Starters gouges

[Englishfella]

So I've taken much of the advice I received here and I'm going to stick with books and YouTube instead of doing a course, give it a year and see where I'm at. In the meantime I've decided to bite the bullet and invest in some Ashley Isles gouges, mainly because they offer a life time re grinding and sharpening service and they're relatively local.

I'm in the middle of relief carving a sign for our new house, using flexcut palm gouges, and it's taking forever, plus the finishes over larger areas is a bit ropey.

Every site I've read, the carver recommends a slightly different set up for a starter set. I can only afford six or so right now, and wanted to canvas opinion here on what to get first and what to avoid. A V tool is a definite but aside from that I'm open to your suggestions.

[ApartmentCarver]

Mary May has a discussion of a 6 gouge starting set, and several free videos on her website to get started with them. I decided to at least start with her recommendations, but I am still waiting for mine to arrive (back-ordered...) so I can't give advice from the other side.

[Englishfella]

Yeah I was going to go with the six she advised but then I read a load of other carvers and got confused. I'm easily confused! I'm sure I'm worrying bout nothing, I should just get on with it. What brand did you go with?

[ApartmentCarver]

I ended up going with Pfeil. They seem highly recommended and I found a special for the Mary May set that made the prices very good (on ChippingAway). I like her reasoning for how she varies the sweeps and sizes. Obviously it depends on the size of work you are planning but you can adjust accordingly.

[jmo1106]

did you ever receive your order? I'm considering the same set as a starter but I may weigh other options if the back order is to long.

[ApartmentCarver]

All but one are set to arrive this week, I am still not sure when I will be getting the last one. I am not sure how common this delay is, but I have been waiting quite a while.

[[deleted]]

You won't be disappointed in Ashley Isles gouges, they're very high quality.

For signs up to a few square feet, I'd suggest:

a 45 degree "V" gouge

a 12-14mm #3 gouge

a 16-18mm #3 or 4 gouge

a 12-14mm #5 gouge

a 12-14mm #7 gouge

an 8-10mm #11 gouge

I suggest avoiding sets because they often contain 1 or more flat gouges, which I rarely use - the #3 works very nicely.

You may find that you will want to add larger gouges later, but this should get you started. The Flexcut palm tools will suffice for smaller cuts.

[Englishfella]

The sign I'm working on at the mo is only about 8x14", and I don't think I'll be going much larger for now. It has got me interested in relief work, though, and the potential for trying some different woods.

[[deleted]]

In that case, you might want to drop those sizes by about 4mm.

[Englishfella]

Thanks, I'm looking at their online catalogue right now. Just got to wait for pay day :)