# Are vintage gouges a 7 sweep?



## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

I picked some old gouges of various brands, mainly english and US made. none of them have any size markings. I seem to remember reading somewhere that antique gouges were all around a 7 sweep, but i cannot find the article i was reading. I see "sweep charts" on the internet but its really hard to eyeball as these charts aren't to scale and the sweeps change as the width goes up etc. Anyone know ?


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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

The few antique gouges I have match the profiles of modern gouges. One is a #3-7mm fishtail from Herring Bros. (English). Another is a long bent V-tool from Marples. The shapes follow either the London Pattern Book or the Swiss standard, which have been around for a long long time.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

Measure the width of the inside of the chisel, and the height as well. That may only be an approximation, though. There is a thread here that discusses it all; maybe someone remembers where it is. As Phil has pointed out, the English and European standards are different. I'll go poke around to see if I have a link or two, but someone may beat me to it. I have a lot of Pfeil gouges, and some Henry Taylor and Ashley Iles gouges. Pfeil and the other two use a different system. As for the original question, NO, they aren't all #7 sweep, even approximately…unless that is just what you have managed to purchase.


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