I wanted to start forging some wood carving gouges. Looking at commercially made ones, there is a measurement called sweep that has somwthing to do with the depth of the curve on their edge. Anyone know how to measure these? What makes a number 3 gouge a number 3?

Thanks!
Jeff

Hello , I managed to dig this up, hope it helps a bit.

"DEPTH OF CUT: Using a sweep-9 (a semicircle, radius deep) as the standard, my measurements indicated the various sweeps among same-width gouges (I used 25mm) related as follows:

Sweep #3 = 5% the depth of a #9
#4 = 10%
#5 = 15%
#6 = 25%
#7 = 50%
#8 = 75%
#9 = 100%
#10 = 110 to 112%
#11 = 125%.

"SAME-ARC GROUPINGS: Maintaining the same arc (different lengths of arc from the same circle) while changing the width of cutters, requires changing the sweep as well.

Starting off with 20 mm wide examples from various sweeps (i.e., a 9/20; an 8/20; a 7/20 etc.) the sweep changes required to maintain a constant arc were as follows:

For a 9/20 the progression = 5/3, 6/10, 7/16, 8/19, 9/20, 10/22, 11/22.

For an 8/20 the progression = 5/5, 6/11, 7/18, 8/20, 9/22, 10/25, 11/25.

For a 7/20 the progression = 5/8, 6/15, 7/20, 8/26, 9/28, 10/30, 11/32.

For a 6/20 the progression = 4/5, 5/11, 6/20, 7/32, 8/38, 9/45?

For a 5/20 the progression = 3/6, 4/8, 5/20, 6/35, 7/45?

"This information may well be of little practical use, success being more in what is pleasing to the eye as opposed to being mathematically correct.

This may help
Carving tools made by Stubai - Part 1

page01

heres a little extra you may like
Make a Chisel Handle

Ive been thinking about making wood lathe tools myself.
Hope you show us what you make
Ron

Hi Jeff

I think I may have an answer for your question. I looked in old Woodcaft catolog. It shows wood carving sweep shapes along side a scale. It appears to me that a #1 is dead flat. #2=1mm Dish #3=2mm #4=3mm and etc. I would only be guessing but may be your answer.


Happy Hammerin

Larry

Thanks all! I also found a reference to a "Shefield List" standard. Not sure how it works, but it appears to be how a lot of makers mark wheir tools. Hoping to find an actual rule in a reference somewhere, so if someone asks for something specific, what I make is what they wanted.

Jeff

Jeff
I think the drawing is actual size Carving tools made by Stubai - Part 1

Have you the link to the "Shefield List" I would like to see it
Thanks

Thanks Ron. Here is a link that says a little about the Schefield list: The Sheffield List - Articles at Woodcraft

Thanks,
Jeff

Have you read Weygers "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" as he was a wood carver he covers gouge making in some detail with a few interesting tidbits on shaping them so they work best.

Thomas

Yep. Great book. The sales geek in me (day job) saw that there was a standard for the shape, and just wanted to be able to say, :this is a 15mm #5 sweep gouge, or something like that, with some certanty I was correct. And, just darn curious how they determine that kind of thing,

Jeff