V-shaped or U-shaped Bowl Gouges

[Greg Bender]

I need some input on this question.I'm looking at the Thompson Bowl gouges and was wondering which way to go U or V shaped and why.I have a good 1/2" fingernail grind bowl gouge and was planning on buying a 5/8" gouge and a big rougher but that decision was easy.To anybody that has either ,what made you buy the one that you bought.

I guess my existing gouge is a U-shaped.Is it just deeper and a sharper radius because it does not appear to be an actual V- shape.Also ,do you sharpen them the same way?using the same setup?
Thanx,Greg

[John Keeton]

Greg, this topic was discussed on a thread here (http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1375024) just recently, and if I recall, the consensus of those that responded was the V profile. I have one and love it. I think there are other threads with similar discussions that may show up with a search.

I sharpen mine at the original angle with a wolverine jig, but I have the sides swept back pretty far, and they have a very slight convex shape when viewed from the side.

[Ryan Baker]

I definitely prefer the Thompson V shape. I do have one Thompson U that I occasionally use for finishing cuts on the bottom inside of bowls (they are good for that), but all of my other Thompsons are V shape. It is a very comfortable and versatile shape to me. Note that the Thompson V is not nearly as tight V shaped as most other manufacturer's V tools. The Thompson U is quite wide -- more of a C shape. There are some good pictures of the flute shapes on Doug's site and in this forum.