V Gouge dramas

[Sebastiaan56]

Its my own fault, I know but...

I purchased am budget V gouge that has thicker metal at the edge of the wings than in the centre. The V itself is the same thickness as the wing edges. The result is that as I try to sharpen it I hollow out the centre of the wings and have a pointy V and protruding wing ends.

Any suggestions on how to sharpen this gouge? skew the sides back from the centre?

BTW, the curved gouges from the same source are excellent so this is a bit of a letdown but I dont have $50+ ea for Pfeils...

[underfoot]

Any suggestions on how to sharpen this gouge? ...

have had the same problem with some (not so cheap) V gouges.
I ended up (carefully) grinding the first 30mm of V gouge to a uniform thickness,
ie: grind the outside to conform with the inside of the V.
then sharpen as you normally would, (which can still be a pain in the a$$)
I've sharpened my fair share of V's and they still give me grief

[Woodturnerjosh]

There is a great manual you can download from Chris Pye's website that is all about sharpening v-tool, it may be of interest to you http://chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/v1.html

if that link didn't work you can find on his website under the heading "selecting and sharpening a v-tool"
I hope there is something of value there!
Cheers
Josh

[Sebastiaan56]

Thanks Underfoot. I'll give it a try. Is it worth skewing it at the same time?

Thanks Josh, There were no pdf's downloading when i tried but I'll write him a note.

[underfoot]

Is it worth skewing it at the same time?
.

skewing , ...do you mean grinding the leading edge off the normal 90deg?
never done it myself, ....any advantages?

[Woodturnerjosh]

If by skewing you mean grinding it with the wings proud of the nose and vice-versa I do remember reading something about that. Apparently (I don't speak from experience here) if the tips of the wings are forward it can cut a crisper line cross grain in difficult timbers because the wings slice the fibres before the bulk of the cut but it makes it difficult to do a stopped cut and harder the turn. I imagine it would be the opposite for having the nose proud. I can't remember where I read this so don't quote me on any of it! ;-)
Cheers
Josh

[underfoot]

makes sense josh, might haveto try that on an old V