Hurricane Turning Tools, HTT-108, High Speed Steel, 1" Spindle Roughing Gouge for Woodturning

Very Sharp - feels comfortable in hand

I wanted a decent sized roughing gouge but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for one. As a casual woodturner, I have no regrets buying this over an expensive one. It has held up fine and holds an edge well enough.

Works great

i use very few traditional tools but i needed a slotion for roughing out some large (for me) spindlesthe tool was very sharp out of the pkgit was easy to sharpen and kept an edge well

I was a bit hesitant about ordering this gouge, as it’s much cheaper than similar gouges from Sorby and others. But I was encouraged by the positive reviews, and so I did. After using it for an afternoon I’ve come away impressed. It holds an edge much longer than the old carbon steel Delta gouge I was using, although that’s a relative thing- even the best tools need to be sharpened regularly while you’re turning to keep an good edge. The high speed steel may not be as tough as the M42 and powdered steels used by tool makers like D Way and Thompson in their more expensive gouges, but it seems every bit as tough as the high speed steel used by Sorby, and the tang is still securely anchored in the handle- although if it does come loose, a little epoxy should easily reattach it. Actually, I’m tempted to make a new, longer, handle for it. All in all a good value.

The media could not be loaded.  I just got this today. I was a bit worried about a couple reviews, but this exceeded my expectations. The description said "ready for final sharpening" but this looked sharp enough right out of the box. Nonetheless, I gave it a few quick manual swipes on my 1200 grit diamond plate so it has a nice, shiny, tiny bevel. I went right to work and this chomped away at my maple as expected. What surprised me more was once the blank started getting to round it started taking smoother shavings than a roughing gouge has any business doing. I roughed 2 branches from bark (still green) and it was still holding an edge. I have yet to see how it does on dry wood and long term but I am feeling good about it so far.

This is my third Hurricane gouge; the other two are a square nose scraper and a diamond parting tool. I like them all. My Sorby bowl gouge has a longer handle and a slightly better finish, but the steel in the Hurricanes seems comparable to the Sorby. I refuse to work with dull tools, so I sharpen all my gouges frequently; the Hurricanes take an excellent edge. Don't expect any gouge to come with a great edge; manufacturers expect us to custom grind our gouges. This roughing gouge is made of 6mm thick high speed steel; nice and rugged. As it happens it came ground to the angle that I like for roughing gouges (42 deg.) so it took only a few seconds on the grinding wheel to make it perfect.

Comfortable handle, nice length.

I'm new to turning so I didn't want to spend too much, and so far this has done well for me so far with my beginner level spindles and bowls. It's really big, but apparently that's important to many turners; maybe I'll figure out why.