what is your basic bowl class tool kit

[hockenbery]

I'm interested in student and teacher perspectives.
What is your recommended tool list for a basic bowl class.

My tool list is:

3/8" spindle gouge - for beads, chuck mount, and turning out the foot
1/2" side ground bowl gouge - just about everything else
1 " round nose scraper - if needed to work the inside bottom

nice to have
1/4 bowl gouge - a great little finishing tool

happy turning,
Al

 

[Bill Boehme]

How about parting tool? And maybe a bedan or something similar for turning a tenon.

 

[Mike Peace]

Al, we met at the New Turners Discussion in Albuquerque. I have been turning for two years so I guess I speak from a student perspective.

Depending on the bevel angle of the 1/2" bowl gouge you suggested and the depth of the bowls, I believe there may need for a steeply angled bowl gouge, say 55 -70 degrees to do the bottom of the bowl if the primary bowl gouge can not make the transition at the bottom of the bowl. I attended a Stuart Batty class and he had one ( think it may have been 3/4" - it was big) that several of the students borrowed. Of course students could be taught to regrind their gouge to include a micro bevel, but that seems like an advanced technique that would complicate a basic bowl class.

 

[rsser]

Can get away with a 1/2" Superflute and a parting tool. Scraper isn't essential but cuts down on sanding sometimes.

 

[john lucas]

your list is exactly what I use if you add the parting tool. I find beginners have less trouble cutting the tenon with this tool and it also comes in handy for shaping the foot.

 

[Doug Thompson]

It takes one V shape bowl gouge to turn a bowl start to finish but most people won't believe that so add a parting tool and round nose scraper.

 

[Aaron G+11]

Yep that's about it. I prefer a slightly larger scraper 1 1/4 inch, but that's just preference. IMHO, a parting tool is a poor tool for tenon formation.

Aaron

 

[Fog Tanner]

I use a 9/16" or 1/2" shallow gouge with a spiral grind for doing the outside
a 3/8" or 1/2" shallow gouge for the foot and beads
a 1/2" or 5/8" V flute Thompson for the inside (depending on the side of the bowl)
a 3/4" to 1 1/4" "Raffan" profile scraper for the bottom inside of the bowl.

But, I have also used just a 1/2" shallow gouge and a 3/4" "Raffan" profile scraper for bowls up to 10". For little 3" bowls, just a 3/8" shallow gouge.

Fog

 

[Bill Blasic]

I have no problem doing the entire bowl with the Thompson 5/8 V with the exception of the foot where I use a tool that I ground to an approx 45° to fit in the angle of my Nova chucks. If I have any problem with the transition area at the bottom of the bowl I just turn that gouge on its side and slide it from the bottom out.
Bill

 

[Bill Grumbine]

Four tools if we are using a straight sided chuck, five for a dovetailed chuck. A 1/2" bowl gouge, a 3/16" diamond shaped parting tool, a 1/16" parting tool, and a carving gouge can be used to turn from rough slab to finished piece. For dovetailed chucks, add a vee point scraper. This is the basic class. Beads, coves, and all that other stuff come after people get the hang of making the various cuts I show them.

 

[Mark Warden]

I use a 9/16" or 1/2" shallow gouge with a spiral grind for doing the outside
Fog

What is a spiral grind ?

 

[rsser]

It's what you get with a catch on the dry grinder 😉

 

[Fog Tanner]

Mark,
You can use a 1/2", 9/16" or 5/8" shallow gouge, I would be using a 5/8" except that Thompson was out of them at the time. The spiral grind is an asymetrical grind I got from Raffan in a workshop with him. The gouge has two different profiles and bevels. The left hand side (when looking down from above across the rest) has a long profile, much like the swept back grind you have seen on deep fluted gouges. The right hand side has a normal fingernail grind profile you find on a shallow gouge. For my use I use 40 degrees on the right hand side, and 45-50 on the left hand side. You can't really duplicate the grind using a jig, although I have managed to come close using my Tormek jig. Raffan shaped a tool for me and I have been using that as a guide since.

The gouge is used in a pivoting motion through the wood using the left hand side. It starts with the flute facing 9:00 and the shaft horizontal. Once the edge enters the wood, the flut is roled to forty five degrees and the shaft angled up about thirty degrees. This presents the edge at forty five degrees to the wood. The pivoting arch turns into a pulling cut once you have the corners removed. The right hand side of the gouge is used in a pushing cut. For some (like me) it is easier to control and guide when using a push cut. With a bit of practice you can go from the pulling cut to a push cut by dropping the handle and rotating the tool - all in one motion.

This is the method that Raffan used to rough/finish the outside of bowls. He uses a shallow gouge on the outside as you are never that far off the rest and the price of steel is cheaper. You also don't have to sharpen your deep fluted gouges as often. The shallow gouge also has another advantage of not clogging as readily as a deep fluted V shaped gouge.

For the inside he uses a spiral grind deep fluted gouge. It is ground similar to the shallow gouge with two different profiles and bevels. I have one of those two and use it. It saves from having two different tools laying around.

Fog

 

[hockenbery]

Hi all,

The main division of thought seems to be the parting tool. The majority seem to favor it.

I don’t include a parting tool. I prefer using a spindle gouge for turning the tenons. It is one tool that can true the right angle for straight jaws and make a dovetail. The spindle gouge leaves a cleaner surface. Also when I reverse chuck the spindle gouge can be used to finish turn most of the bottom and even to cut the last bit away.
My first project in a beginning bowl class is a carving mallet turned between centers with a bowl gouge and spindle gouge. Once students get the part about the cutting edge is the last thing to touch the wood they do fine.
tool on the tool rest,
bevel on the wood not cutting,
roll the cutting edge into the wood

I include the round nose scraper because I like for students to do their first sharpening with this tool. I also think they should learn how to use it. About ½ the students need a little touch up on the bottom of the bowl until they gain the tool control to ride the bevel all the way to the bottom in continuous curve.

Mike, In my bowl classes I emphasize the open bowls generally a little wider than hemispheres 10 d x 4.5 H for a salad bowl and shallow natural edge bowls. It is my philosophy that deep bowls are for intermediate classes. My usual solution for deeper bowl is to grind the heel from the side ground gouge leaving a short bevel. Using this tool and a shear cut with the flute pointing straight up can finish most bowls to the center with the bevel riding. The degree tool is a useful one for deep bowls.

Doug,
I can turn a cylindrical tenon and finish the bottom of a bowl held on a vacuum chuck using only ½ bowl gouge. So I believe it with qualifications.
I have never turned a dovetail tenon with my bowl gouge. I also reverse chuck with the tail stock and I can cut the supporting pin much smaller with a spindle gouge and cut if off cleanly with a spindle gouge.

Happy turning,
A.