How to sharpen a gouge?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I was given my first gouge, a 1/2" Greenlee; Thank you Steve!


I wanted to sharpen this thing on my Tormek, so I purchased the Tormek SVS-38 short tool jig (newer version of the SVS-32).

The directions (from Tormek) tell me that I should first blunt the tip and that the shoulders should be square / flush with the sharp part.... Now, a few pictures.

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So, if I blunt the end, I need to grind to about the red line as seen below
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Does this sound right? Is this what I want for this type of gauge? I know, what will I do with it? Answer, I don't know yet, but I want to sharpen this thing before I use it, it kind of needs it....


If I blunt the end, I will just fire up my grinder and blunt it, then throw it onto my Tormek and sharpen it.... I will use some sandpaper on a 1/2" dowel to manually deal with the inside of the gouge.

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Andrew,
you'd likely get more answers if this was moved to the Neander forum, but in my experience, yes you have the right idea. The "nosed" shape of the gouge's tip comes from repeated hand-honing while not focusing on the blade's movement on the stone (it happens quickly with thinner carving gouges). It looks like you'll have a decent 25-30 degree bevel if you grind the tip square (blunt, as you say) then regrind the bevel from the new edge to where it ends now.

With these thicker "bench gouges" I find they do well with a thinner 25 degree bevel, especially if you're paring as well as using the mallet. Some like the toughness of a 30 or 35 degree bevel, but I find that makes the gouge cut less smoothly. My Greenlee bench chisels and gouges are all some tough alloy that doesn't rust easily - like a vanadium blend or something- and they're also less chippy and can take a shallower angle.

As far as orientation, some like to grind the bevel with the tool in line with the grinding wheel to get a concave bevel (as many turners do)- I prefer a flat bevel since I hone with a flat disc grinder (Veritas MkII) so when I am doing initial shaping/ repair grinding, I grind with the tool perpendicular to the wheel and at the correct angle to get close to the final bevel but with a flat bevel. I hope that makes sense. Some writers recommend using the side of the wheel for this - it depends on how smooth your wheel is and how your tool rests allow you to work. I always finish whetting on oilstones, going side to side in a straight line along the stone. For a gouge like this I would not add an inside bevel (to me, that's only good for carving gouges).
good luck,
Karl

[Jim Ritter]

The geometry of that edge looks like it's a lathe tool. Can we see the handle?
Jim

[Karl Andersson]

Jim,
just to keep things moving, the first little skinny picture shows that it's a socket gouge, not intended as a turning tool but could have been used that way. The wooden handle has a leather washer for striking, apparently.

[george wilson]

Yes,you need to first grind the end square,as drawn. I have an old Sears grinder,with 2 piece tool rests. I can get exceedingly clean,accurate gouge regrinds by extending the tool rests way out in front. Then,catch them on a small "C" clamp,or against the bolster(which you don't have,so use the C clamp method ). When I grind for a few seconds and replace the gouge,with the clamp against the tool rest,the wheel fits the bevel perfectly every time. Makes a "seamless" nice,perfect bevel all around the edge.

Most grinders these days have only one piece tool rests,and are not nearly as useful. My old,flat face Sears grinders look ugly,but are really quite good compared to the import stuff these days,and designed a lot better.

I don't know if you can rig up a rest for your Tormek to work in a similar way. If you can,it's a trick well worth knowing.

[Jim Ritter]

Right you are Karl, somehow I missed that pic all together. Carry on.
Jim

[Andrew Pitonyak]

The geometry of that edge looks like it's a lathe tool. Can we see the handle?
Jim

If you expand the first image, it shows the handle, which looks like very similar to the handles on my old stanley socket chisels....

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Thanks for the feedback.... I will see if I can give this a go today or tomorrow, or I need to wait until next year...

George, I am having trouble visualizing what you are saying. I have a slow/medium speed grinder with a horrid tool rest on it. It will certainly work for grinding the tip to be flat / perpendicular to the face.

I have a special jig for the Tormek which should allow me to get the angle right....

[Jim Koepke]

A few of my gouges came like the one in the OP's post. If they are of a size already ground straight they have been kept as is.

My only thought is if it was on purpose, maybe some have tried to use them like skewed gouge when cutting in to a piece.

jtk