"Henry St.Pierre" wrote in message
2...
One of the tools that came with my new (to me) lathe is a very shallow
gouge. The gouge is .5" wide and .20" thick. The flute is .050" deep. I
haven't seen a gouge like this before and have no idea what it's used for.
I was screwing around (practicing) yesterday and tried to use it as a
'sort
of skew' while turning beads. It (I) chopped up a few and turned a few
good
ones. Any info or ideas will be appreciated.

Sort of like this
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...30,43164,43175
? Excellent peeling tools. I don't fingernail mine, just grind a constant
angle with a modest "nose" for cross-grain pokes.

It's what we used to have before they got these newfangled gouges with
fanciful names to work with. As DJ mentioned, it allows you to shear cut
the interior of pieces with catchless bevel support, though it's only one
use. Most useful pattern in my collection for spindle, faceplate, concave or
convex cuts.