Dr Al's Latest Folly

[james butler]

also for harder woods if your making tools try using m42 hss
i have some gouges made from it and it really keeps an edge better than m2 hss

 

[Dr.Al]

if you like making bowls it would be well worth getting a bowl gouge and making a jig to be able to create a swept back fingernail grind
i have a 3/8 and 1/2 inch with this type of grind which allows you pretty much to make a bowl start to finish with one tool
if you need it i can try send you picks of the jig i have you may be able to knock one up?
love the progress

I've got a couple of bowl gouges. One of them is ground based on some videos from "turnawoodbowl" on youtube & that is, I think, a 55° swept back grind. I've used that one to make a few of the bowls (from start to finish) & it seems to work well.

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say I like making bowls. Turning is still a means to an end for me & I'd much rather have a hand plane in my hand. I made a lot of bowls last year just to teach myself how to do so. I'll definitely make one or two more to prove the lathe still works after all the stuff I've done on it recently, but I doubt I'll make many more after that.

also for harder woods if your making tools try using m42 hss
i have some gouges made from it and it really keeps an edge better than m2 hss

That's good to know. I can't remember (and I may never have known) what grade the HSS was that I used for the ones I've made so far (e.g. the hollowing tool / box scraper), but I'll bear it in mind if I'm looking for more.