P&N Roughing Gouge

[C Edward Moore]

There have been a lot of posts lately about roughing gouges and those with strong tangs. Comments by Mark Mandel resonated with me and I decided to get a P&N 1 1/4" roughing gouge from Lee Valley. My budget is a little torqued right now so I didn't get the nice metal handle made by Trent Bosch as was recommended. The test cuts I've made are quite pleasing, so I am happy with this choice for a spindle roughing gouge.

Just for fun I took a picture of the gouge with its stout red oak handle and its companion, the Alan Lacer skew. (The background is my AAW turning smock. :cool2: ) The tape measure shows that the handle is about 16 1/2 inches or a little less. I also included the digital calipers I got recently from Harbor Freight when they were on sale. It says somewhere that the tang of the P&N gouge is 1/2". I checked it and the digital calipers read .472, which is obviously a little less than 1/2". On a whim I tapped the button on the calipers to toggle between inches and MM. Ahah! 12.00 mm. A light bulb came on as I realized that those calipers are going to be quite useful when converting from one system to another. So, instead of a 1/2" drill I chose the 31/64" and it worked out fine.

 

[Brian Hahn]

Nice stout gouge

I have the 3/4 inch P&N roughing gouge and it has the same 12 mm tang on it. I drilled a 15/32 hole and had a nice tight force fit. 🙂 Plenty of beef where it counts. I mounted it on a heavy hickory handle and it's my roughing gouge of choice.