I prefer a big heavy scraper. An Oland tool is a smaller scraper. You
can do as most others do and use a big bowl gouge. The thing I don't
like about the bowl gouges for roughing, is that they send the
shavings right across the top of your pinky finger and hand. Even if
the wood is wet, this is very abrasive and is why some turners wear a
glove on their left hand. If you do use a scraper, I prefer big heavy
ones, kind of like me and my lathe. They just feel better to me, and I
am very agressive when I rough out. Also, I always keep the scraper
angled slightly down.This helps prevent catches, and if you do have
one, it makes it a lot less dramatic. With scrapers, you can also both
push and pull with the tool, without having to change positions. If
you use a gouge, you generally have the flutes on their side for
roughing, and this is actually a scraping cut. How far back the flutes
are ground determine how big of a cut you can take. If you are
roughing out the inside of the bowl, you start with the flutes up to
make the entry cut, and then roll the gouge onto the side for roughing
after the cut has begun.
robo hippy

On Sep 14, 8:52*am, DJ Delorie wrote:
"john" writes:
BUT, what 'do' I use to rough out a bowl blank?

Chain saw, then power plane to balance it, then bowl gouge.