Shopsmith Forums

In another thread wingman2010 asked

wingman2010 wrote:If we don't use a roughing gouge for bowls, what do we use?

I didn't want to high jack that thread so I created this thread instead.

The preferred tool for shaping the interior of a bowl is a "Bowl Gouge". These have a very different shape and grind from either roughing or spindle gouges and do take a bit of practice to get used to. Think of the bowl gouge as a skew for the interior of a bowl. Once you have it dialed in though it is a highly versatile tool that can be used equally well on the exterior of the bowl as well as spindles.

The only chisel from the Shopsmith collection of chisels for shaping the interior of a bowl and also very versatile is the round nose scraper. Remember to keep at or slightly below the centerline. Round nose scrapers are readily available, inexpensive and very forgiving for first time bowl turners. I personally recommend starting here with small practice pieces then moving on to a relatively inexpensive 3/8" or 1/2" bowl gouge if you wish to pursue bowl turning. FYI Bowl gouges are measured by the interior width of the u shape stock they are made from. Mush larger than 1/2" and you have a very large chisel typically reserved for very large bowls. I have turned 14 inch bowls with my 3/8" bowl gouge.

I too was confused by the statment "never use a roughing gouge to turn a bowl"... Perhaps the statment should be amended to read
never use a roughing gouge to turn the INTERIOR of a bowl.
Agreed, bowl gouges are specifically designed to hog out the interior of a bowl, however it is perfectly acceptable to use a roughing gouge to round out or true-up the exterior turn on a bowl.

Regardless of choice of gouge the singular most important issue is to only use a "SCARY SHARP" Bowl Gouge. Jim

fjimp wrote:Regardless of choice of gouge the singular most important issue is to only use a "SCARY SHARP" Bowl Gouge. Jim

I totally Agree!!

dstrbdangl wrote:I too was confused by the statment "never use a roughing gouge to turn a bowl"... Perhaps the statment should be amended to read
never use a roughing gouge to turn the INTERIOR of a bowl.
Agreed, bowl gouges are specifically designed to hog out the interior of a bowl, however it is perfectly acceptable to use a roughing gouge to round out or true-up the exterior turn on a bowl.

Don't use a spindle roughing gouge to turn the exterior of bowls either. here's youtube link showing what COULD happen.

Why you don't use a Spindle Roughing Gouge on bowls.

marballizer1 wrote:Don't use a spindle roughing gouge to turn the exterior of bowls either. here's youtube link showing what COULD happen.

Why you don't use a Spindle Roughing Gouge on bowls.

One would think that sufficient to convince other what not to do. Great video thanks for sharing. Jim

fjimp wrote:One would think that sufficient to convince other what not to do. Great video thanks for sharing. Jim

When I started turning I wanted to turn some bowls and the only gouge I have is a roughing gouge, thankfully I did my research and found that video.

Ouch

Nice Video.

Notice that he was using a true spindle "roughing" gouge that does NOT have the corners ground back to a rounded profile. Don't confuse the grind of the roughing gouge with a traditional spindle gouge used for cove work and has a rounded profile. It is the lack of the rounded profile that caused the problems on that video and the narrator does a decent job of explaining it.

The Shopsmith chisels are traditional spindle gouges with a rounded profile and are NOT "roughing" gouges.

Spindle Roughing Gouge Profile = |
Traditional Spindle Gouge Profile = )

You shouldn't do cove work with a roughing gouge either. It's for making irregular "spindle" stock round enough to use other chisels on.

Still, a modest investment in a 3/8" or 1/2" bowl gouge is worth it if you plan on doing bowl work. The bowl gouge is by far the most versatile grind there is for lathe chisels.