What to use to ruff out bowls

[jason lambert]

I bought a 1 1/4 P&N ruffing guage to ruff stuff out with and today at the turning club I was told I should not use it on squair bowl blanks it is to likely to catch a bad cornor. It is fine for spindle work. They recomended what I thought was a 1" sorby detail guage but I can't find that and they don'e seem to make one.

So what should I use to take a squaire bowl blank down to a round bowl blank fast?

[RL Johnson]

Depending upon what size bowls you are going to make, I would recommend starting with a 1/2" bowl gouge or maybe 3/8 if you are making small bowls.

[Lee DeRaud]

I've been using a bowl gouge, but this widget looks interesting:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/New_Products___Easy_Rougher___easy_rougher?Args=
Anybody tried it yet?

[Lee DeRaud]

So what should I use to take a squaire bowl blank down to a round bowl blank fast?This thread's been up over 15 minutes: I'm surprised there haven't been a half-dozen people say "chainsaw" already. :eek::p

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Bandsaw :D or like most of use a bowl gouge, :p:eek::D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Leo....How do you get the bandsaw to rough out the inside?:confused::rolleyes:



I use a bowl gouge...inside and out.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Well myself if it is a square blank I would round off the corners with a bandsaw or chainsaw. I would then use a bowl gouge probably a 1/2" depending on the size of the blank. I would never use any kind of roughing gouge when do a bowl.

[Gary Max]

We don't have square trees in Kentucky--------I just use a 1 1/2 roughing gouge.

[Ron McKinley]

I've been using a bowl gouge, but this widget looks interesting:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/New_Products___Easy_Rougher___easy_rougher?Args=
Anybody tried it yet?

I've had one several months now and use it to rough out bowls, inside and out. I also use it to rough spindle blanks. I recently used it to turn 7 or 8 mushrooms from start to finish except for parting off. The wood is Hollywood Juniper.

It's the first tool I pick up when I start to turn......Ron

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee24/desertwoodturner/P9090038web.jpg

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Well Ken there are a few ways to do this, let's see :confused:
OK first yo cut the outside into a round blank, then you cut a slab off of the bottom, next you cut the center out and glue the side cut and the slab back onto the bottom, and NOW you have a BANDSAWED BOWL :p:D:rolleyes:;):).
It is that most of us do use a bowl gouge for the inside hollowing and the bandsaw just for making a round blank, but like they say there are more ways to skin a cat,(dead one :eek:)

[robert hainstock]

I bought a 1 1/4 P&N ruffing guage to ruff stuff out with and today at the turning club I was told I should not use it on squair bowl blanks it is to likely to catch a bad cornor. It is fine for spindle work. They recomended what I thought was a 1" sorby detail guage but I can't find that and they don'e seem to make one.

So what should I use to take a square bowl blank down to a round bowl blank fast?

To answer the original question, I use the bandsaw to knck down the corners. Then, I mount it on the screw center , (most often) and go at it with my 1/2 or 5/8 bowl gauge, (Thomson tools).
Bob

[Jim Becker]

Jason, I work primarily with a side-grind bowl gouge which can handle all the initial cutting through fine finishing work, including knocking off square corners if you don't want to use a rounded blank or are working with material that is of an odd shape.

BTW, the reason you don't use a Spindle Roughing Gouge for face-plate oriented work is that it's not designed for the type of forces you will typically expose it to while "roughing" a bowl or vessel with the constantly changing grain direction. You can literally snap it off at the tang...and many folks have done that, which makes it a serious safety issue. The nature of the edge also doesn't cut all that well with the shifting grain. The AAW awhile back campaigned hard to insure that the actual name of the tool is represented as "spindle roughing gouge" for that reason because "roughing gouge" is now too general.

[Cody Colston]

I'm gonna be the odd man out here and say that using a 1" spindle roughing gouge to round a bowl blank is probably okay as long as you keep the tool rest close to the work. Where you get in trouble with a spindle roughing gouge is when it's extended over the tool rest. The tang can't take the force of that leverage like a solid stock bowl gouge can. I most definitely would not try hollowing a bowl with a spindle roughing gouge.

That said, I use a 3/8" Crown bowl gouge for roughing out and I always round the blank on the band saw before going to the lathe...it just makes it easier and eliminates a lot of pounding. I used to use a 1/2" Sorby but my lathe is only 3/4 hp and I can easily stall it out even with the 3/8" gouge.

[Richard Madison]

Well, I was gonna say "chainsaw" but Lee beat me to it. Still the best answer if the "blank" is too big to fit the lathe with the corners intact. An alternative - make a square, winged bowl.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Like Jim - I also use a side grind bowl gouge because it does everything from roughing out a blank to super fine baby hair finishing cuts. My go-to gouge is a Doug Thompson 5/8" V and I am extremely pleased with it!

Just a suggestion - before you try to figure out what to pick up - get with some local turners and actually try some of the different bowl gouges and find one that feels comfortable to you. Best of luck - hope to be seeing some bowls from you real soon!

[jason lambert]

Ok that is what I understood it is to much for the tool. In anycase where can I get a 1" bowl guage, I couldn't seem to find one, the one the guy had was a sorby but they don't list it in there catalog, wonder if it was discontinued.

