Essential chisels and gouges for building

[hawkenhunter50]

Going to be doing my first build. Gathering up supplies. Have a good amount already but lacking chisels and gouges. What are a few of the must have sizes you wouldn't be without for inletting jobs. Figuring I could probably get by with 2 or 3 each of chisels and gouges. Are V groove gouges a necessity?

[LAGS]

V gouges are very seldom used for inletting a barrel.
I use four tools almost all the time.
Two are chisels , and two are gouges.
I have a whole rack of tools that are of different sizes , but only use those for mostly inletting Locks and things like patch boxes.
But for barrel inletting , you May need things like scrapers , scraper tools or some type of round shaped sander.
A DREMMEL TOOL is not used

[hawkenhunter50]

Thanks LAGS. Wasn't planning on any Dremels!! Mind sharing your most used sizes of chisels and gouges? I was thinking of 4mm 8mm and 12mm straight chisels . Gouges not too sure what be the best, maybe go the same route small medium large. Will also be doing lock inletting. V gouge have any usefulness there? Or can the combo of straight do just as well?

[freakonaleash]

Working with a blank or a precarved kit?

[LAGS]

I mostly use the 8mm and 12mm straight chisels for rough cutting out the barrel channel.
And about the same sizes for the gouges.
You can use a V gouges to remove wood.
But it is just what I use.
But carving or inletting stocks you will see that the size of your tools depends on the type of wood and what you are actually doing at the time.
I actually just bought a Set of Cheap Chisels at HF to use.
They by far are not the best tool.
But you get a variety of sizes and shapes so cheap and you get the angled chisels and a lot of sizes for you to try.
Then after you use them for a while,
You will get to know if there are specific sizes or shapes that you use constantly and you can invest in a better quality tool that you like.
The cheap chisel sets work , but have to be sharpened often on some wood.
But they Will Work for someone that is just getting started or only does limited work.
To be truthfully.
The tools are also more dependant on your skills.
But learn one step at a time , and start off cheaper.

[sailcaptain]

I agree with everyone, a Dremel Tool will not be your friend. You need a good set of gouges and rasps. I use these when I do work for others and myself. I made the angle rasp by having an old rasp welded to an old file handle I bent. The angles of tools make all the difference in your work.
Get a good set of small tabletop lathe gouges. The kind of lathe for making doll furniture is great, they are smaller than large wood turning lathe tools and get into small hard to read places.
Practice on scrap wood first. These tools are sharp and remove more than you think.
Have fun with your project.

[hawkenhunter50]

Working with a blank or a precarved kit?

It is going to be a blank.

Thanks LAGS and sailcaptain for the advice.

[beezapilot]

For what it is worth, I've never inletted a barrel- but I've put truckloads of chips and shavings on the floor. The first hurdle is sharpening, you want razors on a stick. You'll find that older yard sale chisels are a very good thing with better steel than many of the newer imports- Stanley 60's were a standard for a long time and are common at yard sales, I won't pay more than a buck for one and they hold an edge for a good while. BUT you need to learn to sharpen / hone / strop. Gouges are in two types in-cannel and out-cannel. In-cannel are sharpened on the inside radius of the gouge, they lift the chip up, rather than outcannel that are sharpened on the outside radius and are used for heavier stock removal. For in-cannel I have both crook neck and straight, I think crook neck would be handier for inletting after stock removal with an out-cannel. They come in a numbered system, 1 being flat and the radius increasing as the numbers go up. A #5 gouge would be a good place to start. Check for a wood carving club close by they probably have gunstock guys as members. As an edit, good old rasps are another yard sale pick up. Old rasps & files, again, are often of much better steel than new manufacture- there is a company called Boggs that will sharpen old rasps/ files for a very reasonable price!

[hawkenhunter50]

For what it is worth, I've never inletted a barrel- but I've put truckloads of chips and shavings on the floor. The first hurdle is sharpening, you want razors on a stick. You'll find that older yard sale chisels are a very good thing with better steel than many of the newer imports- Stanley 60's were a standard for a long time and are common at yard sales, I won't pay more than a buck for one and they hold an edge for a good while. BUT you need to learn to sharpen / hone / strop. Gouges are in two types in-cannel and out-cannel. In-cannel are sharpened on the inside radius of the gouge, they lift the chip up, rather than outcannel that are sharpened on the outside radius and are used for heavier stock removal. For in-cannel I have both crook neck and straight, I think crook neck would be handier for inletting after stock removal with an out-cannel. They come in a numbered system, 1 being flat and the radius increasing as the numbers go up. A #5 gouge would be a good place to start. Check for a wood carving club close by they probably have gunstock guys as members. As an edit, good old rasps are another yard sale pick up. Old rasps & files, again, are often of much better steel than new manufacture- there is a company called Boggs that will sharpen old rasps/ files for a very reasonable price!

Excellent info sir, thank you. I have experience with sharpening wood working tools. I have been picking up a few old antique tools from ebay for this adventure. Thanks for the heads up on Boggs.