Gouge suggestion

[Curtis Niedermier]

I want to get a gouge for carving spoons, making finger pulls in sliding box lids and other general tasks. Paul Sellers suggests a 38 mm no. 7. I was thinking of something a little smaller, about an inch wide (roughly 25mm). Any suggestions?

[Sean Hughto]

I don't think there is one magic "jack" gouge. Buy your first one with a specific task on a specific project in mind and then buy another and another as you need them. I like the pfeil's woodcraft offers. Many inexpesive vintage ones are great too. Check out eBay - there are often reasonably priced sets of user quality vintage gouges (buck, swan, and so forth).

[Pete Duffy]

I got a nice 3/4", #7 sweep Pfeil from Woodcraft for Christmas. Came really sharp, but a little honing improved it. Sometimes I will just take it and create shavings, not even trying to produce something. It is that nice, and fun to use. I'm not that into carving, but after getting this, I can see why people get into it. It will work well for spoons and such.

[Steve Friedman]

In my opinion, for spoons, nothing compares to the Hans Karlsson mini spoon gouge. Available from Drew Langsner at Country Workshops.

http://www.countryworkshops.org/gouges.html

Steve

[Warren Mickley]

I use a 5/8 #5 for sliding lids and spoons. For daintier finger pulls I use 1/2 #6.

[Mike Holbrook]

Drew Langsner at Country Workshops (link above) use to suggest three Hans Karlsson gouges for new green woodworkers: H-112 (40 mm, 90 sweep), H-133 (40 mm, 55 sweep, bent) and H-123 (35 mm, 150 sweep). I believe these three gouges provide the basics for spoons and bowls. The H-123 is for reaching the bottom of deep bowls, not needed for spoons. I believe the Mini Gouges are specific to small to medium sized spoons. The Mini gouge Drew offers is a 20mm. Woodland Craft Supplies offers the Karlsson Mini Gouges in 15 mm and 25 mm sizes.

I just got a H-112 Karlsson gouge in the mail today, waiting on a few more still in production. Very heavy duty tool that I expect will last several generations.