Thompson bowl gouge help

[David Wilhelm]

I'm looking hard at getting a bowl gouge. I'm going by the board chatter and love the fact that they are US made. I need your help Thompson owners. I think I'll get a 5/8s just because i've got a 1/2" Sorby already. I do not understand the Uand V shape thing. What are the advantages? Also Do you guys/gals keep the Thompson grind or change the grind to what?? Bottom line if you think I need to know something tell me. I'm turning with a 1442 so RPMs are an issue so I don't like very large bowls. Thanks for any input..... Will

[Gordon Seto]

Bill Grumbine did a full day demo with several projects for our Club last November. All he used was one 5/8" "V" Thompson bowl gouge, a parting tool and 1 cut with a detail gouge. His bowl turning dvd "Turned Bowl Made Easy" can be served as gouge using instruction. The grind from Doug is usable out of the package. Give it a trial first before changing it.

Sorby is using British standard on measuring bowl gouge sizes. Thompson is using the American standard measurement as Oneway and P&N.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/woodturners/Images/tool_selection.pdf

Bowl Gouges- are measured by the width of the flute. Add 1/8" diameter to the flute size and you will have the diameter of the round stock.
Exceptions- Oneway Mastercut tools are measured by the diameter of the round stock.

[Jim Becker]

Just one note, the 5/8" Thompson may be the exact same physical size as the 1/2" Sorby. Such is the case with my two 5/8" Crown Ellsworth gouges and the 1/2" Sorby I have ground in a similar way. Some vendors measure via the round stock size; some measure across the flute.

[Allen Schmid]

David,
You are asking all the right questions, as I too am looking to make the same purchase. I have heard many good things about the Thompson bowl gouge but really was/am unsure about the v/u shaped comparison. I will be interested in these and other responses.
Allen

[Doug Thompson]

Gordon and Jim are right this is American standard by the diameter of the steel.

I see some people that only use a U shape and some a V. The Sorby and Ellsworth are parabolic (oval) which is basicly a V shape.

IMO - try a V shape tool and keep the grind because it works very well. If you don't like it for any reason I buy it back.

This is from the FAQ's on the site.

V Shape or U Shape that is the question!
If you ask 100 people the same question you’ll get 101 different answers. I prefer a V shape because the V shape flute can be very aggressive when roughing especially on green wood. When you need to remove a lot of stock when roughing a bowl or turning a hat where 99% of the blank ends up as shavings the V shape is the only way to go. The small nose radius is not grabby when entering a cut and can be used to create details. Because the wings tend to be longer on a V shape tool scraping is easily done on the outside of a bowl. In the past a V shape flute was known to clog with shavings, the design of this flute was changed so it doesn’t happen.

The U shape flute has some strong points especially when turning dry wood. The large nose radius allows the tool to shear the wood which is good to prevent tear out, the finish cut inside a bowl or long sweeping curves outside a turning are just two examples where this tool excels.

[Reed Gray]

I have the 5/8 U shaped Thompson gouges, and just ordered the 5/8 V shaped gouges (along with a couple of scrapers, and a skew). I like these gouges better than anything I have ever used. They really do retain a sharp edge better. When I got the U gouges, I noticed that they are broader than other U shaped gouges that I have. I have a friend who got one of the V shaped gouges, and it is broader than the Glaser V gouge that I have. I prefer the Thompson design because it is a bit broader, and won't clog up as much. It is about half way between the Glaser and my other U gouges. I am still getting used to the Thompson U shaped gouges. I sharpened them in my Ellsworth jig. The only change that made, was to make the angle about 1 degree more pointy. I do like that I have to make my own handles, so they will fit my hands.

robo hippy

[Dave Stoler]

I bought a 1/2in V shaped bowl gouge from Mr Thompson saturday and had the pleasure of meeting him.The gouge works flawlessly and seeing the hats he makes with this same gouge was inspireing !

[Gordon Seto]

I bought a 1/2in V shaped bowl gouge from Mr Thompson saturday and had the pleasure of meeting him.

At our last Club meeting NCWT.org (http://ncwt.org/) , we had multi stations set up with a variety of tools - Elbo captive hollowing, free hand hollowing, texturing tool, woodburning, thin wall piercing, negative rake scraper, eccentric chuck set up for members to try. Doug Thompson also had his tools for trial and comparison. Members had the opportunity to see and try different tools first hand instead of just reading the descriptions on the catalogs.
Doug was very generous, he donated the proceeds from the Thompson Tool sales to our Club.

Dave, technically you bought the gouge from the Club. You are also going to see how he turns a cowboy hat live in the coming months.
Doug did a demo for the BWWT.org (http://bwwt.org/) last August, you can see the pictures here:
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=64949
I am looking forward to see the live re-run.

[Paul Andrews]

David,
I like the V gouge for most shaping and removal of material fast, and for final finishing cuts on the exterior of the bowl. Inside the bowl I continue roughing with the V gouge, but switch to the U for the finishing cuts as it makes beatiful clean cuts and follows the interior curves like a race car!

[Frank Kobilsek]

I think Paul just said it best.

Doug will you be at the TAW Symposium? I should have bought from you at the Ohio symposium but I was busy Christmas shopping for my Dad's shop.

Frank

[Doug Thompson]

I agree 100% with Paul too. I've been playing with different designs from using a 5/8 spindle gouge with the bevel removed to a round scraper. The round scraper leaves a fine feel but i don't know if the scraper is working that well OR the bevel is burnishing the wood. Maybe a little of both, I can cut 1/8 deep with the tool.

[Paul Engle]

Yep , I like the 1/2" V shape flute also, once I got the grind correct, it easily out performed my 5/8 Ellsworth on my bowl work.Don't get me wrong here , the Ellsworth can put it to a bowl machs nix , but the V , It workes great for fine work and roughing. I experimented with a traditional 60 degree bg grind ( straight or flat across ) and just added the wings and dat be the one. When my HT 1/2 got too short I was afraid I would not find another gouge to fit my turning style and I read up on the differences of the U shape flute vs the V fluted, from that english man who started this over 30 yrs ago and was convinced to try a V fluted 1/2".Plus I can grind either end and it works great in my pipe collet handle, and when it get too short i'll just weld on a piece of drill rod and run it right down to nothing.

[Bill Bolen]

I've only had the 1/2" V for a few days but it is already my favorite. Turned 3 good size bowls and it "may" be ready for its first re-sharpening! I was stunned by how long this gouge can hold its edge! ..Bill..