# How do you determine sweep of gouges with out any numbers



## knotsofast (Nov 22, 2013)

hello all,

I am trying to figure out some of my gouges that have no markings on them, since I am new to carving I have limited tools in that area of woodworking, it is not like I can compare to another known size in tool box . Anyone have a method, or formula to figure this out?


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Sweep numbers vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.


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## Tim457 (Jan 11, 2013)

Yeah basically take a sweep chart like that, print it out to scale the best you can and compare the profile. I had an unknown gouge I wanted to identify so I looked up the formulas for it since gouges are usually a certain portion of an arc of a circle of a certain radius, but it's not worth the effort when it's not going to get you a better answer than a sweep chart.

You can right click on Loren's version and open in a new window or tab or google another one.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

When I did carving with gouges long ago I found out that 95% of the time I used three or four gouges. #2 , #2 fishtail, firmer and a skew.


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## knotsofast (Nov 22, 2013)

I will try the sweep chart method that does sound like a good method. I don't need to know exactly what they are, just a ball park figure. How accurate do you think the profiles in the woodcraft catalog are?


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