[Woodcarver] Gouges

[Ivan Whillock]

There are many types of gouges.  Some are designed for one-hand carving--palm handled tools, for example.  Others are designed for two-hand carving and mallet work.  Those you can identify by the fact that they have a shoulder that keeps the tool from being driven into the handle when it is malleted.

(You may even have some gouges that were intended for shop work--carpenter's chisels, or even turning tools.  Some of these might well have incurve sharpening.  These are not all that useful for carving.)

In the aggregate the tools are called chisels.  A gouge is a chisel that has a curve from corner to corner which is called the sweep.  The sweeps vary from almost flat (usually stamped with a #3) to U shaped (usually stamped with a #11).  The higher the number, 3-11, the deeper the sweep.  (A flat chisel is usually stamped with a #1, a skew or corner chisel with a #2.)

In general, you use the tool that will keep the corners clear of the wood.  If you are leveling a background, for example, you might use a #3 gouge, because that has just enough sweep to keep the corners clear, but not so deep that it makes grooves.  On the other hand, with a flat chisel--a tool that has no sweep--the corners would likely dig in.  When you make a deep cut, then, you would use a deeper sweep--again, to keep the corners clear of the wood.  (Some have a rule of thumb whereby they use a tool at no more than 3/4 its depth to always keep the corners clear and to never force a cut.)

There are three basic uses of a gouge.  (1) a concave cut--with the tool "rightside up," (2) a convex cut with the tool "upside down," and (3) a plunge cut--with the blade nearly perpendicular, as when you make a plunge stop cut.  As you see, you can make a wide variety of cuts with a single gouge.  (Efficient carving generally dictates that you use as big a tool as you can for the space or the shape, to avoid pick-picking at your project, which usually results in nervous, fuzzy edges.)

If the wood is good carving wood, and the tool is sharpened to a fine edge, you can make clean cross-grain cuts.  Those are big Ifs because sharpening a carving tool is an art of its own which takes some practice to perfect.  It's worth the time an effort to learn, however.

Most carvers avoid against-the-grain cuts because in the wrong direction the grain snags the tool down into the fibers and causes tearing.  If you feel that the tool is being pulled into the wood by the grain, reverse the direction of the cut.  If the cut is not then clean, take a good look at the sharpness of the tool.

Ivan Whillock Studio
122 NE 1st Avenue
Faribault, MN  55021
Visit my website at
http://www.whillock.com
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Charlie Briggs 
  To: [Woodcarver] 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 1:19 AM
  Subject: [Woodcarver] Gouges



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  Hey Guys & Gals of the list,

  I have a question in regards to using gouges that I am sure you can help me with. Over the years I have noticed that there is very little written about how to use gouges, there is plenty of info on how to sharpen them but not so much on when to use what gouge.
  If the answer would be so long winded and you tell me to buy a book, that's OK please  just tell what book to buy.

  *Is the answer as simple as using the flattest gouge that will work for you at that time?

  * Someone once told me that gouges are designed to cut across the grain, when I try that the wood usually splinters and chips.

  * Some gouges have a different angle or bevel at the cutting edge, what is the reason for that? Does it have something to do with the hardness of wood you are trying to carve that determines which angle you should use?

  *I have a few gouges that I inherited that have the bevel on the opposite side of the gouge, it is like the cutting edge is reversed. How and when would they be used?

  Thanks in advance for your help.

  CharlieB
  cbcarver12 at optonline.net



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