If you had to have six gouges...

[delkins]

Hey everyone. I think its time for me to get some more gouges. I have a basic set of four that was given to me last Christmas and purchased at Michael's(a regional craftstore chain). I have flex cut knives(a draw knife, detail knife, and "rough-out?" knife(like 2" blade) and like them so I wouldn't mind going with flex cut palm gouges. I plan on carving caricatures and small projects. So my question is, if you had to have six or eight palm gouges, what would they be? Shapes and sizes for the work I plan on doing? I've seen some flex cut sets offered for sale, do you think these are a good option? Do you think that there are better options than flex cut for value and sharpness out of the box? I realize I need to work on my sharpening skills(up to this point I've only had to strop but I don't think my inexpensive gouges are sharp enough and I'm more eager to carve than sharpen LOL). Thanks so much, everyone!
-Dave

[tucker1931]

I am a fairly new struggling carver myself. I started with some cheap stuff and had a terrible time with chipping out on cuts. I bought a set of Flexcuts and they are fantastic. Only other thing I want now is a set of Dockyard minis, I would say they are the absolute best for caricatures ( in my humble opinion)
Cliff

[Bartster]

dave,


for a starter set of gouges i would go with as follows the ones listed are the ones i prefer not necessarily the ones you have to have just what i would consider buying;

3/8 #9 harmen
5mm #9 swiss
3mm #11 swiss
10mm #9 swiss
10mm # 7 swiss
1/4" 70degree flexcut v-tool.

you have some good knives so you should be good there for awhile. this is just my set that i use on just about every carving sometimes i have some other larger or smaller gouges i use for special cuts, but these are the mainstays.other folks may prefer different sizes or names as long as you buy good quality and get used to using them. later on down the road you may want add the dokyard gouge set for some details.

hope this helps

bart

[Just Carving]

I've often wondered about having a set of the Flexcut 11x's, and in this situation, I would add the 1/16" #11, and the 7/8" #8--all power handles. I think this would cover just about all of your basic carving needs and then some. You get a range of cuts from the 11x's, the small cuts from the 1/16" #11, and the roughing out ability from the 7/8" #8. The only other tools I would add would be a good knife--1 3/4" Wharncliffe, my preference would be the Butz handle with a decent blade, and a 3/16" 60 degree v-tool. I guess that would take care of everything for a good while until you get a hankering for another toolbuying frenzy!Smile

Bob L

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

im my opinion, a good starter basic set (I still use mine all the time) is the "powergrip" set from Woodcraft...and if you watch for a sale, you can get a terrific buy on them! I just bought a second set to leave in my traveling bag...for 16.00.......didn't need them, but for the price I couldn't pass them up.....

[lorax]

I would suggest getting 4 Stubai,or Denny, or Two Cherries, rather than 6 Flexcut. You will spend less time sharpening/stropping, and the bevel is better if you get into harder wood. That said, I do have three Flexcut palm tools, but I only use them for mahogany, basswood, and butternut. So if you are only going carve Basswood, Flexcut may be what you need.

The sizes you need are based on the size of carving you plan to carve. The sweeps I cant live without is a #1, #3, #11, #7, and 60 degree V tool.