Gouges: What do I need to Know ??

[beech1948]

I was wondering what I need to know about gouges...if I were to buy some...for an upcoming job.

What sizes, what radius, in or out cannel... and what the difference. If I bought on ebay what do I look for.?

Its an area where I know very little.

Your comments would be appreciated.

regards

Alan

 

[Chris Knight]

Alan,
Please tell us about the job you want to do - it's too hard to advise sensibly and except in the most general terms without more info.

 

[Alf]

Firmer or carving? Radius is described as "sweep" - carvers have a number system, bench gouges have named terms that currently escape me (there's a helpful chart somewhere I can probably find).I tend to draw a profile of the ones I sell as being the easiest way for everyone to know what they're talking about! :lol: They can vary quite a bit:



Carving gouges are outside my experience, so the following applies to firmer gouges. "Cannel" is just a gouge term for the bevel - "in" has the bevel inside the curve, "out" is on the outside. F'rinstance, scribing the convex side of a piece you'd want the bevel on the outside; for the mating concave piece the gouge is an in-cannel. Out-cannel are the most commonly used (which is handy, 'cos they're easiest to sharpen) but in-cannel have their uses.

Some general stuff anyway - what's the task?

Cheers, Alf

 

[beech1948]

Thanks for replies.

Task is in two parts and both are a first for me.

1) Cabriole legs...not a first as I've produced several ( with simplified feet)but these will be the first with full ball and claw feet. How to shape the ball is a bit of a dilema hence the need for gouges. Carving the feet around the ball is probably OK but might need some smaller gouges to help shape the bones outline.

2) Linen fold panels. A definite first. There will be four doors to carve. I am taking the method from a magazine article which used gouges to shape the top of the linenfold panel.

Wood will be Brazillian Mahogany, with inlays made in my workshop, edge banding and a few other goodies.

This my most difficult job to date and something of a personal challenge as well it is a request from my wife after several years of producing more mudane things. Just at the planning stage and seeing how I can justify some tools for the c*ll*ct*on.

regards
alan

 

[Scott]

Alan

There was an article in Fine Woodworking a couple of months ago about carving ball & claw feet. A search of that site shows a few articles on the subject.

You could always cheat on the linen folds :wink:

 

[Chris Knight]

Alan,
You need carving gouges for your intended projects - a good starter selection is shown in the picture below, although you would only need perhaps half of these to start.

You can either buy new, in which case I recommend Pfeil chisels, obtainable from Tilgear or buy old ones from Ebay. Expect to pay £10-15 per chisel for new ones and around £7-8 for old ones. If going for old, go for makes like Herring Bros or Addis or OLD Marples. Don' be misled by the new sets of cheap chisels, they are rubbish.

DO get a book on carving before you begin. I recommend books by Chris Pye and an old book "Woodcarving, The Beginners Guide" by William Wheeler and Charles H. Hayward. The latter book has instructions on linenfold as well as being very good on sharpening - as are Chris Pyes books on tools. Sharpening carving gouges well is harder than regular woodworking tools, especially the important Vee tool. It needs practice and ideally instruction. Local Adult education centres are good for this, often running carving classes throughout term time for a reasonable fee. You may also have a local carving group that can help.

Specifically on Ball and Claw feet, there was a recent article in FWW. Join the Taunton site to get reprints (for a very reasonable price)

 

[mudman]

Personally I'll only buy a secondhand carving tool if I can inspect it first, and then I have to be certain it's any good. I've had too many disappointments with good tools ruined by poor sharpening. :evil:

My favourites at the moment are Ashley Isles but I also like the Aurious I bought from Classic Handtools. I have some Pfeils which are a good tool but I've found that they do need a bit more work before use. I have a few Robert Sorbys as well but am not so sure about these.

 

[bugbear]

2) Linen fold panels.

I've got some info on this "somewhere"; I'll see what I can find over the weekend.

BugBear

 

[beech1948]

I see that there is mention of the FWW article. It was this article which started my ambitions off re ball and claw feet.

I guiess that I have just realised this very morning that I need carving tools and not just "bench gouges". At least this would provide a scheme for sizes and sweeps. I just read that in the relevant part of the Axminster catalogue but having a scheme of sweep/size combinations seems helpful.

I like the idea of using older tools but am put off by the inability to see what I am getting. Some of the differences in sweep are so subtle that an ebay photo will not show it up and many ebay sellers do not understand what they are selling.

regards
alan

 

[beech1948]

Chris,
Many thanks for your suggestion re carving chisels. I am afraid I had earlier dismissed these as too specialised simply because I did not understand what they could provide.

I will look into your suggested reading materials as well. Thanks.

More research is needed especially on the contents of a basic kit. At this time I don't want to get in to carving although that could change.

Keeping wood square is enough of a problem without making it more complex.?!
regards
alan

 

[Colin C]

If you are thinking of getting old carving tools, there are a few more names to look out for but I will have a look through my set ( about 80 now ).

If you look at my avatar you will see that I have done a bit of carving, I am not an expert but I have got all the carving I have needed to do done ( 22 years + restoring furniture ).

If you have any question, I will try to answer if I can
Colin

 

[Wendell]

Leif Hanson's website seems to be back up. He has a step by step article on carving linen folds. http://www.norsewoodsmith.com/

Wendell

 

[bugbear]

Leif's pages certainly tell the story.

The "big secret" is that most of the work is done by planing, not carving.

Chapter 11 (pp 71-75) or "Practical Woodcarving and Gilding" by Wheeler & Hayward covers this too.

BugBear