Once again I find myself asking for turning advice....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks....I volunteered to turn some knobs for a fellow Creeker's project. The knobs are of bubinga and I talked with the Creeker this morning. He wants the grain of the wood running perpendicular to the lathe bed...ie..as in turning a bowl......For some thing as small as 1 1/4" in diameter at the largest is there any reason I couldn't use a spindle gouge to turn these? Surely I don't have to or expect to find a very, very small bowl gouge.

Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

[Barry Stratton]

sounds like a variation of your recently SKEWed bottlestoppers.........but I'm more of a rookie than you, so what do I know????

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The stoppers I've been turning had the grain running parallel to the bed...ie end grain turning.......

[Mark Cothren]

I'd think a small spindle gouge would work good for something like this. It'll sure make some nice smooth cuts on that end grain.

[Ron Sardo]

I think it should work, give it a try.
If you mess it up, I have some bubinga I could send you.

I just made a "gouge" out of 1/4" HSS round stock. No flute, just gound flat on top and the grind is like my bowl gouge. It would be perfect for a job like this.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Appreciate the opinion guys and thanks Ron for the offer. The Creeker ordered some bubinga from Craft Supplies and I have plenty. The diameter of the cove coming off the back of the knob front sweeping down to the base is roughly 1/4". I ordered a set of Pinnacle mini tools and they should be arriving today or tomorrow. The set includes a 1/8" and 1/4" spindle gouge. I was just worried about the cross grain situation. I really believe because of the extremely small size involved that cross grain cutting with the spindle gouge shouldn't be an issue. Now I would NOT try turning a bowl with that, however. I just wanted some advice on cross grain cutting with a spindle gouge from somebody who has more turning experience than I.

[Barry Stratton]

I ordered a set of Pinnacle mini tools and they should be arriving today or tomorrow.

Okay, I got it now. You DEFINITELY need to use a small gouge. Glad to see you ordered some tools to fit your need!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

[Jim Becker]

Yes, you can use a "detail gouge" for this work. Just be careful about presentation to the workpiece as they are a bit sharper than a bowl gouge. I actually find the gouge that came with the Benjamin's Best Pen tool kit works really well for this job.