Carbide tools - happy boy

[MichaelMouse]

Equally sharp scrapers mde of hss of carbide will perform similarly, but scrapers and gouges or chisels that are slicing the wood may yield quite different results - sometimes better, sometimes worse depending on the wood.

Slicing is always better than scraping when you look at the surface left behind.  I HATE to sand, so I am in the habit of honing my tool(s) before making that final pass.  Not sure the carbide folks can do that, which means they are not working with their optimum edge when it counts most.  

Frank Pain said it best - the wood will teach you how it wishes to be cut. If the shavings flow, you've got the right combination of presentation and progression.  If you're flinging chips - nope.  

The cylindrical gouge is, to my way of thinking, one reason people have so much trouble cutting across and shaving along the grain. Apologies to Roy, I call it "edge and wedge" technique. With the forged types the problem of changing pitch angles and a protruding "heel" does not exist, whereas each turner has to make their own compromises to work with cylindricals.