4PCS Semicircle Wood Carving Hand Chisel Tool Set Woodworking Gouges

These gouge chisels are affordable, yet just what I needed for my project I’m working on. Of course, like any chisel you buy, you’ll want to sharpen them when they arrive.

First of all, let me start by saying that no matter what type of cutting tool you buy the craftsman is responsible for putting the preferred/required cutting edge on the tool. It does not matter if the tool comes razor sharp or with no edge at all. Every worker needs to know how to sharpen and resharpen or even understand the cutting angles and how to change them or why. If you buy one chisel or gouge or plane for a lot of money then you expect a lot, you expect it to approach perfection as the cost goes up. With respect to sharpening, it does not matter. I still go over the edge, check things, change things and so on. I have never seen a tool that could not use at least a touch or change. Maybe it is as simple as adding a micro-bevel due to the type of material you are working on; it is usually something though.In the case for these gouges, I knew for the money they would need work and probably more work than a three hundred dollar set. For the cost I feel you can't really go wrong. I think they are a little short overall compared to some of my more expensive gouges and the handles a little thin. But then again I am a large German man with large hands.I started out sanding the finish off of the handles, polishing the steel to a mirror esk finish, putting a new angle on the cutting edge and sharpening and polishing the edge. Sure, a little more work than a $50 gouge or a $300 set, but eventually you still need to upkeep your expensive stuff as well. If you want sharp tools and you want to keep them sharp buy a polisher and a Tormek T-8 or something similar. Makes the work of sharpening an maintaining so much faster and easier. I wind up sharpening pretty much everyday, it is really just a wise investment to own.These gouges are really not bad; for the cost they are excellent. But you get what you pay for. A european or the better American cutting tools have better steel that is harder with better work characteristics. But you have to pay for it. These gouges are softer, you have to sharpen them more but cost a fraction of the cost. I can not afford to purchase the very best of everything all the time, even though I would like to. These do the same job as my more expensive gouges. Maybe not quite as well, maybe I have to sharpen a little more often but for the cost it was a trade off I am fine with. If you are looking at these you probably don't want to pay a lot of money. I didn't either. If I used a gouge everyday all day then I would buy something more expensive, but I don't.Polish the metal, especially the cutting edge. Put a 30 degree bevel on it with a 25 degree microangle. Strop it so that the cutting edge is nicely polished and they work really well. If you don't know how then you should learn, an expensive gouge will not help you there because you still have to at the very least resharpen it when it gets dull.

These are a cheap set of gouges. I got them because I wanted to see if a gouge was the right tool that I needed to do the job, carving bowls, etc. from a wide variety of woods. The fit and finish of these gouges is pretty rough, the machining marks have not been removed. But the steel seems to be of decent quality.If you do not know how to sharpen gouges there are a couple of good videos on line. I sharpened mine starting with a 325 grit diamond hone, followed by a 1200 grit diamond hone. I followed that with a black surgical Arkansas stone and a good stropping. They polished up to a mirror finish and test cuts on walnut were quite acceptable.

The description says that these are not sharp and are unusable as shipped. I reground the angle to a lower angle and then sharpened them to a razor edge. They work very well after this process. They hold their edges quite well. I am very well pleased with them.

Price good ,quality good. Need little work on shaping.

This set is very, very cheap and poor quality! You would not buy it, if you saw it first. The metal shaping is rough, the blades are dull (as expected) and the handles are very crude woodwork.If I saw this at a discount store for $3, I might spend some time to try to make it usable. But at this price, and lacking quality in every aspect, it is just not worth it.I’m returning the set. Don’t waste your money - someone is buying these from China for 50 cents and making bank selling them on Amazon!

These gorges are a good price if you are willing to do the work on them. I can tell they are made of high carbon steel, which you want, by the sparks coming from them when they are ground, and you will have to grind them on a bench grinder of belt sander to be useful. If they were delivered with a proper grind, I would give them six stars.Woodcarving gouges need to be held just above the horizontal, about 25 degrees, otherwise much of your efforts is pushing down and you are just going to dig holes. If you raise these gouges until they bite the wood, they are at 45 degrees or higher.If you are new to woodcarving, first buy one gouge that works out of the box so you will know how they are supposed to feel when you are carving. I recommend Flexcut because you can usually find a good deal on them and they come sharp and ground properly.You can buy these gouges and use them to practice your grinding and sharpening. Don't worry about messing them up, they are long and you can grind them until you get it right. There are many how-to articles and videos on the Internet for sharpening gouges.

I'm anxious to get carving as soon as the weather allows me to work outside again