Which Bowl Gouge To Buy?

Larry... I should have mentioned that HF has 2 sets...

The one that goes on sale for $10 or $12, which I mentioned, and one that is usually $60 and is on sale for about $30 a couple of times a year... The more expensive set is the one they say "not allowed to say who makes it" and AFAIKT is the same set as the PSI Benjamin's best chisels..

I have them on the back side of my "a-frame" chisel rack for kids and beginners to use.... Not because they're too cheap for my use but to reserve the chisels that I use daily for me.. *g*

mac

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I have carefully examined both my BB and the HF Red's and concluded the same thing.

As with any woodworking tool, better tools are easier to work with and will allow you to do better work. You will be 'fighting' with a poor tool to get 'so-so' work.

A good named brand $70-$100 bowl gouge made of HSS will have a good profile, be easy to sharpen, and hold the edge lots longer than a cheep tool-steel one. Keeping a sharp edge will allow you to work longer and make lots better cuts than a dull tool. And will last longer since you won't be grinding it away as often. Better cuts mean smoother finishes.

Going to the extreme $150 gouge is way overkill for a beginner. But it may keep it's sharp edge way longer.

In short, don't go Cheep or it will actually cost more in the long run.

may I humbly disagree, please..... look at the amazing work done in the early 1800s by folks like Francois Barot - this was before any form of tool steel was invented. Look at the work from the elizebethan period - carbon steel was at best a guessing game. You don't need super duper tools to do good art (you do need super duper tools to do high precision work with interchangable parts, but that's a different topic). A bad tool will not prevent a skilled artist from making his art, and the best tool in the world won't help an unskilled non-artist create art.

so, you bowls will not be any better if you use the world's best gouge than if you use a sharp rock lashed to a stick.

However, you may find it more enjoyable to use a nice fancy tool than the sharp rock lashed to a stick...... for most of us, this is a hobby after all, not a profession. Invest accordingly.

"invest accordingly" says Bill Noble. I like that. Let us face it folks, we are spending a lot of money to make $20.00 pens that work as well as the .20 ones at the office supply, $60.00 bowls that hold as much salad as the $3.00 ones from WalMart, and so on. Really we spend to produce our "art," pursue our hobby or feed our addictions. Personally I feel that the $20.00+ pen and the $60.00+ bowl are worth the cash because of the beauty of the wood and the hand work in them but taste is taste. Not every one buys my stuff :-) Figure what you can afford for your hobby or business of turning and go for it. Some of the cost is comfort, i.e. what you are comfortable spending given your budget and comfort level. I am one of the cheap types that questions brand name over quality. If I can get a reasonable tool that needs a few minutes polishing to bring it up to the standards of a more wxpensive tool, hand me the polishing compund. I have a nice roughing gouge that came to me with a Record tool set about eight years ago. When I need a new one in a couple of years I can get a similar gouge for $60.00 or a set for $100. Since I will make my own handle anyway, give me the set and for $40.00 I have some more gouges and skews to play with. For me this works but for someone else the $60.00 or higher price works better. The nice thing is, I think we are both right. Plus we get the fun of trying to convince one another that "only I am right." (fun if both are laughing)

Agreed, Mike... but what I was trying to compare (I think) was a mid-price tool against a "signature" tool..

mac

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Once It seemed that our best silverware made the food taste better. That is until I realized that we only got out, polished and used the sterling with our initials engraved on it when relatives and friends came for holidays. I believed that Lori's best table settings made those happy dinners taste extra good when she changed the menu from beer and hamburgers to wine and roast turkey or the prime ribs of yesteryear (A few old timers might remember those halcyon days before cholesterol and out of reach prices when we could enjoy an occasional prime rib).

The turkey sandwiches and leftovers tasted even better for supper on the mismatched thrift store plates and stainless ware at the kitchen table ..and we didn't need to get the tarnish off and carefully put them away. If we broke a cup or bent a spoon in the dishwasher so what? It was good for the grins.

Once it seemed that my premium, powdered and frozen steel bowl gouge with the famous turner's name engraved on it made my wood turning go better. That is until I realized that I only got out, sharpened, honed and polished my deep fluted beauty on those special turning sessions when I took great pains to turn a store bought exotic or a fine domestic burl into my very best work.

My turning went even better the next day when I happily slapdashed several bottle stoppers and miniature lighthouses from the exotic's leavings and road kill timber using my comfortable ole Sears carbon steel skew with sweat, grime and dried glue on the handle, but a sharp clean and proper edge straight from the grinder.

OK, so this doesn't answer Joel's question (remember him?). Come on now, give me a break. I realize I've made a long thread seem intolerably longer, but there's less than 300 posts this morning. Can't RCW afford the bandwidth? :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

I did a lot of bowling in a past life, and as soon as you ordered a new ball, the old one suddenly remembered how to throw strikes.. lol

mac

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Joel,

If you want to purchase one bowl gouge that will probably last a lifetime, get a Kryo M2 one-half inch gouge (one-half inch is the size of the flute). The shank or shaft diameter will be 5/8". I think I have tried most of the exotic steel formulations and have discovered that they do a good job of holding a marginal edge off a 100 grit wheel. Cryogenically treated M2, from my experience, holds the best edge for the longest period of time. However having said that, you will certainly get other opinions from this group. But I'm sure you won't be disappointed with anything other than the price of this great tool. It does run approximately $100, and in my opinion worth every cent. The brand I purchased is Henry Taylor and I bought it from Craft Supplies in Provo, Utah. To get the most out of this tool or any other, you should have a good sharpening system and get some basic instruction on how to grind the tool. One Way makes a great system and Norton makes great wheels for a grinder.