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    Turning for Furniture Makers: The Roughing Gouge

    David Douyard shows Anissa and Ben how to use the workhorse of lathe work, the roughing gouge

    By David Douyard Apr 09, 2019

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    Don’t let the name “roughing gouge” mislead you. This tool is incredibly versatile and capable of doing very fine work. In fact, chairmaker David Douyard uses the roughing gouge 95% of the time when he is turning. Many of his ladderback and Windsor chair spindles can be shaped from beginning to end with the roughing gouge. David uses the roughing gouge for three different cuts—the roughing cut, a scraping cut, and a shearing cut—and all three are just a matter of changing the projection of the tool to the work.

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    Videos in the Series

    • Turning For Furniture Makers: Sharpening

      April 2, 2019

      If you want to turn spindles successfully, you need to start with sharp tools

    • Turning for Furniture Makers: The Roughing Gouge

      April 9, 2019

      David Douyard shows Anissa and Ben how to use the workhorse of lathe work, the roughing gouge

    • Turning For Furniture Makers: Roughing from a riven blank

      April 16, 2019

      David demonstrates how to find centers on a riven blank and start the process of safely shaping a rough piece of wood

    • Turning For Furniture Makers: The Skew Chisel

      April 23, 2019

      The skew chisel is another woodturning multi-tool in the hands of an experienced turner. But what about in the hands of Ben and Anissa?

    • Turning For Furniture Makers: V-Grooves and Beads

      April 30, 2019

      Things start to get real as David Douyard teaches Anissa and Ben how to use the skew chisel to start adding decorative v-grooves and beads

    • Turning For Furniture Makers: Accurately Sizing Parts and Tenons

      May 7, 2019

      Now that Anissa and Ben know how to shape parts, they need to be able to size them correctly and create accurate joinery

    • Turning For Furniture Makers: Turn a carving mallet – Conslusion

      May 14, 2019

      David Douyard ditches the amateurs, and demonstrates one of his favorite practice projects, a carving mallet.

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    About This Video Workshop

    Turning is a skill that many woodworkers avoid learning. For some, it's a rabbit hole they'd rather not go down. One day you're turning a Shaker pull for a cabinet, the next day your tablesaw is buried under a pile of bowl blanks, and soon you find you haven't cut a flat piece of wood in years. If this sounds familiar because you've been avoiding turned furniture parts, this video series is for you. The… More about this Video Workshop

    Comments

    1. MLynchAllison | Apr 10, 2019 09:19am | #1

      More please! Great presentation that is easy to understand, and makes me want to get into the shop!

    2. Woodreb | Apr 10, 2019 01:06pm | #2

      I like this kind of presentation. I do some turning, but still picked up some good tips for use of the roughing gouge. Looking forward to more in this series.

    3. Devinshea | Apr 10, 2019 01:29pm | #3

      Anissa, You are the best. I identify with you most of any Fine Woodworking public figures.

    4. User avater
      DadTheMetal | Apr 10, 2019 11:10pm | #4

      Please make this a whole series. I am sure that there are many of us with underused lathes due to lack of knowledge. The beauty of this initial video is that by engaging and teaching actual neophytes (hello Annisa and Ben!), we can actually relate to the fear they are showing for this misunderstood machine. Thank you, thank you!

    5. Sammy3791 | Apr 12, 2019 09:31am | #5

      Nice video. I despise all the safety gurus on the internet, but while turning wood or using a drill press, you should never, ever leave long hair untied. If it gets caught by the spindle, good night. Just saying.

      1. User avater FWW Editor
        BenStrano | Apr 12, 2019 09:51am | #6

        You're right, and actually we address that in the next episode. But I'll put a note in the post.

    6. user-7145045 | Apr 13, 2019 05:55pm | #7

      Very nice as presented. Will there be more? Please. How about going from square stock to round?

    7. KennethCole | Apr 13, 2019 08:11pm | #8

      Yes, more please. Very nice presentation.

    8. User avater
      KentMich | Apr 14, 2019 06:01am | #9

      Please do the SKEW!!! I find the roughing gouge to be a pussycat compared to the great ruiner of spindles... The Skew.

      1. User avater FWW Editor
        BenStrano | Apr 15, 2019 09:02am | #10

        It's coming... and it was tough!

    9. mharry6454 | Apr 25, 2019 04:57pm | #11

      What size is that roughing gouge?

    10. User avater
      Jacques99 | May 08, 2019 05:37pm | #12

      Very well presented, please continue with more videos.

    11. Dwarf75 | Dec 25, 2019 05:53am | #13

      Just getting started on the series, two things that stand out for me and maybe you can elaborate on the reasons for it:
      I come from a metal turning background and as a result, I wonder why you wouldn't position your body in the opposite direction so that your body and clothing is away from the chuck and the stock. Also, why are you working away from the chuck not into the chuck? The headstock has got the bearings set up so that that they take the pressure from the cut. Was that just for the camera?

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