)))

The upturned sharp edge would go into the wood and keep on going, for an instant at least, than the force needed to do this would slam the tool down, and you would have a giant catch, I would not want to be in the shop with you when that happened. The only cutting tools, (as opposed to scraping) for inside a deeper vase or hollow form are the ring or hook tools. If you go to Darrell Feltmate's website you can see how you can make a hook tool and also how to use one, ring tools are used very similar, The Oneway site has info on how to use their Termite tool. Here's the link to Darrells site, lots of good info for all turners, one of the best wood turner info sites around.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Thanks for the tips. I do have the Termite tool with three different sized tips. I will check back on Darrells site for the hook tool.