Flute Profiles of Bowl Gouges

And that scallop at the tip is.........

JamieDonaldson

....where many catches are hidden! While teaching I see that sharpening problem quite often, and many beginners become afraid of the gouge because of that sharpening flaw.

Re: And that scallop at the tip is.........

Reed Gray

Hmmm, I have never had a catch from that grinding flaw. So, I am wondering what causes that catch for your beginners... Main reasons for that catch, as far as I am concerned are coming off the bevel on the heel so you are doing more of a scrape than a bevel rubbing cut, and/or you are riding the wing with the flutes more straight up rather than rolled away from the wood. Come off the bevel even a tiny bit and your tool instantly turns into a scraper that is pointing up into the wood rather than down away from the wood. Kind of like sticking your finger into the ceiling fan blades the wrong way...

robo hippy

Reed,can there be any right way........

JamieDonaldson

...to stick fingers in a fan blade? When the scallop, good name BTW, sticks out past the dip of the cutting tip of the bevel, that protrusion catches the wood before bevel support is engaged. That's generally why a catch occurs when first starting a cut, and it can result in the wings rolling in either direction very quickly!

True

Re: Reed,can there be any right way........

Reed Gray

From my mom with me and the ceiling fans.."Don't stick your fingers up into them or they will break and you will have hands like Quasi Moto'... As soon as she would leave, up go my fingers for that some what satisfying tick, tick, tick, sound....

I would have to do a play date with you to understand that catch. For sure, if you are starting the cut at the rim, you can get that catch because the bevel is not rubbing, which it can't do since there isn't a spot for it to rub. Problem there is solved by having flutes at 90 degrees, so at 3 o'clock for the inside of a bowl. Next the handle has to be at a 45 or so degree angle to the lathe bed, away from your body so the bevel points into the bowl wall for the cut rather than trying to go perfectly parallel. Easier to show in a video than explain. Before I figured out how to correct my sharpening for that scallop, I never had a catch problem with it...

robo hippy

Re: Reed,can there be any right way........

Bill Blasic

If I not mistaken I have come across a turner recently who makes some kind of dip or something in the tool as a cutting advantage. Cannot remember exactly where I saw it.