Dennis McDonaugh
03-23-2005, 10:04 AM
I'm having a devil of a time finding a gouge which will give me the radius I need for letter carving.
I have been buying Henry Taylor chisels from Woodcraft because they are priced right and available locally. They sharpen well and seem to hold an edge a long time. The problem is Woodcraft only stocks odd number gouges. The nr. 5 gouge has too flat a radius for carving 2" letters and the nr. 7 is too tight. Sooooo I ordered a nr. 6 gouge from Ashley Isles and it's almost as tight as the number 7 Henry Taylor and doesn't work well for carving the letter O, C, Q etc.
This leads me to several questions. Shouldn't all London pattern gouges follow the same numbering system regardless of manufacturer? Also, I have three Henry Taylor nr 5 Gouges and the radius of the curve seems to flatten out as the chisels get wider. Does this seem right? And finally, does anyone know any brand of gouge which will provide approximately 1 7/8 radius circle? I'm thinking of trying an Ashley Isles nr. 5 to see if it is closer to what I need.
Thanks,
I have been buying Henry Taylor chisels from Woodcraft because they are priced right and available locally. They sharpen well and seem to hold an edge a long time. The problem is Woodcraft only stocks odd number gouges. The nr. 5 gouge has too flat a radius for carving 2" letters and the nr. 7 is too tight. Sooooo I ordered a nr. 6 gouge from Ashley Isles and it's almost as tight as the number 7 Henry Taylor and doesn't work well for carving the letter O, C, Q etc.
This leads me to several questions. Shouldn't all London pattern gouges follow the same numbering system regardless of manufacturer? Also, I have three Henry Taylor nr 5 Gouges and the radius of the curve seems to flatten out as the chisels get wider. Does this seem right? And finally, does anyone know any brand of gouge which will provide approximately 1 7/8 radius circle? I'm thinking of trying an Ashley Isles nr. 5 to see if it is closer to what I need.
Thanks,