Bowl gouges

[Turner52]

Didn;t want to hijack Arlin's post. What siize bowl gouges does everyone prefer and what kind of grind do you prefer? My current favorite is 1/2" Ellsworth grind,but it can be very aggresive. Thinking of changing. I do agree with Arlin in that how the tool is presented to the piece is the most important, but also feel that the grind can somewhat change it's aggresivenes and reduce the chances of a nasty catch. If I do decide to change I don't want to have to try a lot of different setups. Too much lost expensive steel doing that. Would like to hear from the braintrust here. Feel that would be much better info than youtube with possible financial rewards for someone pushing a certain grind. Thanks for your replies and preferences and why you like them.

[Arlin Eastman]

I use my wolverine grinding system and have the varigrind set at 60*.  However it also depends on how far away the V shaft is from the wheel.   I do move it once in a while to sharpen another one to 80* for cutting the bottom of the bowls.

Both grinds I have excecally the 60* have a lot of bevel and my 80* has about 2/3's as much.

I do that with my 5/8", 1/2", and 3/8" bowl gouges but only one 1/2" bottom feeder.  I do my scrappers at about 70* to 80* depending on where I can closest set it.

I do move the gouges and scrappers and skew around to get the cutting edge but keep the skew between the lower 5/8 of the tool to avoid catches.  I thought about rounding the bottom off like I forget who did it but I never get it right.

I do not use Neg-rake scrappers which I do not want to dedicate a tool to since I most of the time have one or two of each since I give so many away to those I teach.

This guy Tobias Kaye I got his CD with all of his videos and he shows and encourage everyone to learn how to use ALL of their tool.

Check out his Youtube and click on his first 1-10 bowl turning videos.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...ye+turning


To me personally he is the VERY best tool user and turner I have watched.