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Novice gouging advice

Author: mberkowski
Date: 2020-02-11 07:37

Hi all,

I recently picked up a second hand Ross oboe gouger in hopes of controlling more of my cane variables. I had a little bit of instruction on those machines 20 years ago as a student but have not gouged any cane since then. "How hard could it be?"

My blade is sharp enough, I believe. I consistently get clean 0.05mm chips with no signs of tearing. As far as I can tell by eye, the blade is properly centered - I suppose I should try testing the gap on each side with a thickness shim to verify that.

Working with my first dozen or so pieces of cane, I can't seem to get a consistent gouge thickness. I might gouge one perfectly at 0.60 but the next piece yields an extra chip, dropping to 0.55 or less. Is this possibly due to too much downward pressure on the carriage? I was thinking I might be squishing the cane and taking out an extra chip. I've also noticed this if I flip the cane around for one final pass on the other side. Sometimes nothing or just a sliver comes off the other direction, other times a full chip. This makes me suspect it's my technique rather than the adjustment of the machine, as I would expect it always to take off a lot on the other side if the blade were not centered. I am planing the cane first.

Getting professional help in person is probably possible if necessary, but if anyone can offer basic advice like "don't push too hard" or "press harder" I would appreciate your thoughts. As with scraping, I'm getting the sense there are a lot of instincts to develop when gouging, rather than relying on the tools to do all the work.

Michael

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