Creekers and their gouges

[Chris Colman]

Survey question.

What size gouges do you all use?

I am just getting started and am only a hobby turner, so I am still using many of the old carbon steel spindle tools my father used.

I have some new HSS tools, but only a 3/8 bowl gouge, Ellsworth type grind. I use that sucker for everything.... probably many things it should not be used for. It is my go-to tool. Spindle turning, shear scraping, roughing, etc.

My lathe is 12 inch swing, so I stay with smaller turnings, and have only begun experimenting with green wood roughings.

Would I benefit from a larger bowl gouge? And where would I see the difference? What size should I try next? 1/2"?

Please advise.

[bob svoboda]

Chris. I have 3 3/8 bowl gouges with different grinds and flutes for most of my bowl work. I also have a 1/2 that I use mainly for roughing. I think a 3/8 would serve you very well.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm a beginner too... But am doing a fair amount of green wood bowls these days:

My go-to is the 1/2" bowl gouge. The 3/8" is good for small things, details, and finish cuts. But I find the 1/2" the most versatile.

For larger hollowing, and bringing things into round, I find the 5/8" gouge to be very useful.

If I were you, I'd prob get a 1/2" bowl gouge. Having overground my 1st 1/2", I'm thinking to replace mine with a Thompson.

I also find a round nose scraper useful for finishing cuts and smoothing transitions.

[Roger Chandler]

The 3/8 gouge with the side grind is a very versatile tool. I use it a lot! When I hog out a bowl of some size, I go to the 1/2" and it has seen a lot of use as well, but when you want to get a little finer detail, the I go with the 3/8.

I also have a 3/4 with the u shaped flute, and have not had occasion to use it much yet, as lately most of what I have turned is small. When I get to some bowls with some of the bigger wood I have, that sucker with be put through its paces.

[Art Kelly]

1/2" bowl and spindle. Both fingernail grind. Considering another 1/2" bowl gouge with side grind. If I had a bigger-than-12" lathe, I might consider larger gouges, but these seem adequate.

Art

[Tony De Masi]

I use two different 1/2 bowl gouges with two different grinds. Just be aware if you are going to look for one that some companies measure their gouges in different ways. Some measure the OD of the tool itself as 1/2 inch and some measure the inside of the flute as 1/2 inch. Obviously the ones that measure 1/2 inside the flute will give you more heft in the shaft.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Two 3/8" bowl gouges each with a different grind (swept back & conventional) and two 1/2" bowl gouges with different grinds like the first two.

[Scott Hackler]

Whew...

I have a:

3/4" spindle gouge for rounding spindle stock.
1/2" bowl gouge for roughing out
3/8" bowl gouge, fingernail grind for final cuts
3/8" bowl gouge, radically swept back grind for cutting inside for thinning walls and detail work
3/8" detail gouge (Thompson) for detail and small spindle work
3/8" spindle gouge with a radical swept back grind for finial and detail work
1/8" bowl gouge with a radical swept back grind for detail work on finial tips (work in the 1/16" range)

I have others but right now they are concidered spares! :)

[steven carter]

I have a 1/2" Crown Pro PM and Pinnacle 3/8" both with fingernail grind, and a Sorby 1/2" traditional grind.

[Mark Hubl]

Chris,

I have a bunch of gouges now. If I had it to do all over I would have started with my Crown Pro PM 1/2 Ellsworth. I use a couple of smaller gouges for tight spots. This is a goto tool. Because of the grind you can use this tool for lot's.

[Reed Gray]

There are two advantages to bigger gouges. One is you can reach out farther off the tool rest. Not necessary to have a long reach, but it can come in handy some times. The other is you can put more steel onto/into the wood at one time. This means you can rough out faster if you have a motor that will handle the load. With a 12 inch lathe, you probably don't need that much heavy metal. That being said, on the slippery slope, what does need have to do with it?

robo hippy

[Nathan Hawkes]

Reed pretty much said it all. I would add that the more gouges that you have ready, the less frequent the trips will be to the grinder for sharpening.:D I am turning on a much larger machine; a Powermatic with 20" swing, and turn mostly larger natural edge pieces. You can turn a bowl with two tools--a fingernail grind bowl gouge and a scraper in whatever shape you like for making a tenon. I hate stopping to sharpen, so I have amassed lots of bowl gouges!! I have (2) 3/4" gouges, one brand new, not even a handle on it yet, three 5/8" gouges, two 1/2" gouges, as well as a 3/8" gouge for smaller work, but can pretty much get into anything with a 1/2" gouge. Why so many? Well, I've added them over time as one got shorter & less balanced, didn't hang over the tool rest enough, etc. Each now has its own use--the big ones have extra large diameter handles, one extra long as well, and are for exterior & interior heavy cuts, different grinds on each. The 5/8" ones all have different grinds as well--1 for general interior use, 1 in a very aggressive, swept back celtic grind which is my go-to gouge, then 1 in a traditional grind for interior finish cuts on the lower 1/2 of bowls, as well as a 1/2" in the same, and a 1/2" in a swept grind. I can pull a 3/4" or longer shaving 1/8" thick with a 5/8" gouge, but the 3/4" gouges do it with a little less effort and a little less vibration. A 1/2 or 3/8" gouge can make all the cuts a larger gouge can, just much more slowly and with less stability. A 3/4" gouge can't get into all the places that a 3/8" gouge can. Finesse with bowl gouges, or any turning tool for that matter, doesn't come from having lots of them--good tool control comes with time and practice. I started out with a "basic set" consisting of a "continental" spindle gouge, a 1/2" bowl gouge, round scraper, pointed scraper, and a skew (which I promptly made into a scraper). You can spend $1000's very easily on turning tools!! Trust me!!;)

[Jeff Nicol]

Well the other day I had a new aquaintence in the shop to get some turning blanks and he said that I had "MORE TOOLS THAN GOD!" So that must mean that I have a lot of them. I have everything from 1/4" bowl gouges to 5/8" bowl gouges with just about every grind you can think of. I have 10-15 spindle gouges and they are the sme thing from 1/4" up to about 1" wide ones. Some are new some are old, but most of them get used at one time or another, with 3 lathes I have tools at each one, but I make a lot of my hollowing and specialty tools so that is why I have so many of them.

