Anyone else find this with thompson bowl gouges

[Andrew Derhammer]

That once you start using them on bowls you grab it even for spindle projects? I do it all the time with my 1/2" U. I'm going to have to get a detail gouge soon with the money I'm getting for mulching round the house.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Yup - just turned my first bottle stopper with a Thompson 5/8" V....... worked beautifully!

[Dan Bertenthal]

Could part of it be that the gouges you're using are beefier than your typical spindle gouge? I bought Doug's 5/8" spindle gouge and love the thing. It's rock solid.

I'm curious what advantages the deeper flutes of bowl gouges might have in certain types of spindle cuts (or in Steve's case, the v-flute). I'd imagine there might be situations where a bowl gouge profile could have advantages over the more traditional shallower flutes, though I'm personally not yet at the level of skill and intuition where I know how to think about that.

d

[Doug Thompson]

A bowl gouge can be used on a spindle and a spindle gouge can be used on a bowl with surprising results. The most popular is a spindle gouge for the finish cut inside a bowl, grab an old spindle gouge from the drawer then set your jig to about 60 degrees, create a very small micro bevel maybe a 1/16 of an inch, roll that tool over on it's side and you will see a beautiful cut. More 5/8 spindle gouges are sold to be used on bowls than spindles, Johannes uses a 1 inch diameter spindle gouge just for the inside of bowls. No SRG then grab a bowl gouge... it works.

Johannes Michelsen is known for hats but he also builds staircases in million dollar homes, his spindle tool is a bowl gouge.

A bowl gouge has a deep flute so the cutting angle will drive the tool into the tool rest to overcome the force, spindles don't create much. Why do we even need a flute... did you know a fluteless gouge is a great finish tool.

[Dewey Torres]

Yup - just turned my first bottle stopper with a Thompson 5/8" V....... worked beautifully!


I must have missed that post!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Detail gouge works great on finial's. Doug's spindle gouge works absolutely great on them.

[Jerome Hanby]

Think my wife used her v gouge to turn her first pen.

[Cody Colston]

I recently got my first Thompson bowl gouge...a 1/2" V and it works great...good value, too. However, I have been using my 1/2" Sorby and 3/8" Crown bowl gouges on spindle pieces for a while. The stiffness of the bowl gouge and the familiarity with it make me reach for it to do spindles. That applies to all bowl gouges and is not unique to the Thompson, IMHO.