Record wood turning gouges - any opinions?

[graduate_owner]

Hi all,
Just wondering what peoples' opinions are of Record bowl gouges. At £25 ish, are they too cheap to be any good, or does the Record brand still mean quality?

K

 

[NazNomad]

I have a Record 3/8'' bowl gouge, does exactly what it's supposed to.

 

[graduate_owner]

Thanks Naz,
I didn't want to buy rubbish so it's good to know these are worth having. Very good price though, about £25 which is about half the price of some other famous brands.
K

 

[John. B]

I think most turners have their preferences, mine just happens to be Henry Taylor!
John. B

 

[Duncan A]

I have a few RP gouges and chisels and find them OK, but their handles tend to be a bit shorter and skinnier than I like.
Bear in mind also that many of the bigger manufacturers offer a choice of steel lengths for a given size of tool, so check exactly what you are getting for your money.
There is also a chance that some people will quote American sizing and some will quote British, which can be very confusing! American is usually quoted as being one size above the same British tool e.g. a 3/8" British bowl gouge (measured from flute to opposite external edge) will usually be described as a 1/2" gouge (measured as bar diameter) in the US of A.
HTH
Duncan

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi John,
Thanks for the comment. I agree people will have favourite brands, perhaps because of handle shape / length, quality of steel or, more likely, shape of flute and angle of grind. I was looking at the prices though. At Axminster, the 1/4" Henry Taylor Long and strong is £30 and the 3/8" is £48. Record's 1/4" is £19 and the 3/8" is £22. The 1/2" is £24. Crown cryo bowl gouges go from £42 to £53 for 1/4" to 1/2". Then there's Ashley Isles 1/2" bowl gouge at £54. With such a price difference, you can see why I was a bit suspicious. I don't mind spending on the right kit, but I don't see the point in paying extra for a brand when I can get as good for half the price. I'm thinking to get one each of the 3 Record gouges, at £63 ish, it's not much more than one Ashley Isles. I shall await some more comments first though, just to see.

Duncan, useful information, thanks.
K

 

[Bob Graham]

I just bought the RP 1/4" deep bowl gouge £19.76 on Amazon. I put a fingernail gring on it and it works really well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

 

[hawkeyefxr]

I have 3/8 and 1/2 gouges and they work for me just fine. I have never used any of the more expensive one as money is not that in ready supply for me.

 

[JimB]

I have a couple of gouges as well as two roughing gouges. All are very good.

 

[Doofusme]

Hi K

where can you get the RP 1/2" bowl gouge from for £24 I cant find it anywhere ?

Cheers
Phil

Hi John,
Thanks for the comment. I agree people will have favourite brands, perhaps because of handle shape / length, quality of steel or, more likely, shape of flute and angle of grind. I was looking at the prices though. At Axminster, the 1/4" Henry Taylor Long and strong is £30 and the 3/8" is £48. Record's 1/4" is £19 and the 3/8" is £22. The 1/2" is £24. Crown cryo bowl gouges go from £42 to £53 for 1/4" to 1/2". Then there's Ashley Isles 1/2" bowl gouge at £54. With such a price difference, you can see why I was a bit suspicious. I don't mind spending on the right kit, but I don't see the point in paying extra for a brand when I can get as good for half the price. I'm thinking to get one each of the 3 Record gouges, at £63 ish, it's not much more than one Ashley Isles. I shall await some more comments first though, just to see.

Duncan, useful information, thanks.
K

 

[Bob Graham]

There is this one on ebay. £15.00 + £4.00 postage but it is an auction and you may be lucky. Advertised as a Bowl Gauge instead of Gouge.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Record-Power ... Sws6ZZ-zMu

 

[graduate_owner]

Phil,
I just ordered one each of 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" from Amazon?p. There were about 6 of the 1/2" left when I logged out. The total cost was £66 inc postage
K

 

[TopCat 32]

keep a eye open round 2nd hand stalls, i am a newbie and done a 2 day course where i was using a HT super flute bowl gouge, tutor suggested not buying sets and buy individual tools and buy the best i could afford, so my 1st purchase was a HT super flute 10mm for 50 quid, as i thought as i been using 1 it would be the ideal 1st tool, for about 2 months i was doing ok with it, i then went to a wood fair and on a 2nd hand stall found a 1/4 inch Ashley Iles bowl gouge in good nick with a good home made handle for £14, ,i knew AI had a good reputation so took a punt, took it home and sharpened it up and now its my go to tool, i love it, don't ask me why but i get on with it better than all the rest o the extent that i looked at buying another new for about 55 quid but the new ones seem to have a slightly different profile, maybe mine is a old discontinued model i don't know, what i guess im saying is try before you buy if possible (mates, borrow club members tools if you can and try for a day or 2 etc) , it really is personal preference, , i bet there are turners out there that i can only dream of being as good as that would pick mine up and wonder how the hell i turn square wood round with it good luck

 

[graduate_owner]

MY MISTAKE.
Sorry to have mislead people, the 3/8" and 1/2" Record gouges are spindle gouges, not bowl. The 1/4" is a bowl gouge though. I only now noticed as I unpacked them. I didn't read the description properly, although I did wonder at the time why the two larger sizes had short handles. Ah well, now I have 2 extra spindle gouges and have to decide whether to keep them or send them back.

K