Richard Raffan shapes and sharpens a spindle gouge

[@user-cy3nw6ze6x]

Richard l have been watching you since Christmas and it's a pleasure to watch the ease at which you work. Keep making those glorious streaming shavings for years to come and thanks for imparting your knowledge.

[@msmith3537]

I bought a Sorby set to get started turning. Was getting frustrated with the spindle gouge performance. Considered buying another tool. Your video was a big help!

[@terryyancy3957]

I really appreciate your videos. Thanks for taking the time in making them. I learn so much from watching them.

[@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173]

I've started freehand sharpening my detail and regular spindle gouges after watching your vids. I have been using a jig to get a lot of basic shapes at first, but then got into freehanding it. Well these are fairly inexpensive tools, but just today I roughed out an easter egg box with them and I think they work just fine like this. And I can keep my platform on for sharpening scrapers too.

[@edwardchapman1914]

I do a fare amount of furniture and architectural spindle stuff, not so much bowl stuff.. but I cannot imagine messing around with a jig to sharpen spindle gouges or skews. I can imagine a bowl turner needing repeatability, But for me a quick step to the grinder is much more important than jig accuracy. Thank you for your videos, you are like the practical version of the mad professor and fun to watch and listen too as well.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Yes! speedy sharpening is essential when turning for a living. I can resharpen a gouge using a jig in under 20 seconds, but that's way to slow when I can touch up an edge freehand in about six seconds.

[@tallerpinocho]

great demonstration. I like the spirit of your videos. Fresh and simple. Its a great approach in these times, for confused beguinners with a lot of products. Thanks Richard and Dave

[@markb8954]

Agree. No fancy jigs, no proper depth. Pretty much straight forward shaping & sharpening. Nice tip with the sandpaper - i too do this, but thought i was “cheating”. Great content.

[@williesimmons8839]

Enjoying these videos. You make things look easy and give great instructions while turning. Keep them coming.

[@jayscott306]

Fine lesson. I appreciate the real time pace of the video, but only because your camera operators are fantastic at switching angles and pulling focus. That and the excellent audio. So much easier to get the most out of the experience and knowledge offered when production is at least not a distraction. Freezing a frame, or slowing down the video, has real value in this sharpening lesson.

[@davesegalcairns]

Thank you Jay.

[@markhunt6177]

I was expecting something more complicated. Quick and easy works for me.

[@masjabrikdiy8422]

hello friends greetings healthy and successful always. Thank you for sharing knowledge and always faithfully watching your latest stuff.👏👏

[@knightlylad]

Thank you very much.

[@danielemanuele5827]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It has been such a help for me. What grit CBN wheel is ideal for reshaping? Is 180 sufficient with a 350 grit for fine tuning after? Thank you, Da

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I no longer have this old grinder with its 80-grit wheels: it blew up on me. I use tools straight off an 80-grit CBN wheel and reshape on the 80-grit carborundum wheel that came with my new grinder. A 36-grit carborundum wheel would be more efficient.

[@bobbergman9467]

Richard, I have seen you use a spindle gouge on small bowls. When I tried this I had trouble when hollowing the inside, the tool wanted to skate off to the side. What bevel angle do you sharpen to? Thanks for all the effort you have put into sharing your knowledge. Bob

[@tomislavtomasicwoodturning]

Great video, just order 12mm bar spindle gouge from Crown, is that Hamlet 12mm bar or flute? English have one measurment and the rest of the world different style of size😀

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

12.5mm bar, 11mm flute

[@DigitalNative01]

what angle do u grins ur bevels to with a roughing gouge if you dont mind me asking?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I put 45° bevels on the nose of most of my tools, both gouges and scrapers.

[@patrickgibbons9179]

Some prefer a 45’ bevel on a spindle gouge and others go shallower. In this video you made no mention of angles and it doesn’t appear to be important to your method. Would you please comment. Thank you in advance. I learn so much from your videos. They are greatly appreciated.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

The angle depends in part on what you're using the spindle gouge for, and then on the wood you're turning. Turning beads or grooves on a spindle needs an included angle near 30° so you can get into narrow spaces. For spindles and the ⅜-in gouge I use for detailing and cutting beads on bowls I've about 30°.For roughing bowl profiles it's much nearer 45°. As always there is no precise rule: it depends what you're doing. There's more on all this sort of thing in my books.

[@archiehebron8944]

I use a high speed grinder and frequently, due to my inexperience, I blue the tips of my tools. I was recommended to dip the tools in water. I think I heard you say not to. Can you explain?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Dunking blued carbon steel isn't recommended because that causes micro splits on a tool's edge. This seems not be be an issue with High Speed Steels (HSS) which you can dunk. If you're bluing HSS don't worry. The blue vanishes with a bit of honing.

[@archiehebron8944]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning thanks for reply. I appreciate it very much. Also, I've been watching as many of your spindle gouge videos as I can in order ti get comfortable with using my 3/8 fingernail for hollowing small boxes and such. You're pretty awesome.

[@MD-en3zm]

Are you not supposed to quench hss in water?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

The advice is not to quench HSS in water, although I've never noticed that affecting a tool's performance.

[@MD-en3zm]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning I’ll have to adjust my approach then - I didn’t know that. Perhaps it makes it brittle.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@MD-en3zm I believe quenching produces micro splits that affects the milling of metal but have little effect when cutting wood.

[@lowprofilepersonwithbigbra669]

Oh your tool already got hot burns, need to heat treatment again old man

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Not true!! You can blue HSS without compromising the temper provided you don't quench it.

[@joebloggs6556]

You just burnt your tool by making it blue ruined the temper.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

My tools are HSS and blueing the tool isn't an issue. Bluing a tool only affects carbon steel.