I’m looking at buying some old gouges (Buck Bros.) from a dealer and I asked how does he tell the sweep (curvature) of the gouge based on the numbering system, if it is not marked on the gouge. He said he had no idea.
I am looking at new gouges from Woodcraft, the Henry Taylor gouges….they are categorized by width and sweep.
How do I figure this without a chart or any markings on the tools?
Did the old-timers just eye it? How did they buy and sell gouges back in the day?
Thanks,
Erik.
Replies
I own a book that has the sweeps printed. You can find the same at your library and zerox the page. then place the chisel on the profile and determine the sweep number. With will be in mm.
The book being referred to is probably Woodcarving Tools, Material and Equipment, Volume 1, by Chris Pye. It has a chart of the Sheffield system for sizing gouges (not all manufacturers use the same system).
You can also make a stab cut with the unknown gouge into a piece of wood and compare it to known gouge sweeps (that assumes you have some gouges of known sizes/sweeps available for comparison).
It may not be that critical to know the exact size/sweep of the gouges you're buying depending on the kind of carving you're planning to do. I'm a novice myself but in my limited carving so far, I'm not sure I've ever reached for a particular gouge because of the number on it but rather have reached for the tool that looked like it would work for what I wanted to do.
Matt
"How do I figure this without a chart or any markings on the tools?"
You can't Eric. A 1/2" #7 has a different arc than a 5/8" #7. You need a chart. Charts are available through books and catalogs. Be aware that there are two sizing systems, Sheffield and Swiss. Both shunned the opportunity to make sizing systems sensible and there is a difference in the arcs between systems.
Lee
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