Which gouge for dressing a live edge slab?

[kooshball]

I have never done any carving but I have seen some nicely dressed live edge slabs that appear to have been done by a gouge. I will be working the live edge of a red oak slab soon and I think I will need a gouge; any suggestions on what size, type, brand, etc that I should seek out?

Thanks

 

[Bill Clemmons]

David, I'm not a carver, but we recently had a carving class here conducted by Mark Strom (Stave). If he doesn't respond to this thread, you might send him a PM and get his input. Just a thought.

Bill

 

[stave]

Don't know exactly what you mean by "dressing" an edge but I assume it means smoothing or cleaning up. What kind of gouge you use depends on the degree of smoothness or texture you want and how wide the edge to be worked is. The smoother the surface the lower the "sweep" or depth of cut gouge you will need. A #3 will give you a gentle surface much like a draw-knife while a #9 will give you deeper grooves and a heavy scalloped texture. I would think a # 7 or #8 would give you a medium texture that would depend greatly on how deep you cut and the size of the tool.

The width of the tool also determines texture. The small the width the smaller the texture. A 1" wide tool will cut deeper than a 1/2" tool. If you could give me more information about what you are trying to do I could probably be pretty specific about what you will need.

Stave

 

[kooshball]

Stave,

I am looking for a texture similar to (if not slightly less aggressive than) the one seen at the link below:
http://www.brandnerdesign.com/slab.html

Thx

 

[stave]

My guess is that the slab was done with a #8 or #9 in the 13mm plus range. To get s similar look with less depth a # 8 in the 7mm to 10mm range would give smaller grooves but similar texture. To get shallower grooves but a good texture a #7 in the 10mm to 14mm range would work. Just remember the larger the # the greater the radius (a #11 gouge is a U) and the larger the mm the deeper you and wider the cut.
If you are working oak then you will need a gouge you can hit with a mallet or you will have to replace the short handle with a longer handle to get the leverage you need. Hirsch, Stubai, Pfiel, or Two Cherries would be the brands I would recommend.

Hope this helps.

Stave

 

[kooshball]

This is good info; thanks.

 

[kooshball]

One more question; for this width (2.75") should I go with a straight shaft or a curved one?

 

[stave]

I would definitely go straight shaft. One question though...a gouge that wide is going to leave a cut that looks like an adze mark instead of a gouge mark. If it is a #3 it will be almost flat in terms of how the cut looks, a #5 will will more like an adze mark and anything with a deeper sweep will take real muscle and a heavy mallet to get through the wood and leave some really deep cuts.. I am also guessing this gouge will either be a Pfiel or a Lamp brand.

Stave

 

[kooshball]

Perhaps I should go with an easier gouge to drive by reducing the diameter to 7mm?

 

[stave]

If you can wait I will do a sample board for you tomorrow with several different gouges and post a picture tomorrow evening.

Stave

 

[kooshball]

Stave,

That would be awesome; I am in no hurry so please take your time.

Thanks!!

 

[Steve_Honeycutt]

Have you thought about trying a dremel tool or something like it? If you do not own one, the cost of the tool and the bit might be close to a chisel. I think it would be less effort, but messier. Instead of chips or shavings to clean up, it would produce more dust. It would depend on the size of the grooves you are looking for versus the size of the bits available.

Steve

 

[CarvedTones]

Steve,

I would be hesitant to try that with a rotary tool. The bits I have that would do that in a reasonable amount of time would not leave a surface that looked that nice and would have to followed up with a polishing bit (the "stone" ones are best at that). They are also hard to control; the bits that can cut trenches like that are "grabby", or at least the ones I have are.

Dave,

I like that look. It is sort of the reverse of quilted wood; at a little distance, quilted wood can look 3D, where in this case the 3D treatment kinda looks like quilted wood from a distance.

Mark (Stave),

The gouge marks on the linked picture appear to be thought out, not just a random pattern and not all aligned. Am I reading too much into it or do you think it purposefully follows natural contours or flows from the grain on the top surface?

 

[stave]

I am not sure what the intent was with the gouge marks and the picture is not detailed enough to see but it looks like he is going with the top grain in most places.

Rotary tools will not work with the oak. I have large burrs with air powered grinders and they burn oak no matter the speed. Woods like mahogany do well but it is surprising how many woods will burn.

Here are a couple of pictures, I hope they work. The tools were mallet driven to the full depth of the tool. It was hard to photograph them as we just had a rain storm and the light was terrible. Hope they work.

Stave

 

[kooshball]

Stave, those photos are perfect for showing the impact of each tool. For scale, approximately how tall are those test boards?

Again, thank you for your help!

 

[stave]

The board is 5" wide. Glad it helps you out.

Stave