Gouge Questions

[lowpolyjoe]

I have 1 gouge that I got with a set of woodworking tools I bought a while back.   I had to carve out some handles on some jewelry boxes recently and the one size I have wasn't exactly what I needed

I've had my eye out for more gouges and found 4 antique pieces at my local fleamarket today.   Unfortunately the guy selling them had very high prices on them and I couldn't get any of them for what I thought was reasonable.   

I've started looking at ebay to find a few more gouges and I've got a few questions.

3 of the 4 antiques I saw today were sharpened 'on the back' of the tool (which is what I'm used to seeing) while one was sharpened 'on the front', inside the curve.  Is that reasonable or was that someone who didn't know what they were doing?  That seems like it would be very hard to maintain. 

Is there any difference between lathe gouges and regular carving gouges?  My guess is the lathe tools are longer, but does it matter?


Anyone have a brand to recommend?  I see many sets of 'new' tools that are REALLY inexpensive.   Are these cheap sets worth picking up?  I currently only plan to use them occasionally for carving small pulls/handles.  I have no lathe.  But I don't want to buy garbage.  Antique stuff is a bit more expensive and it's harder to find a full set.   I probably only need 3 or 4 for what I'm doing so I could pick and choose if needed, it's just a bit of a pain.


Thanks

[Bark Beetle]

The gouge sharpened on the inside is an in cannel ( i hope i spelled that right) gouge. The bevel on the lathe gouges would be steeper than a regular gouge possibly making it harder to use. Flexcut comes with a great edge on them and so does hirsch. I would get the flexcut slipstrop if you decide to get flexcut.

[lowpolyjoe]

Thanks Bark Beetle.  I found some nice discussion on in-cannel vs out-cannel gouges here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?121841-Incannel-vs-outcannel-gouges


Still looking around on ebay and amazon for a set that will do what I want and costs what I'm willing to pay

[LaneC]

   I am by no means a professional here, but with the limited experience I have using a gouge, I bought a "Hirsh" (brand name) gouge and it works great. If you only need a few, you may want to just pick them up 1 at a time. They come in a sleeve that you can organize by hanging or just put in a drawer, and they won't get damaged. It is beveled on the outside. I have never seen one beveled on the inside either.

[Den-Den]

I do very little carving but lots of turning.  Carving gouges are VERY different from turning gouges.  Both types are made of steel and both cut wood but not many other similarities.  Thickness, length and bevel angles are the most obvious differences.  For turning gouges, I often tell people that inexpensive gouges cut about as well as expensive ones but the inexpensive ones have to be sharpened much more often.