Thread: ROUGHTING GOUGES *** this may be war Talk***

Originally Posted by

It is a little bit bit of a paradox.

The larger the work, the smaller the gouge (within reason).

I use the smaller European gouge on larger stuff because it doesn't "bite" as much as the larger English type. On harder stuff it cuts better and longer.

I have no idea why this is so, just is and even Frank Pain mentions it in his book but also gives no explanation.

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Do you roll the English type gouges over on their side to get a more slicing cut, like shear scraping?

Just for fun, today I grabbed a chunk of scrap 2 inch heart pine timber that was cut out of the floor framing of our 1896 church hall and made a tool handle.

I used a 20 gauge shot gun barrel as a roughing gouge and a junk Chinese carbon 1 inch skew. No drama except when I was lowering the skew down for a planing cut, the skew touched the blank before the tool rest and I took out a little chip.

I think learning to use the skew is like learning to ride a bike. Once you learn, it stays with you.