gouge for slab edge texturing?

[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

I do not own any gouges and have never done any carving so I have ZERO experience in this area when it comes to tool selection (or technique for that matter).

I have a 2.75" thick oak slab being dried that I will turn into a coffee table; one side of this has a live edge on it that I wish to preserve. I have seen a couple of slabs in fine restaurants that appear to have the edge carved with a gouge of some sort to give it a nice texture; this is what I want to replicate.

That said, any recommendations on gouge radius (or are they measured in diameter), cross-section shape; brand, etc??

Thanks for the help!

Bruno

[Mark Yundt]

Hi Bruno.
I'm not sure how deep you want the gouge marks to appear but I have used a #7 ( Pfeil Swiss made numbering) to achieve a nice chiseled look on many pieces I've done.
Something in the #5 range will also work, but being a flatter chisel the marks won't be quite as pronounced. Going to a #8 and above will give you much deeper looking marks. Now much of this will depend on how wide the chisel is as well as how deep you allow the chisel to "dig in". These two examples aren't the best for seeing the effect but hopefully it'll give you at least some idea.
The veil on Mary was done with a #5/12 in short shallow strokes, and the left side of the Bishops shield was done with a #7/12 in much deeper, longer strokes. When you click on the photos you can see a bit more detail.
Hope it helps.


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[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

The bishop's shield is much closer to what I had in mind. I could even see my requirements being one step coarser in texture since this will be a fairly casual coffee table.Thanks!