Large gouges

[greg Forster]

I'm sorting thru my hand tools accumulated over the past 20 yrs - downsizing
Finally going to get the opportunity to do more woodworking. My interest is 18th/early 19th c furniture with mainly handtools. I plan on getting rid of alot of molding planes- not the right kind for cabinet-making ( is it just me or has the $ on most common molding planes dropped in the last 10-15 yrs)Lots of side beads- should I keep a few of smaller sizes? Sell off most the complex molders too, I think , stick with H&Rs (Yes?No?) I have alot of large gouges- keep a few maybe or just not that useful ?

This isn't a sales pitch , I just want a more useful set of working tools and haven't done enough woodworking to know what is and isn't needed.

[John Eaton]

Most of the molding planes I see are made for joiners - the angle isn't conducive to cutting profiles in hardwoods. You might want to look at what you have and keep the ones with the higher angle as you might find a use for them. The planes with shallower angles you can probably let go. And yes it does appear that they have been getting cheaper - most that I have I picked up for $5 or less - of course none of those are rare profiles - mostly dado, rabbit, hollows and rounds, that kind of thing nor are they by rare manufacturers...

I've also found that the larger gouges aren't that useful - guess if you're not a pattern maker or have a specific task where they're needed, they mostly collect dust instead of making shavings... just my opinion though.

-- John

[Jim Koepke]

I have not yet gotten tired of accumulating gouges and different planes. It seems many do get a good price on eBay and other places.

Gouges do come in handy for shaping the ends of molding when coping into a corner. A perfect miter will look good until there is some movement of wood. That is when a coped joint will still look good.

Also, if you want to make some unconventional joints gouges can come in handy.

Here are some that I did as a trial:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=95360

If you decide to sell them, please send me a heads up PM if you list them here or on ebay. Others may like the same notice if they are interested.

Also for gouges, if you have a good straight on shot of the cutting edge so the sweep and size is easy to see, you will likely get more people interested and more bidders. I will likely hate myself for that bit of advise later.

If that is hard to do, just press them into wood or paper and take a shot of the mark it makes.

Same with the planes. If you can cut moldings with them, that will excite bidders more than just some of the standard shots of the side of the plane. It also gives the bidder an indication that it works well.

Good luck no matter what direction you decide to take.

jim

[Dave Anderson NH]

I have a number of large gouges both in and out cannel in the range of 1 1/4" to 2 1/2". They came in the family tool chest my father gave me. Over the years they have only been used once and that was to cut the semi-circular hole in the underside of the edge of my bench to accept the hub of my Emmert vice. Since my ancestors were shipwrights and house wrights, I would guess that they were mostly used for trimming trunnels and fine tuning the inside of round mortises. Not exaactly common operations for most of todays hand tool folks. YMMV

[David Keller NC]

I'm sorting thru my hand tools accumulated over the past 20 yrs - downsizing
Finally going to get the opportunity to do more woodworking. My interest is 18th/early 19th c furniture with mainly handtools. I plan on getting rid of alot of molding planes- not the right kind for cabinet-making ( is it just me or has the $ on most common molding planes dropped in the last 10-15 yrs)Lots of side beads- should I keep a few of smaller sizes? Sell off most the complex molders too, I think , stick with H&Rs (Yes?No?) I have alot of large gouges- keep a few maybe or just not that useful ?

This isn't a sales pitch , I just want a more useful set of working tools and haven't done enough woodworking to know what is and isn't needed.

As you get more into this, you may very much regret selling any of your molding planes, particularly the more complex profiles. While it is true that you can make just about any profile with a half-set of H&Rs, some rabbet planes, a pair of snipe bills and a pair of side rounds, it takes a good deal more time than making the profile with a complex molder.

That is why they exist - 18th and 19th century cabinet makers didn't have complex profiles because they were interested in collecting them.

One caution - you may wish to pick up a copy of A Guide to the Makers of American Planes before you decide to sell any. Common profiles by big factory makers such as Auburn Tool, Sandusky, and Ohio Tools aren't worth much more than their use value. But it isn't uncommon to occasionally find a plane made by an 18th century or early 19th century maker, and those are worth quite a bit to collectors. And e-bay is not the place to sell such tools - Martin J Donnely's Live Free or Die auctions or Clarence Blanchard's Brown auction will net you considerably more than the 'bay.