On Sep 14, 6:32*am, "john" wrote:
Hi all, I a have huge roughing gouge, trouble is it's not supposed to be
used for bowl blanks. *Apparently it's not designed to cope with the
alternating "with the grain, against the grain" cutting. *I know some
turners use them on bowls but the practice is said to be dangerous. *Fine by
me, I'm all for safety. *BUT, what 'do' I use to rough out a bowl blank?
Your comments would be appreciated.

I use a 1/2" bowl gouge, for roughing out both the inside and outside
of bowls.

The bowl gouge is preferable for a bunch of reasons. The deeper flute
of the bowl gouge makes it stiffer than a spindle gouge. Thus it
flexes less, making it more controllable, essential for when you are
reaching into the inside of a bowl. It takes a much smaller cut than
a roughing gouge (more properly called a spindle roughing gouge these
days), keeping the forces on the tool more manageable. And when a
catch does occur, the beefier tang of the bowl gouge makes the tool
stronger. I haven't seen it, but I've heard enough stories of a
spindle roughing gouge blowing apart at the handle when used on a bowl
and the end grain caught the cutting edge. Can ruin your day.

Bob in NC