# Gouge Angles



## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

Lets talk gouge angles for a minute.

A few days ago someone posted a thread about traditional spindle gouges and JL mentioned that they could be good tools when sharpened between 35 and 45 degrees. I have two of these gouges that I use quite a bit but they dont give the results that he spoke of so today I reground them to 45 degrees. I had been using the stock grind which was a little steeper than 50 degrees. They feel much sharper with that minor difference so I'm excited to try them out. Right now my lathe is tied up with a piece of manzanita that I just filled with InLace so it will be a day or two before I get to try them.

While I was at it, I decided to sharpen my little detail gouge that I rarely use cause that little bugger is quite grabby. I decided to keep the stock angle which is roughly 30 degrees but I ground the wings back similar to a bowl gouge using my Vari-Gring jig. I dunno if that will be any better or not.

My purpose of this post is to find out if there is a specific way that everyone prefers these different gouges to be ground and why. I ask mainly just because everything I have is ground differnt from what I see others use but not knowing any better, I use my tools they way they come to me from the factory. I'm finding that may not be the best way to do it. The more I think about it, I think the reason I struggle so much with my bowl gouge is because it isnt ground back near as far as others I see. Mine has the stock grind the way it came from Thompson.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Bass, I do a lot of spindle turning (bottle stoppers mainly) and I have several different size and grind spindle gouges. I do most of my work with a 45 degree grind on a 1/2" spindle gouge. I also have 3/8" ground at 45, 40 and 35 degrees and I use these for smaller details. I have a 1/4" but find it too small most of the time. 

As for bowl gouges, my Thompson is ground at 50 degrees and I have a couple of Henry Taylors ground at 40 and 45. The 40 is too aggressive for me and one of these days I'll probably reshape it to 50 or 55 degrees for getting into the bottom of deep bowls.

As for roughing gouge, I use a 3/4" and keep it ground at 50 degrees, just seems to work well for me. I don't know that I would spend the serious money for a Thompson roughing gouge, I'd save that for another bowl gouge or another spindle gouge. Here's a link to a nice roughing gouge.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/7/2/31/130/-/3147/Artisan-Spindle-Roughing-Gouge

I also think JL was referring to the Spindlemaster, but I'm not sure.


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## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

sawdustfactory said:


> Bass, I do a lot of spindle turning (bottle stoppers mainly) and I have several different size and grind spindle gouges. I do most of my work with a 45 degree grind on a 1/2" spindle gouge. I also have 3/8" ground at 45, 40 and 35 degrees and I use these for smaller details. I have a 1/4" but find it too small most of the time.
> 
> As for bowl gouges, my Thompson is ground at 50 degrees and I have a couple of Henry Taylors ground at 40 and 45. The 40 is too aggressive for me and one of these days I'll probably reshape it to 50 or 55 degrees for getting into the bottom of deep bowls.
> 
> ...


I edited my post to remove the question about the roughing gouge because after I posted I went to the Thompson site and saw he only stocks a 1 1/4" and its $175. I dont think I will be purchasing that one!!

Do you use the stock grind on your Thompson bowl gouge or did you grind the wings back further?

My little detail gouge is 1/4" and I agree its too small but I like it for getting into intricate details, I just have to be careful with it because it will grab in an instant.

Thanks for the link, gonna go have a look at it right now.

Heres the thread I was talking about where the traditional spindle gouge angles where mentioned...
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f6/traditional-english-gouge-47885/


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## bond3737 (Nov 13, 2009)

The main thing I try to think about when sharpening any gouge is- what will this be used for.
angle necessary to make the cut- if you are going into really tight coves a sharper 35 degree angle is required if Im trying to clean up the bottom of a bowl I use an 80 degree gouge the key is to keep bevel contact so whatever you are using it for the angle of the bevel should be designed to maintain bevel contact during the cut
sharpness required for the cut- in terms of sharpness there is a bell curve. Sharper the angle sharper the tool quicker it dulls. If your roughoughing out a big bowl you would go with a higher 65-80 degree grind but for shear scraping or finishing cuts a much lower angle is necessary for those fine shavings
wing shape required for the cut- the more mass I intend to remove the further back my wings go and the higher my bevel angle becomes
amount of steel necessary for the cut- the further the distance from the tool rest the more steel you need to support the cut
Play around with it. Grind off some steel, change angles and see what works for the type of turning you do. I donno if I answered any of your questions but those are the things I try to keep in my head when putting a grind on a gouge.:yes: happy turnin, 
bond


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

I don't think there are any definite answers to your question, but here is a linky that may help.

http://www.sdwt.org/support_docs/techniques&tips/sharpening.pdf

Personally, all my bowl gouges are a 60 degrees and my spindle gouges are at 40. I prefer my roughing gouge closer to 60 as well. I found what works best for my through trial and error over many years and cut a bunch of hardboard templates, with the grind angles and wrote the angle and which chisel on them. I use them to set up my grinder and they help me remember. This is for everything from carving chisels, lathe chisels, plane irons, bench chisels etc.

The more turning experience you have, the sharper the angle can be, but with a 60 degree plus angle on a bowl gouge and the right toolrest set up, I find I can't get a catch even if I try.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

To add to what Willem said, I write the size and angle on the handle of the tool in sharpie so I remember where I have it. I also use a Wolverine jig with the Vari-grind and the Raptor set up tools, so my angles are consistent all the time.


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## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

sawdustfactory said:


> I also use a Wolverine jig with the Vari-grind and the Raptor set up tools, so my angles are consistent all the time.


 I use the same setup. I still have to cut those setup tools from the templates you sent me though. I'm just trying to find what works for everyone so I have a better idea of what I should be doing when I go to the grinder.:thumbsup:


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

I agree with Bond that it depends a lot on what you want to do with it.
Here is a short article describing different grinds for the inside of bowl.
http://www.woodturningdesign.com/askdale/14/14.shtml
I think most manufacturers give you just a “usable” grind. If not, the wheel they use may be different than yours (i.e. 6” & 8”). Also if they ground to a swept back style like a Jamieson grind and you wanted a “bottom feeder” grind you may have to waste away a half inch or more of the tool just to get the grind you want. You can always put a longer grind on a blunter tool without a lot of waste.


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