Recommend a bowl gouge for me

[Derek Gilmer]

My little harbor freight turning set is serving me pretty well. But Mark loaned me a nice bowl gouge (name with held for now) that works much better than anything in the set for the inside of bowls. Not surprising since there isn't a bowl gouge in there. One of the generous gifts from my better half was a blank piece of paper saying "bowl gouge". I would prefer to keep the price under $100 if possible. But if it is one of those cases where $150 gets a tool that is much better than $100 and will last for a few years of sharpening I'm ok with that.

Details about my turning that may inform the choices:
My lathe for the foreseeable future is a delta 46-460 so bowl size won't get bigger than 12" outside diameter.
I've got a woodcraft slow speed grinder with stock wheels, no plans for a CBN wheel soon.
I've got a wolverine + varigrind to sharpen with.
I plan to use the celtic grid.
Most of the woods I turn are local green blanks of ash, cherry, walnut or cedar. But fancy blanks are possible occasionally.
At least for now I'd like one with a handle, never turned a handle before and not sure starting on my first bowl gouge is the best choice.

So what says the spinny wisdom of the creek?

[Alan Trout]

I would suggest the 1/2"V Thompson bowl gouge. It is simply put the best value gouge on the market. It will work from a small bowl to a big bowl and it has excellent steel with a very forgiving and effective flute profile and it can be had for about $55. But you will have to make a handle.

Alan

[Scott Hackler]

Derek,

Here's a few options:

Sorby 3/8" (same as a 1/2" in the USA) will run you $76.50
Crown PM 3/8 (same as 1/2" in the USA) is $47
Glaser 1/2" is $159
Thompson 1/2" with a 16" aluminum handle will cost $100
Thompson 1/2" steel only and you make your own wood handle is $45 for the steel

Thompson and Glaser's steel is harder than Sorby. Crown is a bit harder than the Sorby. I own several Thompsons and Sorbys. I really like the edge holding of the Thomsons but use my 3/8" Sorby more than any other tool, just because I learned on it and its "comfortable". But I am slowly weening myself away from it and want to embrace a similar Thompson for the edge holding advantage. Glaser, according to the people who own them, are a very nice tool but I don't have any personal experience with them. They are a little pricey though.

[Curt Fuller]

I would suggest the 1/2"V Thompson bowl gouge. It is simply put the best value gouge on the market. It will work from a small bowl to a big bowl and it has excellent steel with a very forgiving and effective flute profile and it can be had for about $55. But you will have to make a handle.

Alan

+1 Probably as good an all purpose tool as you can get.

[Derek Gilmer]

I would suggest the 1/2"V Thompson bowl gouge. It is simply put the best value gouge on the market. It will work from a small bowl to a big bowl and it has excellent steel with a very forgiving and effective flute profile and it can be had for about $55. But you will have to make a handle.

Alan

Hmm for a price and steel quality like that I can learn to turn a handle.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Let's continue to broaden out the field... Even more so since the new Glaser are insanely over-priced.

If you want a reasonable bowl gouge, I would look into Benjamen's Best from Penn State Industries. You can get a set of three (3/8, 1/2 and 5/8) for $52, the 1/2 inch is $20. No, they are not high-end, but you are still learning, right? Better to waste off cheap steel on the grinder then expensive. The additional advantage here is you can put different grinds with different bevels, wasting steel, learning what you need and what you want to do, cheap.

Then spend real money on a good gouge, you will notice the difference

Another good source of tools is D-Way, Dave's M42 steel is very nice (as are his CBN wheels)

[John Keeton]

Derek, I have several Thompson tools, and they are good quality. His 1/2" V gouge was my first "good" gouge, and it is considerably shorter than when purchased. Doug is a good guy, and makes good tools.

Having said that, I also have Dave Schwietzer's (D-Way Tools) 1/2" gouge (M42 Cobalt as Ralph indicated), and I am finding it to be my favorite. It is a different flute profile than is the V Thompson, and seems to work well for the type of work I do. In addition, it holds an edge as well as the Thompson - sometimes I feel even a little longer. It also seems to be sharper off the wheel (CBN from Dave) and the polished interior flute seems to help, as well.

I don't want to take away from Doug's Tools - I love his detail gouges, and I have a 3/8" bowl gouge that is a much used tool, as well. A lot of this is using a few of them and settling into what suits you. And, as with me, over time, the manner in which you use a gouge may alter your preferences.

