Thread: Another tool identification question.

Artful

That one has me stumped!

One thought is that it might be the replaceable tip that Teknatool brought out under the HiTURN brand in the early eighties.

I can see that screw snapping off or stripping out, but the shattered gouge tip is a surprise if it was a commercial production. HSS steel has to be very poorly tempered for it to do that unless it was hit quite hard against something that was harder, like a hardened rod on top of a tool rest.

Looks like a tool that was made in Melbourne a few years back for beginners, cant remember who or what. The original just had a slot cut into HSS by the look of it a 4" grinder, not a detachable tip this must be an upgrade. I made one for myself worked
ok havent seen for while might have given it away

Thanks for the reply Neil, to me the tool reeks of the eighties so you are probably on the right track.
You would have thought the allen screw would have broken before the damage happened on the tip. It certainly did not break from hitting any metal. The celery top had lots of knots where smaller branches came off it and I guess I was working it quite hard, that said though you would not expect a break like that. The guy who owned the tool before me had ground it to his taste and I think every one has their own ideas regarding a good grind.
If I cant find another tip it is no big tragedy as the tool was $40 second hand and still has a bit of life left in it.
If you or anyone else have any suggestions about what the best available big (bigger the better) roughing gouge one can get I would be all ears.

That looks familiar, but I can't say why. Possibly it's one of the tools I've inherited from elsewhere that for one reason or another I've never used. I have buckets of the damned things.

The label also looks really familiar.

For some reason the first thought to pop into my head was 'The Woodsmith' from Lusher Rd(?) in Croydon, Vic, when the old bloke still ran the business, before his son took over. I could be mistaken, but I'll have to check some of my old polishes, etc. to see if any still have his label on 'em.

A bit of a stretch, but have a look at https://www.thewoodworks.com.au They sell (or used to sell) woodturning equipment. Might be worth a phone call, their website only mentions a shaft for a replacement tip gouge. I remember visiting their showroom 20 plus years ago when they were at Moorebank in Sydney and they had quite a selection of turning tools and equipment on display.

Hope this is of some help,

Alan...

Originally Posted by Uncle Al

A bit of a stretch, but have a look at https://www.thewoodworks.com.au They sell (or used to sell) woodturning equipment. Might be worth a phone call, their website only mentions a shaft for a replacement tip gouge. I remember visiting their showroom 20 plus years ago when they were at Moorebank in Sydney and they had quite a selection of turning tools and equipment on display.

Hope this is of some help,

Alan...

Thanks Alan. That shop used to be near where I lived in Sydney back in the day.
Leon Sadubin had a workshop out the back and made some mighty fine stuff.

That was Meadowbank not Moorebank.
The original shop was on Pennant Hills Rd Thornleigh, that’s where Leon made furniture.
Leon sold the business to Mike Jeffries who moved it to Meadowbank, he now runs it from Bayview.
Mike is/was a woodturner so it might be worth giving him a shout.
H.

I reckon its an early version of the Woodcut (NZ) replaceable tip bowl gouge.

Edit - I've sent an email to Terry Scott in NZ to ask if he can confirm that. The milling and design of the replaceable tip suggests Woodcut to me as I have the glue in tip versions.

Originally Posted by artful bodger

If you or anyone else have any suggestions about what the best available big (bigger the better) roughing gouge one can get I would be all ears.

The best authority I know on working big stuff like that is Ian Robinson (aka Retired). He prefers a continental style roughing gouge for that as he explains in the following video. Note the steel handle which he has welded onto the gouge to replace the flimsy tang and to provide a longer handle....

Turning logs. - YouTube

The SRGs that most of us use have a U flute profile and is like the last one that he uses in the video. The one that he is using to do most of the roughing down work is more open and closer to a Continental or German gouge.

The terminology used to describe SRG profiles can be confusing, so just look at what uses and find the nearest equivalent.

Edit: No! saw another view of the following, from end-on, and it's not open enough.... so disregard the following.... Something like this one welded to a metal pipe to replace the handle and the flimsy tang look like what Ian is using to rough down that large log in the video.

Needs to be more like the one on the left than the right...

SRG flute styles.jpg

Something more like this one (BTW not mine) but not sure where you would get one like that from now...

Open SRG.jpg

Originally Posted by clear out

That was Meadowbank not Moorebank.
H.

Oops, I had a clear mental picture of the shop and streetscape but certainly got the spelling wrong!

Thanks for the interesting history of the shop.

Alan...

Not the Woodsmith, my memory led me astray. I found one of Len's old labels and it doesn't match.

I do know that label, though, and it irks me to no end that I can't place it.

I contacted Terry Scott (Timberly NZ) and he agrees its a Woodcut early version - or possibly a Teknatool as they had a similar tool for a while. Looking at the remnants of the label I still reckon its a Woodcut.

Terry suggested boring the end of the tool shaft to take the current Woodcut replacement tips.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

I contacted Terry Scott (Timberly NZ) and he agrees its a Woodcut early version - or possibly a Teknatool as they had a similar tool for a while. Looking at the remnants of the label I still reckon its a Woodcut.

Yes, I also thought it a possibility that it might be the one that Teknatool brought out for a time under the HiTurn brand. The label on the handle has probably been added by the retailer.


Anyways.... what a bunch of 'wallys' we are... if all else fails, do a search of past threads on the forum... the answer was already provided by Wooodwork Wally...

Teknatool gouge

Thank you Mobyturns for going to the trouble of asking for me. The solution of drilling out the shaft to take the newer spigot and loctite type tips makes sense if you had a metal lathe. I wonder how you would go just drilling it out with hand held drill?. It seems a bit of an agricultural way to go about it, but I guess if you made a meal of it you could also put in a grubscrew as well.

Neil, that was an interesting youtube link to turning a log. I did not know what a continental style gouge was till I saw that video, then I realised I already owned one. This one is a beauty, it is 1 inch and 9/16 wide. It works an absolute treat when roughing down square sectioned blanks and as mentioned it can cut just like a skew chisel. I bought this one in 1980/81 from "The Woodturning Centre", which used to be in Mosman in Sydney. It really needs a longer handle for the log type blanks. A job that is on my list of things to do. With knotty logs I have found the one I am looking for a new tip for (this thread) works a bit easier than my continental style one for initial roughing. You can take as deep a cut but there is less tool to wood contact to deal with.
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