Roughing a bowl blank??

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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