# Shallow gouge bevel



## mobotch (Mar 9, 2017)

Howdy,
First off, I'm very new to carving. Have done only a few small reliefs and only about 20 hours of reading.
I recently received 5 Solingen tools and have a question about the No. 75 shallow gouge (6mm). The heel seems very large and has a small bevel towards the edge making it impossible to start a cut with out a steep 50 or so degree presentation to the wood. The deep gouge has a continuous bevel from edge to heel and cuts beautifully at any angle.
Should I grind the bevel on the 75 or am I just trying to use this tool the wrong way?
Thank you very much for your time!
-Ryan

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzhhX15-zEIyS3R4RHl0dzMwdzQ/view?usp=drivesdk


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## wood2woodknot (Dec 30, 2012)

I have a set of blue handle Buck gouges wth that same profile. Pretty useless as is. Often wondered if it was just a cheap set.


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## mobotch (Mar 9, 2017)

Definitely useless it seems. Grinding down that primary bevel seems like the thing to do. It is the only one of the five I got that still had machine marks on it so I wondered if the previous owner just never got around to it. But being green myself, it would be best to make sure before major surgery.


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## Planeman40 (Nov 3, 2010)

Having made 62 carving chisels & gouges of my own, I would say that gouge edge needs to be reshaped. New carving gouges are frequently only rough ground and need re-shaping and sharpening, not the curvature of the gouge but the angle of the edge needs to be shallower. There is a balance of selecting the angle of the edge. Shallower angles cut better with less pressure needed to make the cut but are subject to damage if care is not taken. Steeper angles will take more abuse without damage but don't cut easily and require more pressure to make the cut. Personally, I much prefer the shallower angles as I don't abuse my tools.

My recommendation would be to use a coarse stone to reshape the edge to a shallow angle and then sharpen it until it can shave the hair off your forearm with ease.


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## mobotch (Mar 9, 2017)

Thank you very much for confirming!


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## Karda (Nov 19, 2016)

In one of Mary Mays videos she mentions that the best [email protected]@gle for carving to is 22.5 degrees


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