Roughing a bowl blank??

Question

Hi all, I a have huge roughing gouge, trouble is it's not supposed to be used for bowl blanks. Apparently it's not designed to cope with the alternating "with the grain, against the grain" cutting. I know some turners use them on bowls but the practice is said to be dangerous. Fine by me, I'm all for safety. BUT, what 'do' I use to rough out a bowl blank? Your comments would be appreciated.

rverne44 · Accepted Answer

I use a 1/2" bowl gouge, for roughing out both the inside and outside of bowls.

The bowl gouge is preferable for a bunch of reasons. The deeper flute of the bowl gouge makes it stiffer than a spindle gouge. Thus it flexes less, making it more controllable, essential for when you are reaching into the inside of a bowl. It takes a much smaller cut than a roughing gouge (more properly called a spindle roughing gouge these days), keeping the forces on the tool more manageable. And when a catch does occur, the beefier tang of the bowl gouge makes the tool stronger. I haven't seen it, but I've heard enough stories of a spindle roughing gouge blowing apart at the handle when used on a bowl and the end grain caught the cutting edge. Can ruin your day.

Bob in NC

Boru · Answer

3/4" long handled bowl gouge which keeps me far enough away from the action until everthing settles down.

DJ Delorie · Answer

Chain saw, then power plane to balance it, then bowl gouge.

robo hippy · Answer

I prefer a big heavy scraper. An Oland tool is a smaller scraper. You can do as most others do and use a big bowl gouge. The thing I don't like about the bowl gouges for roughing, is that they send the shavings right across the top of your pinky finger and hand. Even if the wood is wet, this is very abrasive and is why some turners wear a glove on their left hand. If you do use a scraper, I prefer big heavy ones, kind of like me and my lathe. They just feel better to me, and I am very agressive when I rough out. Also, I always keep the scraper angled slightly  helps prevent catches, and if you do have one, it makes it a lot less dramatic. With scrapers, you can also both push and pull with the tool, without having to change positions. If you use a gouge, you generally have the flutes on their side for roughing, and this is actually a scraping cut. How far back the flutes are ground determine how big of a cut you can take. If you are roughing out the inside of the bowl, you start with...

mac davis · Answer

Since Mr. Feltmate made me an Oland tool addict, I do use them for roughing, but I also use a roughing gouge..

IMHO, the warnings about not using roughing gouges on "bowls" is because of the weakness of the tang part of the tool and the chance of breaking it with a lot of leverage.. Since I am a devout coward, I avoid any turning that involves strain or leverage, so I feel fine with a roughing gouge.. I use a 2" RG for the real grunt work, then a 1" for the finer roughing..

A few things that I should make clear:

I don't use a RG to rough hollow, just to rough shape the outside and flatten/true the face.. (what will be the bowl bottom when it's reversed)

I keep the tool rest VERY close to the work and NEVER extend the RG more than

1/2" over the rest..

I maintain a steeper cutting angle that I need, so that in case of a catch, the gouge is pushed down my side of the rest, not brought tip-first between the wood and rest... Funny thing happens when the tip goes down.. the handle goes UP and you don't want to be in the way of it.. DAMHIKT

I would NOT try to hollow the bowl with a RG... that's what bowl gouges and Oland tools are for..

OTOH, I started doing "faceplate" turning years before I had heard of such a tool as a bowl gouge, and somehow lived through it.. ;-]

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Woodbowls · Answer

Hi folks, the current move to rename that wide gouge to a SPINDLE ROUGHING GOUGE is for a very good reason. The width of the gouge is NOT meant to go inside the confines of a bowl!! You will get a fatal catch that will ruin your bowl or your self. Bowl work is best left to BOWL GOUGES. You may vary the grind of the Bowl Gouge I use up to a

5/8" Irish ground gouge for hogging off wet wood. Any one suggesting the use of the "SRG" for bowls is at best foolhardy, at worst stupid!

Marty

mac davis · Answer

Hey Reed... Have you seen these yet?  Kind of pricey, but I'd like your opinion.. I'm considering one.. I'm going to email them and make sure that it will fit a Kelton handle.. mac Please remove splinters before emailing

robo hippy · Answer

The 'Oregon' version of that tool, used by the coastal myrtlewood turners is called 'the Big Ugly Tool'. To make it, you take a 3/4 inch square bar stock about 30 inches long, and sliver solder a piece of Tantung (don't know what exactly it is, but a piece about 7/8 inch wide, and 2 plus inches long, and about 3/32 thick) onto each end. You wear a glove on your right hand to protect it from the other cutter. The profiles are slightly different, but the Tantung can be sharpened on a standard grinding wheel. You can litterally turn for half a day without having to resharpen. A wonderful tool, equally useful on spindles and bowls. I have seen the daintiest of spindles/finials turned with it, as well as bowls. For finish cuts, use it in a shear angle. I love to rough out spindles with it, but prefer a wider tool for bowls, in the 1 1/4 inch range. The only draw back to the Ci 1 Rougher is that you can't sharpen the cutters, and I am too cheap to spend $22 for a new cutter each time I would...

Gerard · Answer

As you can see here:  the cutters are flat on top, so sharpening on a fine diamond stone must  be possible. Sharpening the sides would be a bit harder to do. If one  sharpens carbide, use water, the dust of carbide is poisonous. Gerard.

john · Answer

Hi all, thanks for the useful advice.  Sorry for the delay replying, I had computer problems. Regards John

Roughing a bowl blank??

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