[Bill Wyko]

I have to disagree with you Ralph. The Glaser mini set work every bit as well as bigger tools and they run about $77.00 bucks each. In addition, any tool you have to buy a handle for is going to have added expense. Glaser tools aren't for the person looking for "Cheap" tools. They are for the person looking for the best quality for an affordable price. OR you can buy tools that end up like this. These were over $100.00 and look where it got me. Glaser never intended to be the cheapest tools on the market, they set out to be the best you can get for the money you spend. IMNSHO they achieved this hands down. Bottom line is, spend the money once and never be let down. Or buy something inferior and have it let you down at the least opportune time. I always tell my audio customers, buy the good stuff a little at a time and get what you really want. You'll be glad you did in the end. One more thing, see this broken parting tool, imagine what that tip could have done if it were to stick you in the chest. When that tool broke, I decided no more wood handles. That could have killed me. That makes Glaser cheap at twice the price.

(Notice how little of the tool went into the gouges handle) BTW that's a Crown ProPM.

[Bill Wyko]

I would also recommend that what ever tool you get, get one with a dampened handle. It makes a world of difference when you turn thin. It's very forgiving if you hit as knott or a spot that would normally cause a catch. They will motor right through.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Everyone here have offered valid reasons to purchase various tools... but I agree with Ralph. Check out Penn State Ind and buy one gouge to learn on and it will be at a price that won't break the bank. Then when you know what it is you want to turn, then check into Doug's, Dave's or Paulo's tools!

[David E Keller]

For under a hundred, I'd get the 1/2 and 3/8 V tools from Thompson... Handles are dead easy to make. If you don't want two gouges, I'd get the 1/2 and spend the extra money on an after-market handle. I have one from Thompson and one from Monster, and I do like the feel of the handles better than the wooden ones I own. I've never owned the Benjamin's best tools, but they seem to be a heck of a bargain. Certainly, there's no right answer to your question, so you'll have to go with your gut on this one.

[Harvey Ghesser]

What Bill said...

[Joe Watson]

Im new to wood turning as well and was gonna post something similar to this and Steve Schlumpf:

If you want a reasonable bowl gouge, I would look into Benjamen's Best from Penn State Industries. You can get a set of three (3/8, 1/2 and 5/8) for $52, the 1/2 inch is $20. No, they are not high-end, but you are still learning, right? Better to waste off cheap steel on the grinder then expensive. The additional advantage here is you can put different grinds with different bevels, wasting steel, learning what you need and what you want to do, cheap.

Then spend real money on a good gouge, you will notice the difference

I have a home made wolverine varigrind jig and its nice to play around with different grinds and not feel too bad that in a couple months the gouge will probably be a 2"s long Later down the line i will a few good tools when i know what i really want.

Good luck with your decision.

_

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Ralph and Steve. I started out with the 3 bowl gouges from PSI. I have since gotten several Thompson gouges but still find myself picking up the PSI gouges about as often. They do hold a pretty good edge and if you mess up the grind and have to redo it or ruin it, it doesn't break the bank.

[Bill Wyko]

I still have to say, the weighted handle in my Glaser truly brought my skill level up a notch. I'm able to turn much thinner than ever before and less catches. It works similar to a flywheel on a motor. Rather than a catch jerking the handle abruptly, it dampens the cut so it just slices right through. I've never used Thompsons or some of the others mentioned so I can't give you an opinion on those. But I can say the difference from my Crown ProPm wood handles to to my Glaser weighted handled tools is truly night and day. When it comes to sharpness, even when I'm turning Gabon Ebony, the tool stays sharp throughout the whole project.
I do recomend getting yourself the tormek TTS100 and the universal gouge jig asap. I never guess at a grind. Those two are more expensive than the tools being discussed here but you'll never screw up a gouge to begin with. That gauge takes all the guess work out of sharpening. Even does an Elsworth grind perfectly and skews too. In addition, there are about 2 dozen other grinds you can set it up to do with dead accuracy. I ordered a Glaser V10 to specifically put an Elsworth grind on and even reshaping it, it came out perfect in a few minutes. IMHO a tool that will most likely last for my lifetime in the range of the Glaser tool line up, is a pretty good investment. I forgot to mention, I've had other Crown tools fall out of the handle over time too. Just not confident in wood handles anymore. Afteral, what's "cheaper" in the end? $50.00 tool with a 1 or 2 year life expectancy? Or a $200.00 tool you can pass down through generations? I plan on turning for at least another 30 years or more. (If I don't kick the bucket)
Bottom line is, everyone posting in this thread are very talented turners and devoted to their tool of choice from experience. They wouldn't be if the tools didn't perform. It'll be up to you to decide which tool you feel will suit your needs and go the duration. Just another aspect of the wonderful thing we all call........the Vortex!

Here's a link for the sharpening jigs. It can easily be adapted to your sharpener.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VP9SPmVnqA