"Norbert" wrote: (clip) There is a deeper gouge which seems to be designed
for this, called a roughing gouge strangely enough. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
By "there is," I guess you mean, "There exists," not, "I have." A roughing
gouge is intended for the exact purpose--turning square or irregular pieces
into round. There are two things about it that make it good for this job:
1.) Weight. You are doing interrupted cuts, taking off the corners. The
weight makes it easier to keep the gouge from bouncing. 2.) It has a long
cutting edge, so you can rotate the tool to bring up a new part of the edge
which hasn't been dulled yet.

They work well, and can even be used for a lot of other tasks, but are not
necessary. I do a lot of roughing with a skew, because I think the practice
is good for me. I think it is working, because I don't get as many catches
as I used to.