Yellowhammer Bowl Gouges

[James Baldwin]

I'm looking to get some bowl gouges and don't want to mortgage my soul. I have a lot of spindle turning tools and I have even made a couple out files for special purposes. I was looking at the Yellowhammer bowl gouge set. Seems to be reasonably priced and would be adequate for my needs. I have a three Robert Sorby carbide tipped tools. They work ok but my biggest complaint with them is the round shaft. They have a tendency to twist. I'm going to buy some replaceable carbide tips and build my own out of 3/8" cold rolled steel square stock. I might build one out 5/16" also. I'm very familiar with working with machine work and steel so that's not a challenge. When I was looking at the replaceable tips I could figure out what the square and round cutters were for but what is the diamond shaped one used for? Can it be used for a parting tool or does it have another purpose? Thanks, Jim

[William C Rogers]

I don’t know anything about that brand. From the picture on amazon they appear to have a short flute. I would likely get the Hurricane or Penn State brands over those.

[James Baldwin]

I suspect they could be resharpened but after looking at the Hurricane and Penn State they would probably be a better choice. I like the fact that the Penn State are much longer. A set of three is about $4 more than the Yellowhammer set plus shipping probably. The Hurricane are more than I'm looking to spend. Unfortunately Penn State is out of the 5/8" but I'm not in a big hurry. Jim

[John Keeton]

James, no opinion on the Yellowhammer tools, but using files to fashion turning tools can be problematic. Files are notoriously hard and brittle, and can snap easily. That could result in injury. There have been some past threads on this issue. Just a thought for you. If you want to fashion your own tools I would suggest getting some M2 HSS blanks. They would be more serviceable and safer.

[Chris A Lawrence]

The hurricane bowl gouges are good starter tools. I still have the bowl gouge set i bought 4 years ago and still use them along with my Thompson gouges. They still have lots of metal left to grind away.

[James Baldwin]

I've only used a file made tool as a scraper setting the tool rest close in and at a slow speed. I made them out of a large thick file and I know they are brittle but they work fine for certain things. Jim

[David Walser]

James -- You probably don't need a 'set' of bowl gouges. A 1/2" bowl gouge is all you really need, at least at first. I think I have 5 bowl gouges -- three 1/2", one 3/8", and one 3/4". I almost always use the 1/2" gouges. The 3/4" gouge is great for hogging out a lot of wood in a short time. But, I can hog out almost as much with the 1/2" gouges. About the only real advantage of the 3/4" gouge is the ability to reach a little farther over the tool rest. Yet, I almost never need that extra reach. I simply move the tool rest. The 3/8" gouge is better at fine details, but most of those details are even easier to turn with my 3/8" spindle gouge. Some like the smaller bowl gouges because they take a smaller bite and should leave a better finish. Guess what? You can take a smaller bite with your 1/2" gouge, too, and get just as nice a cut. In truth, I find it easier to get a good final cut with my 1/2" bowl gouge than with my 3/8"! That may just be because I have so much more practice with the larger gouge.

Yes, having more than one can be a nice luxury. For most of us, that luxury translates into not having to go to the grinder as often. We can simply pick up an already sharp bowl gouge with the same flute and profile. Another nice feature of having more than one bowl gouge is the ability to have more than one grind. With deep and relatively narrow bowls, you may not be able to make a bevel rubbing cut on the inside bottom of the bowl. For such bowls, a 'bottom feeder' grind is ideal for this purpose -- cutting the inside bottom of the bowl. Nice to have, but you won't need it on every or even most bowls.

Given that, I'd recommend you take what you'd spend on a cheaper set and buy one higher quality bowl gouge. Both Packard Woodworks and Craft Supplies USA have house brands that are made in Sheffield England by one of the traditional makes (Hamlet for Packard and Henry Taylor for CSUSA). Many turners swear by the Benjamin's Best tools from Penn State Industries. Others swear at them. I fall into the second camp. This is definitely a YMMV kind of thing. One year for Christmas, my family got together and bought me several Benjamin's Best tools from Penn State. Over half wouldn't hold an edge -- they were junk. The rest, that did hold an edge, required a lot of handwork before they were fit to use. Again, for my money (as I said, YMMV), I'd rather invest in the house brands from either Packard or CSUSA.

