Lowering the Cutting Angle of Woodcarving Gouges

In this article learn how to reshape the cutting angle of your woodcarving gouges.

By Jim Hingst @hingst_jim

Seldom will a woodcarving gouge be sharpened to your liking and ready to use at the time of purchase. One reason is that the cutting angle is usually too steep. Often tools are sharpened at the factory at a 25° to 30° angle.  Instead, most experienced woodcarvers prefer an angle between 15° to 17° with an inside bevel of about 10°. Here’s why a shallower angle is better.

By reshaping your gouges with a lowering the cutting angle, you reduce the amount of resistance, when carving. Not only will you exert less effort and energy, you will maintain better control of the tool.

Reshaping, sharpening and honing your gouges, however, will take some effort and energy, because will need to grind away a significant amount of metal. Using a coarse diamond stone will help you grind through the steel easier and faster than using the traditional natural stones.

Whatever you do, do not use a grinder, unless it is water cooled. The heat generated in the process can result in discoloration of the metal at which point you have lost the temper of the metal. As time-consuming as the process is, the best practice when sharpening woodcarving gouges is to use a sharpening stone.




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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.

© 2015 Jim Hingst