is this a bowl gouge?

[cody michael]

is this a bowl gouge?

[Nathan Hawkes]

looks like a bowl gouge to me, Cody. It looks to have a straight, or traditional grind on the end. You can grind a fingernail profile with any of the commercially available (or freehand) jigs out there.

[alex carey]

certainly looks like one to me, your pictures are kind of blurry though.

[Jeff Nicol]

It is a bowl gouge with a traditional grind on it. I use one like it for lots of things. Makes nice fine finishing cuts on the outside of a bowl and works great in the bottom of bowls to make the final transition cuts that sometimes can't be made with a swept back grind.

Jeff

[ROY DICK]

I agree with the other posters.

Roy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Yep with what I call a conventional grind.

[Mike Minto]

looks kinda like a couple of those 'bigfoot' photos, to me - kinda far away and blurry - leaves interpretation up for grabs :D. mike

[cody michael]

sorry i used my phone. didn't know where camera is. okay i have the hf kit and someone said it didn't have one.is this suitable for doing the outside of a bowl? i only have this or roughing gouges, till i buy more.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Cody - this gouge will work for turning bowls but please - DO NOT use a spindle roughing gouge to turn the outside of your bowl blank. Spindle roughing gouges are not made to handle the stresses placed on them when turning bowls and have been known to snap at the tang!

[cody michael]

yeah, i know i used to use those till i found that out. so that bowl gouge will work even for roughing out a bow blank?

how big of stuff is the roughing gouge good for?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Cody - you should be able to rough out and finish your bowl using just your bowl gouge - and maybe a round scraper for touch-up inside the bottom of the bowl.

Your spindle roughing gouge is for just that - turning rough spindle stock round. How large will it comfortably handle depends on the size of your gouge and more importantly - your experience. I have spindle roughing gouges that are 1/2", 1" and 2" and usually use the 2" more than any of them when just starting to rough out a spindle.

[Bob Hallowell]

sorry i used my phone. didn't know where camera is. okay i have the hf kit and someone said it didn't have one.is this suitable for doing the outside of a bowl? i only have this or roughing gouges, till i buy more.

I have that set and I think it is a 3/8 spinde gouge. it will work for a bowl but a bowl gouge is much better. If you do use it to rough only use it on a small bowl.

Bob

[Jim Sebring]

For inexpensive HSS turning tools you might take a look at Penn State's "Benjamin's Best". I have some of the best (and most expensive!) tools on the market, but when I want to experiment with a different 'grind', I buy Benjamin's Best. The bowl gouges are in the $25 range, IRRC. They hold up pretty well.

[cody michael]

i have a 1 inch. how big of a spindle would that be safe on?

[Tony Bilello]

I am almost positive that it is a spindle gouge based on the depth and shape of the "U" cut into the steel. It is awful shallow for a bowl gouge.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Cody - something about the photo of the profile of your gouge bothered me all night. Looking at the photo again this morning - I have to change my initial opinion and agree with a couple of others here that this is a spindle gouge. I base that on the shape of the flute and searched the web until I could find something to back up this opinion.

Check this out: http://www.woodturningdesign.com/askdale/14/14.shtml

Also, I totally missed when you mentioned that you had the HF set and did not even consider that this tool was a part of that set because I have a HF set and the handles on mine are not the same color as yours. I have heard that HF offers 2 different HSS sets but have not seen the set you have. Here are both sets - please note that neither set offers a bowl gouge.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47066
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35444

That being the case - I also have the Benjamin Best 5/8" bowl gouge from Penn State and highly recommend it. http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LX230.html

[Chris Stolicky]

I think the shallowness of the flute lends itself to more of a spindle gouge, regardless of the grind.

I agree with Steve, I have the 5/8" bowl from PSI and it does hold up well. I actually tend to prefer it over my Thompson gouges when I want to make a light shearing cut.

[cody michael]

okay thanks, i'm going to buy a bb gouge when i can hopefully next payday. i just thought that might be a bowl gouge. oh well

[Scott Conners]

Cody, A 1" spindle roughing gouge should be usable on stuff to at least 4" square, and 6"-8"+ with experience. This is all very much dependant on technique and skill, so don't assume anything and turn at safe speeds and sizes you feel comfortable with. I found practicing on 3"-4" stock for spindle work was great, because you can make a set of beads or coves, and then smooth it back out with the roughing gouge or skew and start again on a slightly smaller spindle. 3 1/2" stock is easy to get 3-4 or more tries out of.