Question about fingernail profiles on gouges; any uses other than turning?

[Sean Rainaldi]

Hi,

Are there any reasons to have a fingernail profile on a gouge other than for wood turning? Like for hand carving, wood sclpture and such?

[Jim Becker]

Someone could opt for just about any kind of grind on a gouge that suite their specific creativity needs.

[Sean Rainaldi]

Can you think of any specific applications for a fingernail profile other than for lathe work? If so, what would a fingernail profile be useful for other than turning?

Also around what are the min and max bevel angles found on most fingernail profiles?

[Bill Houghton]

Years and years ago, Fine Woodworking had a little filler article in which they proposed fingernail grinds on regular chisels (the chisels they used were those ubiquitous yellow-handled Stanley carpentry chisels) to mimic gouges.

If you've got an extra gouge, why not try it and see what you learn, and then you can teach us?

[Sean Rainaldi]

Great will do.

What do fingernail profiles do for turners? Is it easier to make tight turns?

I was thinking that a fingernail profile would make it easier to cut small radii in wood carving or even circles...for general carving...

[Chuck Nickerson]

Standard gouge sharpening allows the blade to cut the surface of the wood before cutting the deeper material. In theory this helps prevent tearout.

Just the right degree of fingernailing would have the whole depth of cut happening at the same time.

Watching Peter Follansbee carve, I wonder if positive and negative fingernailing simplify some of his decorative cuts.

I guess I should get some cheap test gouges and give it a try.

[Bill Houghton]

Standard gouge sharpening allows the blade to cut the surface of the wood before cutting the deeper material. In theory this helps prevent tearout.

On that subject: Alexander Weygers, in his book, "The Making of Tools," a now out of print and highly prized book among blacksmiths, recommends what you might call a reverse fingernail grind (bitten-to-the-quick fingernail grind?), in which the "wings" of the gouge hit the wood before the center. His argument is that tearout is most likely to occur at the edges of a cut, and his recommended grind is designed to minimize such tearout. I have yet to get involved with carving, although it's on my list of Things to Try to Learn, but the argument makes sense based on my non-carving wood battering - pardon me, woodworking. The book is worth owning, even if you never intend to make your own tools, because it's chock full of handy little thoughts like that.

[Jim Koepke]

Many of my gouges have been purchased through auctions and garage sales.

Some of them have had fingernail grinds and other shapes cut. One was sow strange that I thought it had just been beat up a bit. As is my usual practice it was given a test in wood before being sharpened. It actually cut a cove with two beads. The previous owner must have used it for molding or something similar.

there are a couple of my gouges that I have left with their fingernail shape since they are close to being duplicates of others. One is a #3 sweep and the other is a #5.

They are useful upside down for smoothing convex details. They can also be used for cutting a cove narrower than the full width.

I have used them on my lathe even though they are not specifically lathe tools.

On a lathe, fingernail gouges are often called spindle gouges. They are useful for making details on spindles like those on the back of a Windsor chair.

jtk