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queen anne mahogany tea table

My first turning/carving project......Hopefully done in time for Christmas for my wife. I'm becoming obsessed with gouge facets though! I tried sanding the pie crust edge....it deadened the carving so I recarved the piecrust back a bit to reestablish the crisp lines but now I have the facets back. Now I'm thinking maybe sand lightly and stay away from edges??? Maybe my technique is just really bad. Any suggestions welcome....

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That's looking beautiful from here!

Try using a #2 gouge, about 18 to 22mm. Make sure there is no secondary bevel on the back of the gouge, because if there is, there is a tendency to make "scooping" cuts rather than sweeping or "planing" cuts. The gouge should just be hitting the high spots and sheering any of these areas. It can be a never-ending process of trying to get the high spots off, and creating more gouge marks, and then going back to take those high spots off, and creating more gouges, and on and on and on... I get it!

Also, a scraper might work to get the final surface, but it can be difficult to get close to the carved edge.

Your wife will love it!

Hi Mary and Merry Christmas

Thanks so much for your comment. So the secondary bevel you are referring to....is that the one done with the slip stone on the inside curve? Or the other side done on the bench stone because with a hollow grind don't you always end up with a secondary bevel?

So here it is finished, in situ....

 

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Actually, I prefer not to have a secondary bevel on either the inside OR outside. But there are many other opinions out there on this...

The secondary bevel I'm referring to that you DON'T want is a secondary bevel on the back side of the tool (not the inside where you use the slip stone). The secondary bevel I'm referring to is often created right near the edge of the blade and quite often when you first purchase tools they already have this. It can be OK if you are not trying to do a sweeping, planing cut, but it really needs to be very flat in order to "skim" across the high spots.

A hollow ground should not make a difference - ignore the "hollow" part of it, and just make sure the gouge hits the stone above and below the "hollow". This will ensure it is very flat against the stone.

And really - that table is beautiful. I am guessing you're using a magnifying glass and looking at it 1/2 inch away to see any tool marks. From this photo it is lovely! Congratulations!