Richard Raffan on gouges for turning bowls 

You clearly didn't read the righ books, Matt!! www.richardraffan.com.au/books-and-dvds/

Hi Richard, I an fairly new to turning, I am finding your videos so helpful, it is good that you can play them over and over again, because take awhile to fully grasp things. Cheers Garry

Stillnapie , I’ve been turning for well over 20 years and some days I think I’ve almost moved up to intermediate level. But yeah, still really a beginner here.

I rewatched my homework

I'll be making a video on mechanical chucks, and another on jam chucks. If your tenon is trued and the end flat to concave it should fit square into a chuck. I never expand a chuck in a mortice/rebate if I can avoid it. Gripping around a foot or tenon always provideds a superior grip whilst providing you with more design options.

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning awesome, looking forward to more of your videos!

When turning a profile a more open flute lets the shaving get away faster, whereas with some narrow deep fluted tools shavings can jam tight in the flute, especially when turning green timber. When hollowing you generally need a deep fluted tool for strength, especially when well over the rest. The Henry Taylor/Hamlet Super Flute is widely regarded as the best of the bowl-gouge profiles and then that is modified by the shape of the edge and bevel applied to the basic profile.

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thank you Richard, that makes sense and really helps.

Depends on the chuck. If a chuck is flat across the base and the tenon is turned flat, then the blank should seat properly in the chuck. Problems arise when the jaws dig into wood of varying density and pull the blank off center.

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning thanks. Your videos are excellent and it's great to see them all in one place, like all your books on my bookshelf. 🙂 Hopefully get to see you in person one day.

A symmetric grind will work but you'll present the gouge slightly differently. JIgs tend to produce a shorter and steeper bevel than I like on the left wing. A long near straight wing is much more grabby, whereas the covex curve shaving not as wide but thicker. The advantage of hand-grinding is that you can better control and vary the bevel angle. You'll see that in the sharpening a bowl gouge video.

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thanks. I started turning pens using Easy Wood Tools carbide tools and over the last year + have been learning to use traditional tools. It was a rough transition, especially since I had trouble keeping the tools sharp until I lucked into a complete Rikon/Wolverine system at an auction. I’ve tried freehand grinding with little /no success. I in the running to buy a box lot of turning tools in an online auction and if successful to get the one Thompson bowl gouge with a 20” heavy handle, the box contained another six various gouges that will be practice tools. Hopefully I’ll be able to perfect my freehand sharpening skills. Thanks for the informative videos. I’m just getting started on going through your RU-vid video list. Cheers, Tommy

You're meaning roughed bowls? Very basically, as a production bowl turner I used woods known for their stability like ash (whilst still in Britain), then jarrah, redgum, Tasmanain myrtle, and claret ash (in Australia). Really green bowls are put in a pile out of the sun for a few days to let the surface dry off, then into boxes for at least 6 months but preferably much longer. There's quite a bit about the whole process in Turning Bowls.

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning I will check it out. Thank you sir.

The 1-in./25mm shallow gouge is from the 1930s with a tapered tang, and never used until now. It was my father's. As a novice in 1970-71 I used similar Sorby gouges for a year or so because they were one quarter the price of a deep-fluted bowl gouge. Catching an unsupported edge was traumatic, but I also got 10-meter long shavings to drape around the workshop and I learnt a lot about slicing. Deep-fluted roughing gouges should never be used for facework and I don't have any.

I do it freehand ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-idB-z6--FAs.html. Matt Lewis has developed a jig but has yet to find a manufacturer willing to take it on.

I use traditional turning tools because they do a better job more efficiently than any carbide cutters I've encountered. Consequently I'd never recommend using carbide tools to turn wood other inside enclosed forms.

Seasoned timber suitable for bowls is virtually unobtainable, so as a bowl turner I rough turn all logs as soon as possible to get the most out of a log before it splits. If I'm fortunate enough to get green timber that's known to warp dramatically, then I'll make my Wavy Bowls and Tripod bowls. www.richardraffan.com.au/bowls-turned-green/ Mostly I've used timber that's relatively stable that I rough-turned green then re-turned when dry, usually several years later. Endgrain boxes are always turned from air-dried blanks at least five years seasoned.

Only in Canberra now. For 35 years I spent a couple of months teaching mostly in North America and Europe, but at 78 I'm no longer up to the long days of hands-on workshops and all-day demos. If you're in Canberra email me through www.richardraffan.com.au.

It's deep-fluted spindle-roughing gouges that are not recommended for facework. Deep-fluted spindle-roughing gouges are designed specifically for roughing centrework blanks with grain lying parallel to the lathe axis. Deep-fluted bowl gouges are designed for hollowing bowls where strength is required working well over the rest. Since 1970 I’ve used spindle gouges for turning bowl profiles. You don’t need the strength of a deep/fluted bowl gouge working close to the rest, so using a less expensive tool when the cut is close to the rest makes sense, at least to me.

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning It makes sense, thank you!