What to look for in Carving Gouges?

Like with any chisel, the quality of the steel is the most important consideration when buying wood carving tools like carving gouges. You want a carving gouge that will not only get very sharp, but hold the edge as long as possible. Another consideration is the shape and comfort of the handle. For example, the Swiss Made Pfeil wood carving gouges have flat faces on the handle, which aid in gripping, and help prevent the gouge rolling off your workbench.

Carving gouges come in a huge variety of sizes, differentiated by different variables: Sweep, Width, Out-canel vs. Incanel, Single bevel vs. Double Bevel, Full size vs. Intermediate size vs. Palm Handled, Straight vs. Skew vs. Bent, etc… It’s enough to make your head spin! For now we’ll just focus on two variables: Size number (width in millimeters) and Sweep (curvature).

And for wood carving purposes, we’ll just be looking at straight, out-canel gouges, where the sharpened bevel is on the bottom of the blade. Bent gouges are specialty tools that allow you to approach the work at a steeper angle, as with bowl carving and other projects that involve carving out a cavity. And In-canel gouges are more used for specialty tasks, such as window sash work.

Wood carving tools sizing classifications differ depending on if the manufacture is (or was) in Europe or in Britain. The British included a skewed size in the lower sizes, and the Europeans didn’t, so that can make it difficult to compare apples to apples. But fortunately, the most popular modern manufacturer, Pfeil (A Swiss company, pronounced “File”), has become the standard for carving gouges, due to their quality and affordability, so their sizing system is most commonly used. The carving gouge sweep sizes lie on a spectrum from #1 (a flat carving chisel, with no curve), up to a U-shaped #11 sweep (the largest curve). And the largest sweeps are #12 through #16, but they aren’t curved, but v-shaped (e.g. “V-parting tool” or “V-gouge”). V-gouges are used to outline the elements of a carving, preparatory to giving the carving depth with the less-curved gouges.

In the case of Pheil wood carving gouges, the first number printed on the handle is the sweep, or curvature, and the second number is the width of the blade in millimeters. Below are a couple examples of caving gouge sizes. In the first  photo you’ll see a Pfeil Swiss made carving gouge, with the marking “5/12”:

The number 5 refers to the curvature, and the number 12 refers to the width (in millimeters). So all the sizes on the above chart have a #5 sweep. Below is one more example, to provide a point of reference:

The gouge is stamped with 8/13. The number 8 would be the sweep, or curvature. The number 13 would be the width (in millimeters). So again, all the sizes in this chart have the same sweep (or curvature) of 8.

Which Wood Carving Gouges Should You Buy First?

Some people opt to buy a whole set of wood carving tools, including a whole set of wood carving gouges / wood carving chisels, but others recommend that you don’t go out and buy a whole set of carving chisels. It may seem like you’re getting a better value if you buy a whole set (which you are, if the sizes are exactly what you want), but you may not find all the sizes useful for what you plan to carve. It may be best to buy one or two carving gouges at a time, based off of what you plan to carve. If you’re taking a live introductory wood carving class (like our 18th century carving class, with Kaare Loftheim) or an online wood carving lesson (like these excellent classes filmed by Mary May), the instructor will tell you which wood carving chisels you will need for each particular project. For example, here are the different carving gouges students will be purchasing for the 18th century carving class (where they’ll learn to carve a ball and claw foot):

• PFEIL”Swiss Made” #12 Sweep, 4mm  V-Parting Tool
• PFEIL”Swiss Made” #3 Sweep, 25mm Wood Carving Gouge
• PFEIL”Swiss Made” #5 Sweep, 16mm Wood Carving Gouge
• PFEIL “Swiss Made” #5 Sweep, 25 mm Wood Carving Gouge
• PFEIL “Swiss Made” #8 Sweep, 13 mm Wood Carving Gouge

In our class “Bowl Carving & Spoon Carving with Mike Cundall“), Mike recommends that his students purchase a #7 sweep long bent gouge, between 25mm and 35mm…like this one, this one, or this one. 

If you have a picture or drawing of a carving that you’d like to replicate, then you can use a wood carving gouge size chart provided by the manufacture of your gouge. For example, you can use the size charts in the Pfeil catalog to determine which sweep and size will match the curves in your carving (you can view and download their catalog here).

What are the Best Brands of Wood Carving Chisels?

Which brands of wood carving chisels / wood carving gouges are best? Here are a few popular brands of new and antique carving chisels:

Best Brands of New Carving Gouges:

• Pfeil carving gouges
• Shaaf carving gouges (very affordable, and quite good quality)
• Hirsch carving gouges
• Auriou carving gouges
• Henry Taylor carving gouges
• Ashley Iles carving gouges
• Stubai carving gouges
• Two Cherries carving gouges

Best Brands of Vintage Carving Gouges (below links lead to Ebay searches):

• Addis carving gouges (very well respected maker for edge-holding ability)
• Dastra carving gouges used (very well respected, but not overly expensive)
• Dastra carving gouges new (very well respected, but not overly expensive)
• Marples carving gouges
• Buck carving gouges
• Stormont carving gouges
• Butcher carving gouges
• Henry Taylor carving gouges
• Herring brothers carving gouges
• Bushman carving gouges
• Eskilstuna carving gouges
• Tyzack carving gouges
• Sorby carving gouges
• D.R. Barton carving gouges
• Ward & Payne carving gouges

Any good brands that we’re missing? If so, email us here.

Also, here are the wood carving gouges that Bill Anderson displayed in the above video:

• New PFEIL “Swiss Made” carving gouges (click here)
• Used PFEIL “Swiss Made” carving gouges on eBay (click here)
• Other used carving gouges on eBay (click here)
• New PFEIL “Swiss Made” Intermediate Size Carving Tools Set of 6 (click here)
• New PFEIL “Swiss Made” Intermediate Set of 7 Tools (click here)
• New PFEIL “Swiss Made” Intermediate Carving Set, 12 piece (click here)
• Other new quality gouges on Highland Woodworking (click here)