New Bowl Gouge Vid on Wood Mag's website

Jeff Bower

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Brian Simmons, a really great turner and a great guy, has a new vid on Wood Mag's website. I worked with him while he was the Asst. Manager at the Woodsmith Store. Video is very straight forward and best of all it is free! Just over 17 minutes long....there is another new one for sharpening a bowl gouge on there as well, but I haven't watched it yet.

Bowl Gouge Tech Video
 
Cool vid, especially for anyone who'd just starting to get familiar with a bowl gouge. Thanks for the link, Jeff.
 
Good one!

I watched it just this morning, and I kinda like it. I actually liked the sharpening video better, and I found it interesting that he was using a traditional bowl gouge. Most people now seem to buy tools with the newer style flutes (designed for fingernail grinds), and I am curious to find out the differences in cutting action. Thanks for the link!

Hutch
 
Excellent videos. The bowl turning demo was the best I have seen. Simple explanations and visuals. Some videos I have seen left me wondering what was being done and the explanations were poor. I must say, his wood was really soft.
The sharpening video left a couple areas fuzzy. The Wolverine instructions say to leave 1" of a bowl gouge sticking out from the vari-grind jig. He said 1 3/4" but did not say if that was his personal recommendation or for another reason.
I still am not clear on what angle the vari-grind should be set at. Mine was about half-way when I got it and haven't changed. He sets his almost parallel to the front edge. Why? And wats best?
My personal take is that it doesn't matter. Sliding the rest in or out can change the angle to suit ones personal needs.
 
Jeff,

Thanks. I ran across that one a couple of weeks ago, and being a newbee turner, it helped me immensely. I've recently received my DVD from Bill Grumbine titled "Turned Bowls Made Easy" and it's my favorite by far! Bill really goes into what seems to be all aspects and is fun to watch, to boot. I'd definitely recommend it.

Frank,

I know what you mean about the proper setting. I recently bought a couple of Doug Thompson gouges and in his shipping docs he has a picture of the Vari-Grind so the end user can more readily mimic the grind he is putting on the bowl gouge. The leg, if swung all the way out to the front of the jig (to where it almost makes a 90 degree angle with the gouge) and then swing it back to the point where the outside edge of the leg (think about the leg swinging up parallel to the tool and the edge farthest from the tool) you want to see the first notch and almost the beginning of the second notch closest to the front of the jig (as established earlier). That is what seems to be his "sweet" spot and I like the way it cuts. Doug also mentions to extend the tool 1 3/4 inches out from the end of the jig. Just info that you or others might choose to use. Hope this didn't cause more confusion.

Regards,
 
You can print this page out (thanks to Doug Thompson) for a full-scale example of the angle he uses and recommends. I use the "hole drilled in a block of wood" approach for setting the depth, and just set the angle to match Doug's recommendation.

Frank F, you're right that sliding the rest in and out will change the angle of the grind, but changing the angle of the Wolverine tool holder will vary the profile of the swept-back wings.
 
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