"Arch" wrote in message
...
I'm glad that David Ellsworth didn't give up on making
small mouth hollow forms or Roy Child abandon deepening his round shaft
gouge flutes or many turners didn't reject sweeping their short bevels
back.

They had to. The manufacturers had gone to a form of gouge that no
woodturner had ever seen before, made possible by new machining technology.
Lots cheaper than the old "long and strong" gouges. As I recall, about a
third the price originally, and "High Speed Steel" to boot! The turners had
to adjust to the new shape. The ears were a gimme, as they had been drawn
back for clearance for years on the inside gouges, but the gouge didn't have
enough consistent bevel depth to make an inside cut the way a forged gouge
could, so the Irish started, as usual, to go to extremes....

Notice the return of the standard pattern - interim name "Continental"-
gouges? Cropping up everywhere. They sure make easy work of peeling wood
without contortions or catches, but of course, they were developed by
woodturners, not engineers. I see in Woodworkers' Supply that the straight
chisel has made a return. I'll be ordering one of the larger ones next
time. Been using smaller made by regrinding scrapers as beading/planing
tool for years. What's next, someone going to realize that a skew works
best with a single bevel and bring back the original?

Edison's 1% and 99% also describes the ratio of successful tinkerings to
unsuccessful.