I'm diving into hand carving a bowl and have a couple gouges to work with. Right now, I'm using a 20mm Pfeil gouge that has a 7 sweep, which is going well, but I recently picked up a 2 Cherries gouge on eBay. This one has a sweep of 9 and is noticeably wider and sturdier than the Pfeil. The issue I'm having is that I can't get the larger gouge to remove any wood. I sharpened it as soon as it arrived yesterday, but it doesn't seem to tear into the wood like the smaller one does. Since I'm fairly new to this, I'm guessing it might be my technique at fault. I'm reaching out for advice from anyone more experienced on how to use it effectively.
1 Answer
It sounds like your large gouge might not be sharp enough. Sharpening these types of tools can be tricky, especially if you got it secondhand. What sharpening method are you using? Just curious!
I'm rolling it on a stone then stropping. I do get a burr and the back looks shiny, but maybe I’m missing something.