using gouge upside down
John K Jordan
Does anyone else use a spindle or bowl gouge upside down?
I've asked several turners I know and they all said "say what?"
I've found that holding a spindle or bowl gouge with the flute down makes an excellent finish scraper especially for getting into tight coves. I hold it with either one or both sides of the flute held against the rest, I get very fine material removal, extremely clean surface, and there is zero chance of a catch.
For example, you might be able to see here how it removes just a very fine amount of wood, tilted a bit like when shear scraping.
I have used this in tight coves where normal shear scraping with the gouge (flute up) would be difficult. This will even work if the cove is the same profile as the tip of the gouge, scraping all the way around at the same time.
The only problem I've had is the flutes are often fairly sharp so the gouge doesn't slide so easily on the tool rest.
BTW, the piece I'm working on here is the elm box described in another thread.
Does anyone else use the gouge like this? Since there is almost nothing new under the sun in woodturning I know better than to claim I came up with something new. :-) I remember how they scoffed when I described the catch-less skew I made years ago for turning beads. (but ha, that really does work!)
JKJ
When you flip the tool over, the cutting edge is at the bottom, with little or no tendency to catch and flip over. (Similar to a negative rake scraper, less tendency to dig in) I have studied why catches occur, and have tried to make tools to overcome it. Here is my latest mini-gouge. No flute, so less tendency for the wings to catch. The cutting edge (like your inverted gouge) is far below center, and the bevel is very short, which gives me no interference from metal under the bevel. Notice my Thompson detail gouge; I have three bevels in an attempt to remove metal under the bevel, which can act as a fulcrum point, lifting the cutting edge out of the cut. Look how high up the cutting edge is....a good catch will flip the tool over. My mini tool will not easily catch, and won't tend to flip over, you can perform the same operation you describe with the flute straight up, and it cuts rather than scrapes. I also used a 3/8" stainless steel shaft to hold the 3/16" M2 cutter. I can reach over the tool rest a good distance with no chatter at all. Vibration is your enemy especially when turning small. We must think alike, The ornaments I posted recently were all done with my new mini-gouge. I also have a 1/16" mini-gouge that was prone to unexpected catches at just the wrong time until I reground the tip as shown here. Problem solved. I do market a "catchless" skew through Packard.
