Beads with bowl gouge?

[Steve Stack]

Hey all, new here and new to turning. My question is can you turn beads with a bowl gouge? Other than the depth of the channel or groove, what is the practical differences between a spindle and bowl gouge? I know it must be simple for ya'll but I'm clueless. Thanks, Steve

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Steve,

I'd have a hard time doing beads with my bowl gouges just because the angle at the tip is so much closer to 90º than the angle on my spindle gouges. The steeper angle would make it more difficult to make that rolling motion needed to form a bead.

If, I reground the angle on the nose of the gouge, I can't imagine why I could not turn a bead with it.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Use a skew?

Get the DVD Skew, Dark side and light by Alan Lacer. He makes it look eeeeasy. I would imagine that you would have a hard time getting 2 small beads really close together with a gouge. Not that I can make them with a skew either.:eek: Mine look like errors.

I use sandpaper to make mine. I sort of rough them with the skew. Then sand to dimensions. :o

[John Keeton]

Steve, I assume you are talking about face turning vs. spindle turning.

I have made larger beads with a bowl gouge, but I use a detail gouge for most of the smaller ones. Angle of attack and tool rest height are critical. Seems I have better luck if my point of contact is at center or just a little above. In my limited experience, there is a much greater tendency for the tool to skate vs. spindle turning.

[David Warkentin]

Welcome to the forum, Steve.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Steve - Welcome to the Creek!

The biggest difference between spindle and bowl gouges is the amount of steel in the tool. The spindle gouge uses a tang to insert into the handle and the bowl gouge extends into the handle as a solid rod. The bowl gouge is designed to withstand the rotational forces you encounter when turning facegrain orientation - which is both facegrain and endgrain on each revolution of your bowl. The spindle gouge is not deigned for that kind of punishment and can break when used to turn a bowl.

[Thom Sturgill]

Sorry Steve, I have to disagree with you - sort of.
What are sometimes called European gouges or German gouges are forged from flat stock and have a tang. Think smaller roughing out gouges with less arc.

English style and American style spindle gouges are made from round stock just like bowl gouges except that the flute is shallower. English and American styles differ in how we measure the size, and spindle gouges are normally ground to a sharper angle than bowl gouges. There is not much difference between a 'detail gouge' used for bowl turning and a spindle gouge other than the grind. Thompson lathe tools has some good side-by-side pictures (http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/products.asp) to illustrate the differences. He also produces some of the best tools on the market.

[Steve Stack]

Thanks for the welcome from all and the advice. A friend of mine gave me a Shopsmith recently and I'm trying to learn how to turn wood. Took a class at the local Woodcraft and reallt enjoyed it. Unfortunately this looks to be one of those expensive freebies so I'm trying to figure what I have to have and what may do double duty so far as turning tools. I'm just starting so any and all advice is trully appreciated. Again, thanks, Steve

[Steve Schlumpf]

You are correct! For some reason I was thinking about the recurring issue of new folks using a roughing gouge on bowls.

Steve - please disregard my post!

[Mark Levitski]

I use a detail gouge for beads on my bowl exteriors. Some of these beads are very small. I learned the basics from Raffan's book, Turning Wood, then practiced a lot. If it was spindle turning I'd lean towards the skew for this, but for bowls a spindle or detail gouge works well. Better than a scraper or parting tool--cleaner cut, less sanding.

There IS a difference in the spindle vs. detail gouges. Flute on the detail is shallower and there is more steel under the cutting edge for greater support. Grinds are pretty similar, with a less steep bevel and sharper "point".

Bowl gouge for doing this? Huh, never tried it, but would certainly require the + or - 30 degree bevel instead of the average 60 degree to get the nose of the cutting edge into the groove between the beads. Just get another gouge. It's natural now that you are sucked into the swirling funnel cloud.

[Donny Lawson]

Steve, what part of the country are you from? Try looking for a local woodturners club near where you live.There is probally one there.I didn't think I had one but a little searching and sure enough there is one here too.I joined last month and I think it's going to be great. We meet once a month and you can learn alot from them. Besides at $20.00 a year you cannot go wrong.:)
Donny

[Bernie Weishapl]

Steve it helps a lot if you put where you are located. It makes it easier for people to help. I would look and see if you have a woodturning group near you and join. You will get lots of info.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I use a 3/8 spindle gouge to turn beads on my bowls. As a beginner I would suggest that you practice on a roughed out bowl first. Because you will be dealing with long and short grain as the bowl turns the point of the gouge has a tendency to skate. I would advise taking the point of a skew and marking a small "V" grove where the bead will be placed. This will help to provide a starting point. The grove will allow the wood chip to escape. Don't try to take too big of a cut. Turn the bead in progressive cuts working back toward the largest circumference. Cut the bead using the point of the gouge. but don't let the upper side of the point catch the newly formed bead. The bowl also needs to be completely sanded before the bead is turned. That way all that will be needed to sand is the bead and you won't be sanding them away . Remember practice on something that is dispensable.

[Peter Fabricius]

Annother very interesting discussion. Thom you posted a link to Thompson tools and an illustration of the Vari-Grind attachment. I see all this but, I have been trying to get a good fingernail grind on my 5/8" bowl gouge.
The Doug Thompson illustration shows the leg in position #4 to achieve the grind used by Doug. I have been using leg position #2 eg; the nose of my gouge is considerably higher than shown by Doug.
Any suggestions from anyone?
Thanks
Peter F.