Thread: Never send a spindle gouge to do a roughing gouge's work

Hi all,

Long time no post! Finally got some spare time to spend with the lathe on Sunday, and so decided to see what I could do with a rather large, rather square piece of black heart sassafras (thanks again, Kev!) that I'd been looking at for the last six months or so. Anyway, mounted it up, set the lathe on slow, and began the arduous task of rounding it down with my 3/8 spindle gouge (I don't currently own a roughing gouge). I also no longer own a 3/8 spindle gouge. A combination of hard, heavy timber, and me letting the gap between the toolrest and the workpiece get a bit too large (about an inch), and suddenly I found myself holding the handle of a tool snapped approximately halfway along the shaft, and with a profusely bleeding hole in the pad of my right middle finger, as well as a shallow slice in my left index finger. It would seem that there is is a reason why roughing gouges are so solid... (Oh, I did finish it, by the way, and it turned out to be one of my better pieces, although still by no means perfect - a natural edged bowl about 20 cm diameter with an inset lid of cooba, which gave a really nice contrast).