Thread: Advice on which size bowl gouge.

The thing is, you will need more than one bowl gouge. I have 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 16mm also I have two of each with different grinds on them. If you are doing small turnings to medium you will need a range because in most cases one chisel wont do the job. Trying to make one chisel do all the work will come very frustrating.
If you use a chisel that is too small for the job the thing will vibrate because you have too much overhang for the diameter of the chisel and wont cut properly. I would still go for a 12mm Stock for medium work.

The thing is, you will need more than one bowl gouge. I have 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 16mm also I have two of each with different grinds on them. If you are doing small turnings to medium you will need a range because in most cases one chisel wont do the gob. Trying to make one chisel do all the work will come very frustrating.
I

Hmm I seemto recall Richard Raffan uses 3/8 or 1/2" and two of each with different grinds for very much the same reasons as out lined here.

At the end of the day I dont think there is a definitive answer. I prefer this and somebody prefers that, theres general advice to give direction and the rest is up to personal choice plus ability etc

Originally Posted by scorpio_oz

I was looking at either a 3/8" bowl gouge( 3/8" flute made from 1/2" stock) or a 1/2" bowl gouge( 1/2" flute made from 5/8" stock).

I have a midi lathe which is limited to 300mm diameter over bed.

If you can only buy one more gouge at this stage and you won't be turning above 300mm diam bowls, then go with 3/8" flute/1/2" stock.

If, and when, you upgrade your lathe to turn beyond 300mm diam bowls add a 1/2" flute/5/8" stock gouge to your shopping list.

For what it's worth Scorpio the P&N gouges are ttremendous value for money, They are made from great quality steel and have a really good shaped flute.

Henry Taylor also makes great gouges. I have a 6mm and a 10mm HT gouge and find them excellent.

I have a number of Henry Taylor and Sorby HSS gouges. A variety of grinds gets you into lots of shapes. The 3/8 and 5/8 are my most used.

Originally Posted by robbiebgraham

The thing is, you will need more than one bowl gouge. I have 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 16mm also I have two of each with different grinds on them.

The late Bob Stocksdale is reputed to have made over 10,000 bowls using a bowl gouge and a scraper.

Google his name, he did nice work.

Originally Posted by NeilS

If you can only buy one more gouge at this stage and you won't be turning above 300mm diam bowls, then go with 3/8" flute/1/2" stock.

If, and when, you upgrade your lathe to turn beyond 300mm diam bowls add a 1/2" flute/5/8" stock gouge to your shopping list.

NeilS have a greenie - a simple answer and to the point of the OP.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Paul39

The late Bob Stocksdale is reputed to have made over 10,000 bowls using a bowl gouge and a scraper.

Google his name, he did nice work.

Yep, granted but if you have a 16mm gouge and you are doing a very small bowl it would be very difficult to say the least.
When I was doing production work I used one 16mm gouge for nearly all of spindle and bowl work and found that's all I needed and it worked for me. I used it for roughing and finishing. I did however have 6mm and 8mm for small spindle work.
We will all have different views on this one particularly because we have been shown one way or seen it in books and videos.
Robbie

Originally Posted by NeilS

If you can only buy one more gouge at this stage and you won't be turning above 300mm diam bowls, then go with 3/8" flute/1/2" stock.

If, and when, you upgrade your lathe to turn beyond 300mm diam bowls add a 1/2" flute/5/8" stock gouge to your shopping list.

When I was looking for another bowl gouge a little while back - Vermec (up your way) seemed to have the best unhandled prices for P&N - look in their general catalogue (don't look at anything else )

Originally Posted by hughie

Hmm dunno I find it 2060 no more difficult than any other of my tools to sharpen. Because it wears longer and retains the edge I find I make less trips to the grinder and grind less of my gouge away. So it saves me time and money.

If its hard to sharpen maybe the grinding wheel needs a dressing or perhaps a different grade

Interesting, I have a 2060 skew and although it is hard wearing-I reach for others when I need sharp. It can be sharpened well, just not with the traditional white wheel. The only thing that I have found to do it really well was a tormek. Mike Mahoney who was one of the people involved in the development of the tools uses it for roughing only-the "wood basher". For finishing cuts he uses m2 HSS. I love my big 2060 scraper and have no issues with it at all, however I find that the skew is not as good as the cheaper McJing equivalent and nowhere near the P&N.

To my mind it is not worth the additional money that you pay to get it. It is so much more expensive.

The 'go to' bowl gouge in my kit is a 3/8 Henry Taylor Superflute (flute size).

It has a sweet parabolic flute shape so you can hog out on the wings and also take fine finishing cuts around the tip. Steel quality is excellent.

If you were aiming to do big work then the 1/2 would be better.

I grind mine with smooth flowing ground away edges on my Tormek with the gouge jig. Easy. No corners and twice the length of cutting edge.

found the 2060 and thompson gouges good value and certainly hold an edge , and a very sharp one as well cheers Bob

Interesting, I have a 2060 skew and although it is hard wearing-I reach for others when I need sharp. It can be sharpened well, just not with the traditional white wheel. The only thing that I have found to do it really well was a tormek. Mike Mahoney who was one of the people involved in the development of the tools uses it for roughing only-the "wood basher". For finishing cuts he uses m2 HSS. I love my big 2060 scraper and have no issues with it at all, however I find that the skew is not as good as the cheaper McJing equivalent and nowhere near the P&N.

PAH1
My grinder has a fine wheel, looks like 120grit and its bit slow on 2060. But it does produce a fine edge. But then I often use my home made Carbon steel 3/8 gouge for finishing. Its made from silver steel or drill steel as its called in the USA. The edge that can be produced is very fine. So much so I looking at making couple more smaller gouges for finial work.

Ern, I have yet to get one of the Taylors its on the shopping list.