Bottom Feeder Gouges

What is the general consensus on the angle of Bottom Feeder Bowl Gouges ?

Do you use them ?
What angle do you grind them ?
Do you grind a second / micro bevel ?

Just thought I would ask your opinions and save me time & hassle.
Cheers
Col

Almost all of my bowl gouges have a 65° nose bevel angle with swept back Ellsworth style wings. I do everything with them including the inside bottom of bows.

Bottom feeder gouges range between 55° and 70° nose bevel angle. Pick a number somewhere between those two angles and try it and then adjust it from there if you think one way or the other will work better for you.

A secondary bevel will help by reducing the heel interference as you go through the transition between the sides and the bottom. I usually don't bother with that but some experienced turners are advocates of having that.

PS - there isn't a correct answer to your question, so just treat any replies as a census and go with the median of the angles recommended as your starting point...:)

I have several bowl gouges all bought with slight swept back grind. They worked fine, Then bought a used gouge with the Ellsworth grind and found that too aggressive for my level of skill - nice spiral trench on inside of bowl. I eased that back over several sharpenings.

Much later found a deal on an unhandled 3/4 inch bottom feeder ground gouge which I mounted in a big fat long handle. I did not think about sharpening it using a jig and found it near impossible to do so. So I sharpen using the flat platform, grind straight across, and ease the sharp corners at the top. It works fine on the inside and outside of the bowl.

People have been using bowl gouges with traditional grind for a while before the swept back, Ellsworth, Irish, grind.

There are many paths to the same place. Use whatever is comfortable and works for you. Also give whatever you try enough time to get used to, and competent with it. For me it takes about 20 hours in front of the lathe.

I have never measured or ground to angles, My first bowl gouge was a new Crown and I kept sharpening to the same angle. The rest of them went in the same jig and get to about the same angle. As long as the tool hogs off timber and leaves a nice surface, I'm happy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paul39

There are many paths to the same place. Use whatever is comfortable and works for you. Also give whatever you try enough time to get used to, and competent with it.

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Yes and yes!

But, if it is not working for you after a reasonable time try something different. It can be hard to unlearn an entrenched practice.

This raises the benefit of learning from someone who is already competent. At least you start with a technique that works.

< Ramble on>

And, if you consider yourself already competent, remain open to learning from other competent turners. We can all learn something new or better. Just watch a dozen of the best turners in the world when they come together; they acknowledge and observe each other closely.

Tip: The next time you are watching a highly competent turner and say to yourself, I've seen all that before, stop looking at the tool and their hands and concentrate on their feet, hips and elbows. You may learn something invaluable that could improve your practice. An expert has put in at least a thousand hours of practise that has become deep seated in their bodies and maneuvers. On such occasions I position myself level with and facing the same direction or behind them.

< Ramble off>

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I just recently ground a gouge to a very steep (can't remember the angle, but might have been as much as 80) bottom feeder angle - only used it on one bowl so far, but was very happy with it for that.

Interestingly found the above-mentioned bottom feeder gouge was really good for a different task - trying to fine-tune an ogee curve on the outside of a bowl.

Definitely going to keep one of these around. May even grind a smaller chisel this way as well!

Thanks for your replies & advice.
ATM re-setting up my grinding assembly using the Woodcut jig.
Will be trying it out soon
Col

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rtyuiop

bottom feeder gouge was really good for a different task .... outside of a bowl.

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Some turners like to do the final cut on the outside of their bowls with a bottom feeder ground gouge US using a shear cut. They roll the gouge onto its side and cut at the tip.

Others use a Continental gouge for this in the same way.

Stuart Batty uses a straight push cut to do all stages of his bowls. See how high he has to hold his elbow to do that. My shoulder and elbow are too decrepit to do that anymore.

I drop the handle of my gouges with a swept back grind right down and do the final shear cut with the wings of the gouge. As I do all of my bowl turning outboard I have plenty of room in which to do that unimpeded by the lathe bed.

My back also prefers me to turn outboard... : ~}