Review of Benjamin's Best

Jan 11, 2008 2 Replies
G

I got a 5/8" bowl gouge. It cost $20 plus not including shipping. The handle is ok lengthwise for me but smaller in diameter than my other bowl gouges. The shaft length is 9 inches but the usable flute length is only 3 3/4 inches. In comparison, my new Packard bowl gouge has a shaft length of 9 3/4 and a usable flute length of 5 3/4.



My biggest complaint is the flute itself. It is straight sided--nearly a v-shape. When used head on, the cutting width is narrow. It works ok when cutting with the wings but there is minimal transition between a straight wing cut and a v cut. Similar to having a right and a left narrow skew chisels joined together.



So, to me, it is worth about what it cost.


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M

I must have smaller hands than I thought.. ;~]

Might depend on the grind and how it's used? I do a pretty aggressive sweep and don't use the tip/point, so they seem fine to me.. I just ordered 2 more plus a 1" roughing gouge... I'll grind 1 swept and the other more a conventional fingernail and see how it works..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

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R

I have one V shaped gouge, and find it works better on the outside of the bowl than it does on the inside. Also if I get agressive with it, it does clog up some times. I do prefer the U shaped gouges as being better at all purpose cutting. The gouges by Doug Thompson are in my opinion the best ones out there, They are one of the 'lasts 5 times longer' gouges that do actually keep their edges longer than anything else I have used. Their U shaped gouge is very broad, almost like a spindle gouge, and their V shaped gouge is slightly wider than most of the other V shaped gouges I have seen. They are sold unhandled.

robo hippy

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