>I'm in the middle of final turning of a dry bowl and have run into a problem...
I have a Jet 1014 (midi). I've taken off the tail stock, but even so, I am having trouble with the handle of some of my bowl gouges hitting the ways. I just bought a rather pricey Ellsworth bowl gouge (I think it's a Hamlet) that must have a 16 or 17" handle and I have several others with handles of similar length. I love the longer handled tools...on the outside...but I don't know if it's the way I'm holding the tool, the smallness of my lathe, or simply that I need a shorter handle for working on the inside of bowls. Any thoughts?
Do they even make a decent bowl gouge with a 12" handle?
>I have the Ellsworth Gouge and it is my favorite tool. I actually don't know what brand mine is, I bought it from the Arrowmont School of Art while taking a class from David. On the inside of the bowl Most of the cuts I make are with the tool nearly level. I make a roughing cut with the tool level and the flute rolled over between one and two o'clock and a finishing cut with the tool level and the flute pointed straight up or nearly so. I believe those are the cuts we learned there.
I have also started making a roughing cut with the flute turned almost directly away from me, the handle slightly low. I use this cut either when the bowl is approaching final thickness or after I hollow the center with the McNaughton Center Saver. I find this cut to be very aggressive and removes a lot of stock. It also pushes the bowl tighter into the chuck. By cutting from the rim inward, you can leave the rim thin and cut away the stock that is supported and avoid chatter.
I know some people use the tool with the handle low, but I have not developed those cuts. I believe I remember David saying there were about nine different cuts you could make with the tool.
I do use the cut you can make with the handle hanging nearly straight down on the outside. Sometimes it will do a fine job of cleaning up tear out.
David has a video on the use of the gouge. Might be good to get it. Does your turning club have a library of tapes? Its a great tool, hang in there.
>A bowl gouge with a short handle is not the answer. I would strongly suggest you purchase or rent David Ellsworth's Signature Bowl Gouge tape. He'll show you how to use the gouge level instead of handle-down. I teach a class on the use of that gouge and almost all of my students "converts".
>The responses you got on the handle were right-on. One other thing to consider is the grind. The swept back wings of the grind should begin to curve inward a bit. If they are too straight, the tool will be grabby and tend to have catches. The Ellsworth jig does this pretty much automatically, the Wolverine will need some adjustment.
>Is it handle length or handle position that`s the problem?
You have alot of cutting edge on that gouge,try using a different part of it so it brings the handle to a different position while still making the cut you want.
If you turn the lathe off and look at the cut you`re attempting to make and then just keep the bevel in contact while rolling/moving the handle and presenting a different area of the edge to the work I`d be surprised if you couldn`t find a way to make that cut.
Remember that the area of the edge that`s cutting needs to be supported by the rest before you hit that on button.
I tell folks there`s usually at least three different ways to make any basic cut.You`d be surprised how inventive you get when people hold you to something like that.
>The Ellsworth tape/DVD on the Signiture Gouge will give you the "how to" on using the Ellsworth gouge correctly. Another good DVD is the Stuart Batty/Mike Mahoney Two Ways to Make a Bowl. Stuart tells you the why you need a long handle and how much you need for control.
I buy most of my tools unhandled and make my own handles to suit my hand and needs. I have one bowl gouge with a 12" handle that I use on smaller bowls. But for the larger projects, I use a 5/8" (barsize) with a long handle. The same with my scrapers.