As for the squair blanks I have a 18" band saw but at the club they don't have a band saw, something about libility. So we are forced to knock down squair blanks and if I have the right tool for that, can only be be better knocking down wood that is already bandsawed.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

P&N does sell a 7/8" bowl gouge, they call it the supa gouge, also the spindle roughing gouge you have from P&N would not have the tang break on it, but I still would not use it for rouging down a bowl blank, the flute shape is just not right for it.
Here's a link to the P&N professional turning tools.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&cat=1,330&p=49138

[Ken Fitzgerald]

While some folks may state they'd use a roughing gouge to rough out bowls, it is recommended that one doesn't.

Check this out from Craft Supplies, USA : http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/woodturners/Images/roughing_gouge_safety.pdf

[Curt Fuller]

This is right off the product description from the CraftsuppliesUSA web catalog

P&N Roughing Gouge

Designed primarily for taking square spindle stock down to round, the deep, wide flute allows for rapid stock removal without splintering. The massive tapered base design makes these gouges impossible to break and eliminate vibration. NOT FOR USE ON BOWLS.


A good 1/2" bowl gouge does it all.

[Hilel Salomon]

With Steve, Leo, Bernie and others of greater abilities and knowhow than I could ever hope for, I almost hesitate to offer this... But..
Crown makes both a 3/4 (actually 7/8) and 1 inch(actually 9/8) gouges, and Sorby makes a 3/4" one. I have all three and when I can't get a good chainsaw or bandsaw round on a very large blank, these are very, very handy as they take a lot of abuse. Only when I have large blanks fairly round, do I switch to a good 1/2" gouge (Thompson's is fine).
However... In my never ending search to buy new gadgets, I did get the roughing C something or other, and it is really neat. On blanks that I couldn't even get on my bandsaw (they were either too tall or too wide), I have used this and it really makes it quite easy. I like it so much that I recently asked a local metal fabricator to prepare some square steel stock with rounded ends to fit into a handle. Now, I'm going to buy some carbide inserts and try and make my own. Bob Hallowell has done this and posted it.
The fact is that the ideal is using a chainsaw to make one side flat and either a chainsaw or planer to make the other side flat so that you can use a bandsaw to get a nice rounded blank. The ideal presupposes some ability with a chainsaw-one of the most dangerous tools out there- a bandsaw big enough and powerful enough to handle large, tall blanks. Short of this, a good sharp bowl gouge is not a bad way to go.
Regards, Hilel.

[Reed Gray]

For square blanks, if I am making a winged bowl, I will use a bowl gouge. For roughing out a bowl blank, I am the odd man out here, and prefer a big heavy scraper. The Ci 1 Rougher is a fancy one. Keep the scraper pointed slightly down, and at or slightly below center on the outside, and at or slightly above center on the inside of the bowl. No more rough shavings running across my pinky finger, and the top of my hand.
robo hippy

[Kim Ford]

I couldn't agree more with Steve or Jim. Find someone in your local club that can help you.

I have roughed with scrapers and gouges. I prefer the 1/2" +/- side grind bowl gouge as my favorite. With it you can direct the shavings away from where you are standing and have lots of control.

Scrapers work, and really produce kool shavings, but it is easy to bite off more than you can chew get a catch. Also, you can't feel the cut as well with a scraper. . . . . Really hard to describe all this in words, If you can have someone help you.

[Kim Ford]

If you don't mind, I'm going to chime in again and ask the stupid question.

Why does anyone want to use such large bowl gouges for roughing out a blank? Are they using a scraping cut or a shearing type cut? I'm not being critical, I am asking to learn other methods.

I put wet chunks of nasty logs between centers that weight over 100 lbs and use a 5/8" PN with a side grind or my 1/2" Thompson. I don't want any more of a cutting surface that what the 5/8" presents. I rotate the vee to about 30 degrees and present the bevel on the side grind such that it is almost parallel to the cut on the rotating stock. With this presentation the end of the handle is down approximately 45 plus degrees and the cut made can be up to the maximum depth of the side grind with all the shavings going out at the angle of the vee.

If I get a catch, the pressure against the tool simply pushes the tool at an angle parellel to the axis of the tool itself which is no biggie.

The other neat part of this cut is that it doesn't seem to tear up knots, it seems to cut them off somewhat cleaner. and you get about 3/8" cut per pass without a lot of grain tear.

Just my thoughts.

[Reed Gray]

If your gouge is on its side (flutes sideways that is), then the wing of the gouge is making a scraping cut, and the nose is making a shearing cut because it is rounded up. A scraper can't do this type of dual cut. How big of a cut you can do is determined by how far back the wings are ground, and how much hp/torque you have, and if you have the tool under control so you don't go into orbit. I prefer to have the handle level, with the end of it under my fore arm. Better control for me, and with my weight, I won't get lifted off the ground, no matter how big of a catch I get.
robo hippy

[steven carter]

I use a 1/4" and 3/8" Oland tools that I made. I got the info from Darrell Feltmate's web site. The tool uses very inexpensive replacable metal lathe bits. My thought is why wear the expensive bowl gouge, when the cheap replacable bits can do the same work very easily?

[Rick Vincent]

I have made 4 or 5 oland tools and I use one all the time for bowls & spindles. I searhed oland tool & It will show you Knud Oland's Tool & how to make one...

[Paul Engle]

Ah, how about 3/32" thick x 1/2" square carbide insert screwed to a 1/2 " dia round steel rod to do 99% of my roughing out work , bowl, segments,spindles, boxes,lids. I know ... I know ...... HSS is ok for non machinst .....:eek::rolleyes:, but real men use carbide;), just kidding :D