There are many curved areas on a sailing ship enabling the smooth passage of rope(s).What I'm curious about is how and for what activities a gouge like this was used?
jtk
Contributor
There are many curved areas on a sailing ship enabling the smooth passage of rope(s).What I'm curious about is how and for what activities a gouge like this was used?
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
I'm not 100% sure, but I think this is an incannel gouge. It's not a carving tool.
There's a video link I'll post in a bit. Shows an incannel gouge in action.
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This is a plane maker fitting the handle. Notice how after he's seated the handle in the mortise he uses a gouge to quickly remove excess material. He doesn't use a flat chisel, probably the wrong tool for the job. The gouge is used like a scrub plane.
https://youtu.be/MY7TBCMCYdo?t=350
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You could do this work with either kind of gouge. You can tell by the angle of attack that the bevel is on the inside.Originally Posted by Rafael Herrera
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Agreed
I can't tell if it's an in or an out by the photo "Looks" like an out to me.
Could someone confirm
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Another thought I had is that the plane maker seems to have pared off a chunk on the far side (with a flat chisel) and then used the gouge, presumably to avoid tear out.
I should try this type of joint and see how it works.
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I was after details on specific uses. There certainly are curved areas, for example, the sides of a boat are curved, but those are bent boards, I don't think those were worked with a gouge.
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Of course not. But there are blocks that pass ropes. Often along the railings there are open areas where lines can be passed or secured. Sometimes the rail would be supported on balusters (turnings) sometimes the would be ovals cut into a plank with a rail on top. These would be used to pass lines for tying up to a dock. They could also be used to secure cargo.
Sailing ships tended to have a lot of ornamental work that also served a utilitarian purpose.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
The video of the planemaker fitting the handle on the plane was fascinating. Judging by the number of old, well-used gouges that I see in tool chests, antique stores, etc., they seem to have been used quite a bit. I understand why pattern makers used in-cannel gouges for the controlled radius, but apart from ornamental carving (and those tools have subtle differences) I'm not aware of how out-cannel gouges were used. Making blocks for sailing vessels I get. But I don't imagine that accounts for the numbers that are there.
Back in the days when tool merchants sold quality tools, I used to see firmer gouges sold regularly. I never gave much thought to just how these tools were used in flat work. I suppose to waste excess stock quickly? while controlling splitting at the edges. Like as Raphael suggests a scrub plane for tight spots?
I use gouges all the time in carving to waste wood away quickly, it hasn't occurred to me to use it for other purposes outside of carving. Interesting.
DC
Last edited by David Carroll; 08-19-2023 at 8:45 AM.
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Many sailing ships had ornate/carved woodwork all over the ship. Besides, ship carpenters may have enjoyed carving during their off time.Making blocks for sailing vessels I get. But I don't imagine that accounts for the numbers that are there.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Just use them like a regular chisel when you register off the flat back. Regular gouge for convex work, in canal for concave work. Grooves for sheaves, grip surfaces for railing, anywhere where ropes run through inside surfaces, chocks, cleats anywhere running lines pass through wood. Nice straight runs of reeding can be done with long pattern makers gouges. They work nice for bead carving, defining the circumference.
Jim
Contributor
A carving gouge is out-cannel. The one in the picture I took is an in-cannel type and about 2" wide. Unlikely to be a carving tool.
Here's another example of in-cannel gouge use.
https://youtu.be/FZT5vWaJUvw
Here's a wooden block, there are many other types if one searches under "sailing wooden block". I'm no sailor or boat builder, but from this example, a 2" wide gouge seems unlikely to be needed, perhaps a smaller one to cut the rope channels.
depositphotos_1977709-stock-photo-sailing-pulley.jpg
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Fair point. I was just wondering if the use of a out-cannel firmer gouge found more use in general carpentry (house building as opposed to cabinet and furniture building) back in the day as a way to get rid of a lot of waste wood quickly, instead of sawing, for times when you want more control than with an axe or hatchet, but don't need to remove so much that you would use an adze.
This conversation reminds me of a house that I looked at to buy, back in the 1980s. It was in Northfield Mass. Build in c. 1760, it had stayed in the same family until it went up for sale. It was in almost untouched condition and was one of the most beautiful examples of colonial era "vernacular" building that I had ever seen, before or since. This was a farmhouse, built with materials found on-site and not fancy at all. But rough and charming all the same.
I was (and still am) interested in Colonial era building and looked at the house in detail. The first floor joists, visible from the cellar, were logs hewn flat to accept the random width pine flooring, which was both thick, and varied in thickness. To make the whole thing planar, the bottom faces of the floorboards had, in places, been relieved, cross-grain, with an adze (I guessed) to account for the rough hewn, rived, and sometimes pit-sawn stock where they mated with the joists. But it wasn't notched out with a saw and then chiseled flat, it looked like the edges were faired in over an inch and a half (approximately). I assumed it was done with an adze. I remember thinking that the adze used had an unusually tight sweep, but now I wonder if it might well have been a large firmer gouge.
Barr Tools, along with their timber framing chisels and slicks makes a large gouge, and I wonder if these tools found more common use in housebuilding (and ship building).
DC
Contributor
That is a small block. The rope sizes to handle rigging guns and mooring on a sailing ship could be the smallest at 1” and the largest 8” to 10”. The opening in in chock is about double the rope size so a 4” rope 8” chock. Sheave for a block for gun handling could easily be 3” or more. Remember they used hemp for rope not nylon so double the size for strength.
Jim
Contributor
It's my understanding that In cannel gouges have many functions. From being used as the next step down from an adze, to faring curves to patternmaking.
Depending on the shape and size, of which there are many, they have the ability to remove large amounts of material quickly, without the danger of dig-ins associated with straight chisels or out cannel gouges. Hogging out large mortises and the ability to cut accross grain at the while simultaneously controlling depth of cut are just a couple of reasons why they were so widely used.
In shipbuilding, they were used for just about every task you could imagine.
I only have one in cannel gouge but the more i use it the better I like it
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