by Rob » 21 Sep 2015, 09:25
well I like them too Andy. But I know what you mean about the frustration of not getting the shape you had in your mind (despite them still ending up well).
I've got 2 suggestions that might help, one easy and one harder but better.
The easy one (and it'll illicit a groan from the turners)......try a small round nosed scraper. It's substantially easier to fashion a curve, concave or convex than a gouge though it wont leave as fine a finish and will leave you with a little more sanding. You can alleviate that to an extent by giving it a fresh sharpen and then sheer scraping after you've got the curve you desire.
The harder but definitely superior method which wont illicit any groans is to use the skew. Yes.....you can easily cut curves with the skew, convex ones anyway. You can cut concave but I wouldn't recommend that for this. A curve with a skew is essentially a very wide bead and that's the action you need while you're cutting. It's a gentle bevel rubbing cut where you slowly and gently turn the tool in towards the end of the cut. Very like a planing cut but you turn the tool into the wood progressively as you follow where you want your curve. It leaves a very evenly distributed curve that as long as the tool was sharp will need little sanding.