Spoon Gouges

[tombear]

As in gouges with spoon bitts rather than gouges for making spoon. Saying that the larger ones are the absolute best thing for doing the bowls but I digress.

Anyroad the 9 I was given on Saturday are now ready for sharpening, the handles have had a day in the bath of BLO/raw/Tung/Danish oil etc ( Baically for years I've been emptying the dregs of bottles into a big ol' rum jar and use it for soaking, ) and once they are cured enough to handle I will put a edge on them. This time I went to more trouble polishing the small scratches out. If it makes a noticable difference I will go back a do the same for the six Ive had for years.

There's a before photo in my catching up thread. 5 are Sorbys, the large one is a Addis and the three with the rosewood handles are Wm Marples. I cleaned up the metal with black then white paste on a sewn cotton buffing wheel on a bench grinder and with white paste on a felt wheel on a Dremmel for the inside curve of the smaller gouges. Final sharpenning will be at about 20 degrees on a Tormek wet grinder and leather buffing wheel. If anyone has any advice on the best angle for the smaller ones. Could I get away with something sharper without risk of the edge crumbling too easily. They will be used on seaoned hardwoods.

ATB

Tom

 

[Tony]

very nice indeed

 

[tombear]

Cheers! I was going to sharpen them today but I had my second AZ jab about 1 ( surprisingly soon after the first) and i was feeling a bit rough although that's worn off now. Not going anywhere tomorrow so should get them done,may make a dedicated roll for them from some of that upholstery leather I was given.

Atb

Tom

 

[woodspirits]

Great report, but how do those blue pants feature!?

 

[Redhand Jack]

Great report, but how do those blue pants feature!?

I used to see tools, now all I see is Y-fronts

 

[tombear]

Pants , especially ladies but i'm fresh out, make great cleaning rags, I suppose they are usually made from very soft cotton and have been washed many, many times before they ware out. I've recently gone over to those bamboo Step One jobs so currently the rag bin is full of giant Y fronts in various states of disrepair.

The only thing I've found that's better for polishing is the cloth from washed to death airtex jungle shirts. lovely soft stuff.

It's rather worrying I give so much thought to rags! Nobody knock over any packs of tooth picks!

ATB

Tom

 

[Toddy]

Your workshops are full of wonderous things .....and I'm not talking about the rag bag

 

[Robson Valley]

Spoon-bent gouges. Excellent. Many hardwoods go from cheese to bone as they season and dry. I wouldn't consider a bevel angle of less than 20 degrees for hardwood carving of any species. I don't do this but there are recommendations to sharpen such gouges at 25 degrees. That, to me, it an awful big angle to push wood open but do what suits the task. Even the bevel on a simple skew chisel is quite different from 20 to 25 degrees.

 

[tombear]

Cheers! I've tried to make them all 20 degrees. In future I'll sharpen them by hand on diamond stones and with slip stones. For setting them up ive been using the Tormek.

Now I need to do some actual carving!

Atb

Tom

 

[Robson Valley]

Tom: a tool to look for if you haven't already got one is the little swing-arm protractor which is used to measure the tip angles on drill bits. My Machinist's Manual lists 5 for different materials.

Anyway, the device is excellent to measure the bevels on all sorts of wood carving tools from draw knives and adzes to fine gouges.