george wilson
09-15-2010, 6:09 PM
This is a quick and dirty set of graduated special purpose gouges I made for quickly stamping out the beginnings of spirals.
They were easy to make. I just drilled holes in drill rod,formed the outsides of the gouges and the bolsters,and ground and filed them in half to make them into gouges.
You could make these on your wood lathe if it runs slowly enough to not heat up the drill rod until it suddenly hardens. I think about 200 RPM or less would be o.k.. I suggest W1 drill rod for these if you are using a wood lathe,as it will be the hardest to cause it to accidentally harden while drilling it.
The largest gouge is only 1/2" outside dia. All you need is a tail stock chuck held in the headstock(a 1/2" chuck,of course). You could just file the outside shape of the gouges with a bastard file,followed by a fine file as the gouges rotate.
I haven't polished these except on the outside. I left the tempering colors on the gouges.
The diameter of these range from 1/2" to about 1/16". You would have to buy a selection of drill rods if you are doing this with a wood lathe. With a metal lathe,you can just turn the drill rod down as you go smaller. The thickness of the gouge's walls is about 3/64".
Their mahogany handles are their best feature,but they are quite sharp,and handy for their purpose. I made them on my special automatic tuning peg lathe that I took months to build from scratch- blocks of steel and brass.
When making small carvings,like on the stock of a flintlock rifle,or anything small,these can be used to stamp out spirals efficiently and accurately. Then,carve them out 3 dimensional like a violin scroll.
I WAS HASTY IN STAMPING the sample spiral. I took a lot of pictures today,and my back was killing me.
You get the idea,though. Please excuse this,and my other bad photography. I have a small Canon. The button is hard to push,and I always shake the camera when I push it.
They were easy to make. I just drilled holes in drill rod,formed the outsides of the gouges and the bolsters,and ground and filed them in half to make them into gouges.
You could make these on your wood lathe if it runs slowly enough to not heat up the drill rod until it suddenly hardens. I think about 200 RPM or less would be o.k.. I suggest W1 drill rod for these if you are using a wood lathe,as it will be the hardest to cause it to accidentally harden while drilling it.
The largest gouge is only 1/2" outside dia. All you need is a tail stock chuck held in the headstock(a 1/2" chuck,of course). You could just file the outside shape of the gouges with a bastard file,followed by a fine file as the gouges rotate.
I haven't polished these except on the outside. I left the tempering colors on the gouges.
The diameter of these range from 1/2" to about 1/16". You would have to buy a selection of drill rods if you are doing this with a wood lathe. With a metal lathe,you can just turn the drill rod down as you go smaller. The thickness of the gouge's walls is about 3/64".
Their mahogany handles are their best feature,but they are quite sharp,and handy for their purpose. I made them on my special automatic tuning peg lathe that I took months to build from scratch- blocks of steel and brass.
When making small carvings,like on the stock of a flintlock rifle,or anything small,these can be used to stamp out spirals efficiently and accurately. Then,carve them out 3 dimensional like a violin scroll.
I WAS HASTY IN STAMPING the sample spiral. I took a lot of pictures today,and my back was killing me.
You get the idea,though. Please excuse this,and my other bad photography. I have a small Canon. The button is hard to push,and I always shake the camera when I push it.