[Brice Rogers]

Files come quite brittle. If you drop one, it sometimes breaks. But it can be annealed (softened) pretty easily.

I have made a number of tools out of old files (newer files are often case hardened which means that only the outside is hardened. Old files are high carbon steel). I heat them up until they're red (a bit past the Curie point (which is about 1400 F), which means they are temporarily non-magnetic) and then let them slowly cool. When they get back to room temp, they are dead soft. Then I shape, drill and form them. Most of my file tools have been some sort of small insert, but I have also made a full size hidden tang NRS. After I'm finished with the tool or insert then I re-harden it. I do this by heating it beyond the Curie point again and quickly quenching it in oil. I do a "file test" to confirm that it is hard. But it is also brittle. Then I use sandpaper and shine it up. After this, I "temper" it. I do this by placing it in an oven at 325 degrees until the shiny surface begins to turn the color of light straw. This reduces the brittleness and a bit of hardness. For some small inserts, I have left them hard and skipped the tempering. But for the full size tools, they DO need to be tempered or they may snap if you get a catch (or drop them).

But high-carbon file steel isn't as useful as high speed steel (hss). You have to be careful when sharpening because if you over heat them, you'll further temper/soften the cutting edge. So, I find making an occasional tool or insert from a file works for me, it isn't a substitute for HSS.

[Alex Zeller]

My advice is to buy a 1/2" bowl gouge made out of higher quality high speed steel. Along with the suggestions above I would also look at Crown. They have several lines that aren't too expensive. The thing with a bowl gouge and turning bowls is you will use it often. It'll most likely be your "go to" tool. That means you want it to stay sharp as long as possible so you don't have to keep stopping to sharpen it. Depending on the blanks you use it could also see plenty of bark and any dirt mixed in. Over the last few years I have fine tuned how I turn bowls so that I have my sharpening system set up so sharpening my gouge is very quick.

[Mike Nathal]

to answer your other question, a diamond shaped carbide insert is used for detailing: scribing fine lines, rudimentary beads, getting into narrow areas. There is a separate carbide parting tool.

[roger wiegand]

No opinion on that brand. I turned bowls for ~25 years using one Henry Taylor Superflute gouge (1/2" UK measure, 5/8" US measure) with an Ellsworth grind. Never found any reason to have a different size, though of late my collection has grown to include a 40/40 grind and a bottom feeder, all 5/8". I finally decided it was getting time to retire the HT as it has gotten too short. I hone a lot, going back to the grinder only occasionally, so my tools last a very long time

Anyway, that tool was the equivalent of $100 when I bought it; 25 years of use brings me to $4/year to use what at the time was the best tool on the market. Of course there are better tools now, my new Thompson gouge keeps an edge about 4x longer-- I'll need to turn for another 100 years to use it up!

I'd buy one really good tool from the likes of Doug Thompson or D-Way, make a nice handle for it, and turn a few hundred bowls. Then you'll have a much better of what you need/want in a gouge.

[James Baldwin]

After reviewing the replies here and some equipment reviews I choose this set of Hurricane bowl gouges.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DH8ZM2...v_ov_lig_dp_it

I also looked at Crown and Imotechom but there wasn't a lot of information on them so it became a toss up between Hurricane and Crown. Jim

[Chris A Lawrence]

After reviewing the replies here and some equipment reviews I choose this set of Hurricane bowl gouges.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DH8ZM2...v_ov_lig_dp_it

I also looked at Crown and Imotechom but there wasn't a lot of information on them so it became a toss up between Hurricane and Crown. Jim

Same set i bought 4 years ago. Price went up alot i paid $66. They are measured by the flute not the shaft diameter so the 1/2" will actually be 5/8"