I've got a friend that has a machine shop that I've asked about making some gouges for me from pre hardened M-2 steel. I'm wanting to have them cut so they are double ended with a 1" center flat section for set-screws in aluminum handles.
Question is, how long should they be on either side of the 1" center flat? What's the average length of a new gouge from the base of the handle to the tip of the cutting edge?