Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Reconditioning an old gouge
Tom Fink
>Inherited one from my Dad. About 1" accross. The problem is that I can hone a good edge, but it crumbles as soon as it meets wood. My guess is it needs to be rehardened and tempered. Does anyone know where in North Jersey I could get that done?
Also, any suggestions on removing the gouge from the old handle, since getting the steel hot enough to reharden it would probably burn the wood!
Thanks.
Tom
Re: Reconditioning an old gouge
Paul in NJ
>Try a steeper honing angle or micro-bevel before trying to heat treat. If it truly is too hard you only need to temper it to make it a little tougher. You can temper the gouge in a deep fryer or kitchen oven starting at 350 degrees F for a half hour. If still too hard, increment the temperature by 25 degrees until you are happy. I would emphasize trying a steeper honing bevel first.
You can remove the handle from a socket type gouge by grasping the blade and rapping the handle on your bench until it lets go. Mark the handle first so you place it back the same way it was since the sockets aren't always symetrical. That is true for tang type gouges also. To remove a handle from a tang type just pry off with a screwdriver.
Paul Dzioba
I concur
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>I'd follow Pauls advice.
Re: Reconditioning an old gouge
r payne
>Assuming that it used to work, it may need to be re-heat treated. It is possible only the cutting edge got heat treated originally and has subsquently been sharpened past the usefull edge. There are many other possibilities that could result in problems.
The best suggustion I can give to find someone who can redo the heat treat is to see if there is an ABANA chapter (Artist Blacksmith Assn of North America) close by. They have a web site with affilites listed. Someone there can help. If there isn't a chapter close enough, you can try to find a knifemaker who does his own heat treat.
ron
Re: Reconditioning an old gouge
Tom Fink
>Paul
Thanks for your suggestion. I could try a steeper angle, but might have to rework too much metal. Let me think about it.
Tom
Re: Reconditioning an old gouge
Tom Fink
>Ron,
Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the ABANA web site, and after that look for a knife builder.
Tom
Easy to try
Mainely,Bob
>you don`t have to regrind the entire bevel to that steeper angle.Just put that angle on the cutting edge with a coarse stone at first,sort of like a large micro bevel on a plane iron.If this cures the problem then proceed from there.If it doesn`t then it`s time to retemper.
MB