[Francie]

As a beginner I would like to know if it is standard practice to put a bevel on both the inside and outside of gouges to decrease side wedging and tear out as recommended by Leonard Lee in "The Complete Guide to Sharpening"

Francie

[AlArchie]

It depends on who you want to listen to.........there are those who prefer a slight inside bevel and those that do not. Some carvers just polish the inside of the gouge (I'm one of those) some put a slight bevel on, some don't touch the inside at all. And to add to the confusion, there are excellent and professional carvers in each of these camps.

I use a ceramic stone on the inside when I sharpen, then hit it lightly with a cotton buffing wheel charged with compound. the rods and stones I hold flat on the inside so as not to impart any bevel....just take off the burr from sharpening the outside.

As a matter of "trial and error", I'd suggest you try the "nothing done to the inside" first, then try the flat approach and polish, and if you are not satisfied with either of these, try a slight bevel inside. Once that bevel is there, though you have a big problem getting rid of it if you don't like the results.

Al

[Francie]

Thanks Al. That is sound advice. Does it make any difference if I am carving a convex surface like the outside of a bowl?

Francie

[AlArchie]

Francie, I have not carved any bowls, but have carved some large carousel style animals and on the convex surfaces I simply use either a wide flat chisel or a 3" wide #3 sweep gouge. I didn't invert the gouge to make those fairly flat cuts, as a wide #3 gives a fairly flat plane anyway. If you want to invert your gouge to make a convex cut, make sure your sweep is lower than the curve of your bowl or the corners of the gouge will dig in. That might sound like a no brainer, but ya never know.

You can by special gouges designed for cutting convex surfaces, but I really don't see the need for them on a bowl.

Al

[Francie]

Al, I have been using a #5, 40mm gouge for the outside of my bowl since it seems to be just the right curve for the top part of the bowl if I invert the gouge. Seems like it might be better though if I put some bevel on the inside of the gouge? Any opinion on this? Also, what are the gouges you are referring to that are designed for cutting convex surfaces? I plan to make more bowls and am just figuring out the best tools/techniques at this point so any information that applies would be helpful.





thanks,

Francie

[mdallensr]

Francie, Chris Pye is a big advocate of the inside bevel. He has a website with some tutorials, one on the inside bevel. I use my gouges inverted a lot, and an inside bevel makes them much more useful. You can control the cut and make a curved cut that you can't make without the secondary bevel.
http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/ Mike

[Francie]

Mike

Thanks but I am a little confused by what he says since he advocates an inside bevel but then says not to use one on very convex surfaces since you will be raising the angle of the gouge anyway.Also I couldn't find a link on specifically how to apply one. Maybe that is in one of his DVDs.

Francie

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

outside bevel is much much easier to sharpen and strop in my opinion....

[AlArchie]

Francie, those gouges are called BACK-BENT GOUGES. I've only seen them in Henry Taylor tools, but I'd imagine most other manufactures make them, too. Wood Carvers Supply handles them. www.woodcarverssupply.com

Al

[redbird46]

Most of the "high-quality" carving tools like Denny's,Pfeil,Stubai, etc. have a very smooth polished inside form and you then only need to concentrate on making the outside bevel/edge to match and then hone/polish off all wire edges. If you have an inferior tool that shows grind marks on the inside you may want to polish it smooth before sharpening the outside. Most quality tools have a very precise/smooth inside form and if you work on sharpening both the outside and inside you lose the ability to hold the precise form. The only exception I could see may be if you are using mallet chisels and want to create more wedge angle by working the inside and thus making the edge less likely to break off when struck hard? JMHO
Norb