Gouge/Scraper?

[Mac McAtee]

I was at the local turners club meeting Tuesday night. After the meeting one of the members was talking with someone about taking an older, not used anymore, standard gouge and making a scraper out of it.

The conversation was a good way from me and I couldn't get to the guy before he left so I didn't get any details. He was saying something about turning the gouge over or upside down. Then regrinding it "the opposite side" or something like that. He was saying that using it upside down and the way it was ground made a great scraper and it was better than the tools that were made as scrapers to start with.

Anyone know the details about this little trick. If so can you discribe the grind, perhaps post a photo of the modification. Your opinion and technique for using it? Or point me to someplace I can find the above?

[Raymond Overman]

I don't know any details but I would venture that a gouge is not going to have enough mass to be an effective scraper and that the rounded profile will make it even less effective. The key to a good scraper is mass. You want as little vibration as possible which will help prevent tearout along the cutting edge. By increasing the mass of the scraper, you transfer the vibration into the tool and tool rest and dampen it, thus creating a cleaner cut.

Can making a scraper out of a gouge be done? Probably. Should it be done? Probably not.

On a side note, the concept of the gouge is to maintain contact with the bevel and supporting the wood behind the cut. Getting off the bevel makes the tool more aggressive and tries to cut too much, thus creating a catch.

[Andy Hoyt]

If used upside down the flutes would chew up a toolrest pretty good.

And the same arguement about spindle roughing gouges (trying to go with the modern nomenclature here) used on bowls also applies, espeically when one (well me, anyway) tends to let "scrapers" dangle farther off the rest than most other tools.

But..... I wonder if you could take a spindle gouge and regrind it into a shear scraper?

I just re-read this. The use of of correct and specific terminology is really critical in these discussions. Food for thought and unsettled nerves.

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Mac

I heard something about this a little while ago. People are taking gouges that have been ground down to where they are almost too short to use, flipping them upside down, and grinding a straight bevel across at whatever angle they prefer. I have not tried it myself, although I have a 1/2" bowl gouge that is an ideal candidate for the experiment.

As Andy points out, the edges of the flute would need to be handled in such a way so as not to mess up the tool rest, but I suppose that the angles generated by the rounded edge trailing away from the top could lead to some interesting shearing angles.

I just came down from the shop from turning a very punky piece of maple burl, and with techniques I am used to got it smooth enough that the "abrasive gouge" will make short work of the finishing, so I do not know how soon I would be able to get to grinding my gouge for the experiment (I'm talking motivation here), but I would be interested to hear more if you learn more.

Bill

[Mac McAtee]

Hi Mac
flipping them upside down, and grinding a straight bevel across at whatever angle they prefer.

Bill
Bill,
Do I understand correctly that you flip the tool over, like it was resting on the tool rest upside down, then instead of following the arc of the gouge you just grind the two ears back on an angle. Like. if you looked from the side, ignoring the curve shapes, just a simple chisel shape.

If you looked straight down you would see a finger nail shape on the end? If you looked from the side it would have a simple wood chisel shape?

I also have an older tool that would be a good candidate.

[Don Orr]

Check out this site. I think it may be what you are asking about.

http://www.maine-web.com/woodturning/shapeshifter/scaper.html

This has been discussed on another forum (WC) in the past. I have not tried it yet but it supposedly works real well.