One can never have to many turning tools!

Jeff

[Chuck Stone]

God called. He wants his tools back. :p


I'm a hobby turner too, so I didn't learn the 'proper' way to use tools..
that being said, my 'go-to' is a 3/4" roughing gouge, sharpened on the
wings so that I can use them like a skew. If sharpened well, I can go
right to 320 to start sanding.
Of course, this won't do for any sort of detail work..

[Wally Dickerman]

I have a number of gouges of all sizes and I use them all. Most of the time it's a 1/2 inch gouge though. (That's UK size..it's actually 5/8 in. dia.)

In my beginners bowl classes I often let a newbie try a 3/8 in. and a 1/2 in. gouge to help them decide what size to buy. Most of the time they pick the larger one. I agree with their choice.

Wally

[Rick Robbins]

Today Got my first custom Tool's. i Got the D-WAY Spindle Gouges 3/8 and 1/2 Got a 8 and 12 inch aluminum Handle. i have been using Sorby i Have 4 easy Carbide Tool's i love. Rick

[Thom Sturgill]

+1 on Reed's comment
Bowl gouges:
I have 3 - 5/8" Two are Ellsworth grinds and the other is a Thompson U
2 - 1/2" My 'go to' bowl gouge is a Thompson 'Jimmy Clewes' gouge. I also have a Pro-PM with a conventional grind
1 - 3/8" the small 'Jimmy Clewes' gouge
I also have the Benjamin's Best pair of bowl scrapers and recently added the 1/2" thick Sorby inside bowl scraper and plan to buy the other 2 1/2" scrapers they sell.
1 - 1 1/4"x 3/8" Hamlet skew ground in a Lacer pattern.
Numerous specialty and spindle gouges, but i am assuming you are primarily interested in bowl turning.

[David Pearson]

I use a Thompson 5/8 V gouge for pretty much everything. I have a 1/4 Thompson detail gouge for the tight places. I've been thinking about trying out a 1/2 V.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Survey question.

What size gouges do you all use?

I am just getting started and am only a hobby turner, so I am still using many of the old carbon steel spindle tools my father used.

I have some new HSS tools, but only a 3/8 bowl gouge, Ellsworth type grind. I use that sucker for everything.... probably many things it should not be used for. It is my go-to tool. Spindle turning, shear scraping, roughing, etc.

My lathe is 12 inch swing, so I stay with smaller turnings, and have only begun experimenting with green wood roughings.

Would I benefit from a larger bowl gouge? And where would I see the difference? What size should I try next? 1/2"?

Please advise.

Chris it depends, like in so many cases, it makes a lot of difference if you are going to make a Goblet or a 12" deep bowl, also the lathe you use, a 1/2 HP lathe will not like you to stick a 3/4" bowl gouge in a block of dry Hickory.
and so yes the type of wood you turn makes also a difference.

So there is no simple answer really, I like to turn larger bowls and my go to bowl gouge for both rouging the outside and inside is a 5/8" bowl gouge with a regular grind on it.

Now turning birdhouse ornaments and the go to becomes a 3/8" spindle gouge and 1/4" skew.

All these measurements are N American as opposed to English, the English use the flute as the measurement, while the rest of the world goes by the shaft size.

If you can afford it get a good 1/2" gouge and see if that works, the bigger gouges are usually easier to use than the smaller ones, unless you have to do some detail works.

[Jake Helmboldt]

What size gouges do you all use?


Would I benefit from a larger bowl gouge? And where would I see the difference? What size should I try next? 1/2"?

Please advise.

All of them. Seriously, as others have noted you can have the same gouge with a different grind, so yes, you can certainly benefit. But it isn't necessary. Also, as others have noted, there are two different sizing standards, so no telling what some have suggested. The American sizing is the diameter of the bar, whereas the British sizing is the width of the flute. I think Wally clarified that it gives you about a 1/8" difference so a 1/2 Brit gouge is a 5/8 American. 3/8 Brit is 1/2 American, etc. That said, I use the following:

1/2 Thompson U - more sweep than the stock grind, gives a longer bevel for getting into some tighter areas. U seems to give a cleaner, finer back cut (flute almost upright, as a finish cut)

two 5/8 Sorby with fingernail grind - sized by Sorby as 1/2", it is a V flute. I just turned the handle for the second and plan to put an Ellsworth grind on it. The other is the standard Sorby fingernail grind with a moderate sweep.

3/8 Ben's Best with a V flute - nice for finer delicate cuts and getting into tight spots, but not very useful for bowls over about 6".

1/2 Ben's Best spindle gouge which I use for a variety of things including some roughing pull cuts on bowls (since it is a cheaper gouge) and getting into tight areas like a tennon or bowl foot (and of course spindles).

3/8 Sorby detail gouge. For the details, naturally.

3/4 spindle roughing gouge. Nuff said.

I used to use the 1/2" most of the time but the 5/8 is my go to for most bowls right now since I'm doing some 16" bowls and larger. But they all do different things...I would certainly suggest getting a 1/2" gouge. I think you will find it more versatile than the 3/8.