Hello Toller,

A spindle roughing gouge would work best for what you are trying to
do. After you have the bat roughly shaped with the roughing gouge,
switch to a skew chisel. If you don't have a roughing gouge and can't
handle a skew chisel properly, then try a round nose scraper.

When I first started turning many years ago, I found a round nose
scraper a very friendly tool. It doesn't always leave the perfect
surface finish and you'll have to do more sanding, but it will allow
you to get the job done. If you don't have a scraper, find an old leaf
spring and grind one end round then grind a bevel with an angle of
about 80 degrees. Use the scraper with the handle up a bit, because
you are cutting with the burr that is turned up when you grind the
scraper. The burr doesn't last very long, so you will have to regrind
often. An even more friendly scraper is one with a negative rake (this
is a second bevel ground on the top of the scraper, just a slight
slope to the cutting edge).

Good luck, spindle turning is actually more difficult than faceplate
turning (aka bowl turning).

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

On Jun 10, 1:47 pm, "Toller" wrote:
I have some experience with bowls, and am reasonably comfortable with them.

Today I tried my first spindle; a baseball bat for my son out of a large
branch someone left in the street.
I can't get my spindle gouge to do much of anything other than scrape. I am
having better luck with a bowl gouge, but only occasionally.
I presume the problem is that the spindle is a much smaller diameter than a
bowl, so catching it at the right angle isn't the same.
Any suggestions for making the transition?