Reply To: Gouge bevel angle for hardwood?
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37 degrees sounds a bit steep to me but the short answer to the original question is that it can be anything that works. In reality, the angle is the agregate of what should be a very gentle curve.
Again the angles depend on the hardness of the steel – too shallow and it can chip the edge; the hardness of the wood – again a shallow angle can split rather than cut the wood and your own comfort. It’s not unknown for carvers to have more than one gouge in a popular size sharpened in different ways for different tasks.
Whatever your bevel angle, forget all you’ve learned about sharpening carpenter’s tools, chisels, plane irons and the like. You don’t want external micro bevels, hollow-ground bevels or defined backs. Carving tools perform a different funtion and are shaaped differently.
You can use a gouge for three basic cuts: a plunging cut, a continuous hollow groove or scooping cuts – for example bowls or spoons. If you look very closely at the tip and the bevel behind it on a well-used carvers gouge you see that it is a series of rounded curves.
The exact shapes of gouges are a personal preferences, but it is a complex shape, not a straight line.
When sharpening a gouge that is going to be used for a scooping cut, you form the cutting edge by rolling the edge from side to side along the stone, at the same time dropping the level so that the shoulder of the bevel becomes rounded. The idea is to have a continuous rounded bevel shape that will enter a cut, scoop it out and roll through at the same time in one motion. A smooth, rounded shoulder serves to burnish the cut as you follow through the stroke. Most carvers will also relieve the side wings of the gouge behind the corners to reduce the likelihood of splitting a deep cut.
Again, it is common to stone the inside bevel very lightly with a slip stone to remove the shapes of casting marks on the inside face of the gouge. The corners of the gouge are a personal matter – some carvers prefer sharp corners, others round them over.
It’s difficult to explain the exact process in words, but watching it done will remove any mystique. Have a look on You-tube for carving videos on gouge sharpening. I know that Chris Pye has some very good sharpening vids, but I’m not sure they are on his free site or you have to pay.
Hope this helps.