Gouge digging in

[Jim Kountz]

Well I knew it was too good to be true, I guess I got off easy with that first turning because this second one is kickin my a**!! I saw a really neat plywood turning the other day and I thought hey, I could try that. WRONG!! I glued up a big honkin blank about 10" long and 7" in diameter, slapped that puppy on the lathe and started to round it down. Well that was a chore in itself but I got it round then started to kind of cove out the middle section leaving about 1.25" at both ends. So Im in there swooping back and forth, the old gouge is just cutting away but when I get so far in it starts grabbing and digging in on the ends of my "swoops". I guess Im in about 2" at this point so theres a fairly good swell up both sides of the turning now. How come it just started this now? I got a really nice edge on the gouge and Im quite proud of my sharpening skills. When the thing does cut its a nice long curly shaving and a clean swish sound, then all the sudden, THUNK!! What am I doing wrong??

[Jim Becker]

Some gouges, due to the way the tip angle is situated have a limit in how deep you can cut at a given radius before you lose the ability to rub the bevel ...resulting in a catch. In other words, it actually could be THE TOOL! :D

[Rich Souchek]

Lotsa stuff may be going on, for you left a lot of information out of your description.
But, my guess would be the gouge you used. A good portion of roughing gouges have sharp, square corners and if the cove was deep and/or the gouge rotated slightly, one of the roughing gouge corners could have dug in and resulted ina catch.
If this is the cause, the solution would be to use the roughing gouge only for roughing out cylinders and then switch to a spindle gouge. They are made to cut coves and smooth radiuses.
Anybody around there you can get some pointers from?
Rich S.

[Jim Kountz]

Ok I see what you mean now. I held the gouge close to the workpiece and rotated it by hand watching the angle as it approached the cove area. Sure enough the corner is catching. Guess I need a spindle gouge. More tools, more money. I love it!
Thanks Jim and Rich.

[Curt Fuller]

Turning plywood is about like dropping your gouge, cutting edge first, on the concrete. A couple cuts and it's dull, resharpen, a couple more cuts and it's dull again. I guess it's the glues that are hard on the edge. But dull gouges grab and catch in any wood. A dull gouge and plywood combo would be a real rodeo.