I want to thank you for all your help last week with my question about the finishing of the bottoms of bowls. I just watched your new videos on bowl turning & the Christmas ornament. I have developed a lot of respect for your skills and teaching ability. I learned a lot. I have turned maybe ten bowls since I began turning, and so far have been fairly happy with my progress. You may be surprised, but I have never used a bowl gouge. Partly because I have never been able to take any lessons in turning or watch anyone use one or have them watch me. Frankly they seem a little intimidating to me. All the bowls I've turned so far have been with a Sorby round edged scraper. I have learned to keep it very sharp and use it straight from the grinder, with the hook still on it. I have not had any mishaps or catches of a serious nature using this method. I have also used it to hollow a lot of end grain in small boxes. The only problem however is that, as you might guess, it causes grain tearout and results in a lot of unneeded sanding. After watching your video, and seeing how easy you made scraping with the side of your gouge look, I think I'm going to give it a try. I've heard people say that scrapers are more prone to catches and mishaps than gouges anyway. I have learned to use them less agressively and use them to shear scrape and that has helped a lot. My question is this: I am looking at the P & N bowl gouges in the Packard catalogue, and I hear that they are quality tools. Will their flutes take the kind of side grind you use on yours? I understand the advantages of that grind, and even more so after watching you use the gouge with that grind. I don't think I'll have any problems getting that grind, as I have a good grinder and the Oneway Varigrind jig and I'm fairly good at using it to get the shape and angles needed. If you have any suggestions on a better gouge I would be very happy to hear them. As always keep up the great videos. I really enjoy them, and learn a lot from them, as I'm sure everyone else does too. Have a great day!
