Spindle vs. Bowl Gouge

[Kevin Hirata]

Hi All,

I'm just getting into woodturning, and like most, I've watched a lot of YT videos and visited bunch of websites.

One of the sites I've visited is Ashley Harwood's site. I noticed in the description of the tools she's offering on her site she notes that she uses her 3/8" and 1/2" bowl gouges for both bowl and spindle turning. I was always lead to believe you needed a different gouge for both bowl and spindle work. Is she able to use the same tool because she uses the "push cut" style?

Thanks for any thoughts you might be able to offer.

[Edward Weingarden]

I often use a bowl gouge for the first turning of my hollow forms. Almost all of my HFs are turned end grain, thus, it's a spindle turning with a large diameter. The bowl gouge I use for this purpose has a bevel grind of 45 degrees and swept back wings. I will use both push and pull cuts. Although it doesn't matter much for the rough turning, I tend to get a more uniform surface using a pull cut where the cutting edge of the wing is at about 45 degrees to the surface of the wood. I use a spindle gouge for the second turning of the HFs. Why, you ask...it just seems to work better for me when I re-turn a vase that is out of round. I think the only time I use a spindle gouge on a bowl is if I'm turning a bead on the outside surface.

[Richard Coers]

You want to know why she advocates that? She only sells bowl gouges on her web site. I'd like to see her do those fine finials on those urchin ornaments with a 3/8 bowl gouge. You just can't get really tight and fine details with a bowl gouge with a 40/40 grind unless you regrind it to a point. Then you'd have to regrind it again, or even better yet for her, buy two of her bowl gouges for different grinds.

[Prashun Patel]

I can't speak for all styles, but my bowl gouges are more solid than my spindle gouges. The flute geometry of my spindle gouges is slightly different from my bowl gouges. I think my bowl gouges have slightly deeper flutes.

I used my bowl gouges on spindles for a while. However, the new spindle gouges I have seem to peel more delicately than my bowl gouges do - despite a similar grind on both. I wonder if the shallow flute on the spindle gouge allows more of the surface to be in contact with the spindle at a time. Perhaps this leads to a flatter surface. When cutting in a curved plane such as a bowl, that shallow flute may lead to catches more than a concentrated contact point that the deeper fluted bowl gouge has. This is all just speculation; but by feel, I prefer spindle gouges on spindles and bg's on bowls.

[Mike Nathal]

She demonstrated at our club and she does indeed use her 40/40 grind to make all those finials. No re-grinding or special grinding for the spindles. I am sure that if she used a spindle gouge that she would sell one. I note in passing that my bowl gouge is ground close to 60 degrees and my spindle gouge is 35. So a 40/40 grind is not too far from a spindle grind.

[Kevin Hirata]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

Richard, here's a YT video of her turning a finial. I may be wrong (like I said I'm just starting out) but it looks like she does use a bowl gouge, but also uses a spindle gouge for the finer details. Maybe someone can ID the different gouges.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrwvgAIHXPA

[Kyle Iwamoto]

If I recall, and I'm getting older by the minute, she mentioned using Cindy Drozda's vortex tool. It also could have been another visiting turner that mentioned that. It's not what she uses in that vid.
My $0.02, IF you want to make those delicate finials, you'll need to invest in a detail spindle gouge, and one of the many specialized tools like Cindy's. Or *cough* a small skew.

[tom lucas]

I like a heavier gouge for general shaping of spindles because heavier tools are easier to control (for me). Then switch to a spindle gouge for the finishing. When you start doing really fine, detailed parts, say for ornaments and such, a detail spindle gouge is really useful and gives you really fine control for intricate details. for long sweeping coves and wide beads, I like a bowl gouge best, at least until the corners get tight. And a roughing gouge is good for this too.

[John K Jordan]

Hi All,

I'm just getting into woodturning, and like most, I've watched a lot of YT videos and visited bunch of websites.

One of the sites I've visited is Ashley Harwood's site. I noticed in the description of the tools she's offering on her site she notes that she uses her 3/8" and 1/2" bowl gouges for both bowl and spindle turning. I was always lead to believe you needed a different gouge for both bowl and spindle work. Is she able to use the same tool because she uses the "push cut" style?

Thanks for any thoughts you might be able to offer.

I use both spindle gouges and bowl gouges on both spindles and bowls. One may be more appropriate for some cuts than the other. I don't think the wood cares what the tool is called if the bevel is good and the tool is sharp. I also use Hunter Hercules tools for many cuts on both spindles and bowls, but like a bowl gouge it can't get into very tight places such as v-grooves such as between adjacent beads.

Spindle gouges can get into tighter spots than a typical bowl gouge grind. Versions of the spindle gouge called detail or shallow detail gouges are heavier in cross section and stronger than standard spindle gouges - look at what Doug Thompson offers in these or better, find someone who has one and try try it. The grind I use on the detail gouges makes for a quite "pointy" tool and is great for delicate detail.

Mike Mahoney uses a double ended gouge- it has a 3/8" bowl gouge on one end and a 3/8" spindle gouge on the other. I bought one to evaluate and I do like it for detail on bowls and platters, handy since it can be flipped around quickly, especially if used without a handle (some will disagree on the safety of that, don't even try it without a lot of experience in using both types of tool). https://www.hartvilletool.com/produc...turning-gouges

JKJ

[Bill Blasic]

Looks to me that she used both a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge in that video.

[Mike Nathal]

I am pretty sure she did not use a spindle gouge when she was at our club, (about 3 yrs ago) but now that you mention it she did use a vortex tool.

[Dave Fritz]

I agree with Bill, at about the 57 second mark it looks like a spindle gauge.

[Reed Gray]

I have seen her a couple of times. When demonstrating here, and doing her finials, she was using a 40/40 grind. The confusing part to me is that there are spindle detail gouges, and bowl detail gouges, which at a glance are nearly identical, with both having shallow flutes. I can do a lot of heavy roughing on spindle blanks with a more standard bowl gouge, either the swept back type or a 45/45, which I prefer to the 40/40. For details, you need a more pointed tool that is able to get into tight spaces, so grinds with 30 degree bevels or skews are able to do that a lot better than the 60 degree bowl gouges. The Vortex tool, and I think Stuart Batty has one also, is a variation of one that I saw in Allen Batty's arsenal. It was half round bar stock, and sharpened to about a 30 degree bevel, and swept back maybe 30 degrees. I turned one of Doug Thompson's fluteless gouges into one and use it for detail work. There are many ways to use just about any tool out there.... Ashley is a master of "The bevel should rub the wood, but the wood should not know it." This is evident in how she does her finials. After seeing her demo, I told her I had to go home and practice my 'dainty' skills...

robo hippy

[Al Wasser]

Kevin, be careful with You tube videos. There are some very good turners like Ashley on You tube, but there are a lot who think they are good turners. If you belong to the AAW use the videos they have posted because they show proper safety and good techniques.

[Kevin Hirata]

Thanks for the advise Al.

Yeah I purchased Ashley's video in hopes of becoming somewhat proficient with the "push cut" method.