Stupid question no 47 - Bowl Gauge Shape

[WaggaSteve]

Finally got things going and enjoying it immensely and learning by my mistakes.- which given how many there are should make that a quick exercise but somehow it doesn't seem to work that way :-)
To get a smoother finish on the bottom of a bowl, should the bowl gauge have a sharp sweeping swept back shape or a shorter one to allow bevel rubbing on the bottom of the bowl- Hope the question makes sense
Steve

[smiife]

Hi steve,
Sometimes you need 2 gouges, swept back wings to rip
out the centre and a more conventional grind to get to the
bottom and give the whole bowl a finishing cut after a freshen
up on the grinder , hope this all makes sense!
by the way their is no such thing as a stupid question:cool:

[Mobyturns]

Have a look at this link http://www.d-waytools.com/images/tools-gouges/bowl-gouge-lg.jpg

The bowl gouge shape does make a difference to rubbing the bevel. Some grind angles don't suit deeper bowls and will not permit the turner access to rub the bevel as the shaft of the tool interferes with the bowl rim. Hence the "bottom feeder" description.

[Woodturnerjosh]

The gouge I use for the bottoms is like the straight across ground bottom feeder gouges in the link Mobyturns provided.

oh, and I have other gouges with swept back grinds for regular hollowing and turning the outside

[issatree]

Hi Steve,
A really good strong Round Nose Scraper does a good job, right at the bottom.

[Christos]

For a time I struggled to get a good clean consistent cut at the inside/bottom of the bowl with a bowl gouge. I was using scrapers to finish up and sometimes these would leave a little tear out. I received some hands on guidance on the use of the gouge and was able to correct my technique.

I would say having two bowl gouges at different grinds does help.

What am I about to mention could be a little counter to what I just said. The person that I got the instruction from was an old school turner and back in his day the less time you took at swapping between tools the faster you were able to turn. His grind on his gouge was close to a point and he was able to get a clean cut at the sides and bottom. I think this comes from using the tool constantly. Personally I don't think I will get to that stage so two gouges and grinds are my option.