Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Bowl Gouge
Roger
Starting to look for a new bowl gouge. Will be getting a 5/8" or 3/4". To be used for roughing/turning up to 24" bowls. Now the questions.......
U flute?
V flute?
Parabolic flute?
Brand/Maker?
Looking for bang for buck. Some makers have 4-1/2" useable flute while others have 7" or 8"
Robo Hippy, What say you?
Re: Bowl Gouge
Don Stephan
My 5/8" bar diameter U shaped bowl gouge works best for me ground straight across and used across the bottom of bowls. As Doug Thompson says, I'm finding a 5/8" bar V gouge has a narrow "sweet spot" but cuts very well when I find that spot. I haven't directly compared my 5/8" V and 5/8" bar parabolic yet. Love the results of my 1/2" bar parabolic.
When I need to really hog off......
JamieDonaldson
....bark or wood I have a Thompson 3/4"U flute in a big handle filled with lead shot. The mass of that tool/ handle combination requires a big powerful lathe like my Stubby, and I don't need that combination very often.
Re: Bowl Gouge
Reed Gray
Well, for heavy roughing, about a 1 inch scraper, and the Big Ugly is my preference because the tantung holds the edge so long. For gouges, I prefer a 45/45 on the outside, and go back and forth between the Thompson, both V and U, and some times the Jamieson variation of the V/parabolic flute. I have a Oneway parabolic and like it a well. I did get a 3/4 from D Way, and haven't used it a lot. Since I only use gouges for finish cuts, I did find it a bit big for finish cuts, and it can't keep up with a scraper. Preferred gouges are 5/8. There is a limit to how much metal can go into the wood at one time without stalling the lathe. You can but wider but thinner shavings, or narrower but thicker shavings, depending on how heavy duty your tool is.
robo hippy
Re: Bowl Gouge
Mike Hunter
Robo ... on this topic, your last sentence brings up a good point. For Hp consumption, it is best to take a deep depth of cut. The tool and the Hp available does not know the depth of cut of the tool. Where as speed and feed rate, which is thickness of chip, (especially heavy feed rate) consume Hp and chew up the available torque.
Re: Bowl Gouge
Bill Blasic
The Thompson 5/8 V has always been and will always be my go to tool, The Thompson V gouges unlike the Glaser gouges do not clog at the tip. I have better tool control with the V vs the U. The only U I now use is a 3/8 Thompson tool ground very blunt for the transition between the side and bottom of the bowl on very difficult woods that I am having trouble getting a good finish in that area. The 5/8 V with a long grind will remove a lot of wood very fast.