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Thread: Incannel vs. outcannel gouges

  1. #1
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    Incannel vs. outcannel gouges

    Two questions:
    (1) What are the common uses for each
    (2) Can I "convert" from one to the other by simply regrinding?

  2. #2
    I'm no expert, but I believe incannel gouges are used when you need to do the equivalent of paring but with a curved profile. You want to keep the gouge flat while you make your cuts. For that, you need the cutting edge on the outside of the gouge.

    Regular gouges, which are beveled on the outside of the sweep, are used for normal carving operations where you can raise the tool to make the cut. In carving you "ride the bevel" to control the depth of cut. If an incannel gouge was used for regular carving operations, you wouldn't have the control you have with standard gouges.

    I don't see any reason you couldn't convert one to the other, just be careful not to overheat the steel. Most gouges are plain old carbon steel so if you blue the steel, you blew it.

    Mike
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 10-07-2009 at 1:46 AM.
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  3. #3
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    To expand a little on what Mike said, one thing I have noticed is an incannel gouge can do a straight line, but is not good doing curves. An outcannel gouge can "ride the bevel" around a curve.

    jim
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
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  4. #4
    In-cannel gouges excel at paring a concave curve. Conversley, out-cannel gouges are for paring convex curves.

    In paring situations, you want to make a cut parallel to the surface being pared (and perpendicular to the face). Using a gouge with the bevel on the wrong side would mean angling the tool severely, making accurate paring difficult at best, because you would be referencing the cut off of the bevel of the tool, not the flat side. Having the bevel on the proper side of the gouge (opposite of the reference side) allows you to make a vertical plunge cut, perpendicular to the face of the board, thereby making an accurate, square paring cut.

    Consider the table apron below.

    In-cannel vs. Out-cannel Gouges.JPG

    In-cannel gouges additionally are best for coping operations such as where two sections of molding meet at an inside corner like you might have in the gallery of a secretary or on a block front chest. These junctions are best coped rather than mitered to prevent an ugly separation of the corner during seasonal movements (not as obvious in a coped joint as a mitered joint), plus coping is easier than getting a precise, gap free miter.

    Because the area being coped is typically concave, the incannel gouges work best. Think of the thumbnail profile on the inside edge of a cabinet door frame of a raised panel door. This joint is done with cope and stick bits with a router. However, in hand work, the rail is tennoned into the stile and the molded edge on the inside of the door frame meets at an inside corner. It's much easier to cope this joint instead of mitering it. It makes for a tighter fit and is less finicky to get right than an inside miter.

    Of course if the molding is a complex series of convex and concave curves, it's easiest to use both in-cannel and out-cannel gouges together, using the in-cannel to cope the concave curves and the out cannel to cope the convex curves.

    In-cannel and Out-cannel gouges can also both be used for carving operations. We typically think of out-cannel gouges for carving and this is generally true when we talk about relief carving of things like shells, B&C feet, acanthus knee carvings, etc. However, in doing larger, more sculptural type carving, like roughing in the shapes of a gooseneck molding on a bonnet top high chest, the out-cannel bench gouges (not thinner more delicate carving gouges) can be used to rough in the concave areas where the out-cannel will ride its bevel and the in-cannel bench gouges can be used to rough in the convex areas where the in-cannel will ride its bevel. Of course the convex areas can also be roughed in with a chisel.

    Regarding turning an out-cannel into an in-cannel by grinding, this can be done as long as the tool is not of the laminated design where the harder tool steel is laminated to a softer backing steel. In these tools, the harder tool steel would be on the wrong side of the curve if you were to regrind. However, as long as the tool is not laminated but rather one solid piece of tool steel, you should be able to regrind an out-cannel into an in-cannel.

    FWIW, I think in-cannel gouges are a very under-rated and under-used tool these days. Most of the time they are associated with patternmakers, however, there are plenty of uses for them in furniture making as well.

  5. #5
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    Harlan,

    As Robert says, coping work is where incannel gouges really shine.

    As for regrinding one to the other, I'd think it'd be easier to convert an incannel to an outie, but difficult to go the other direction because you'd have to be able to grind an inside curved bevel. (FWIW, Japanese incannel gouges have flat bevels and curved, not straight across, noses.)
    Last edited by Frank Drew; 10-07-2009 at 10:11 PM.

  6. #6
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    Norton makes a grinding wheel that's 1/8" thick. That makes grinding an in-cannel gouge quite doable. The wheel is reinforced, 24 grit, and carried by Joel at TFWW.
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  7. #7
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    Robert's explanation is great. It supports telling my wife that one of each is needed.

    jim
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Nickerson View Post
    Norton makes a grinding wheel that's 1/8" thick.
    Those narrow wheels are useful, critical even, if you're grinding your own shaper cutters; but, still, it's somewhat trickier grinding an incannel bevel than an outcannel one.

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