Gouge Chisel

I didn't have a gouge chisel and needed one, so I figured I might as well build one. The main issue I had was that I needed some good quality steel I could harden, but I needed it to be round. The rat tail file I used is probably a little small but good enough for use with my mini-lathe. The other option would be to hammer some flat steel into a half-round shape, but that's currently beyond my abilities.

• A large round file (aka a 'Rats Tail' file)
• Drill
• Grinder
• Gas torch

The process of making a Gouge Chisel is a bit different, you generally want this as large a diameter a file as you can find. Since the files normally taper down to the tip we're going to use the handle end as that's the thickest point.

So using a grinder cut the tapered handle off the file.

As explained in my previous instructable making a turning chisel it's important to anneal the file. To do this you need to heat up the steel and let it cool slowly. I just hit it with a torch and then covered it up with the firebricks. You can also chuck it into a campfire or firepit, just try to get it glowing over the entire length.

Mark the middle and centre punch to stop the drill from wandering. Now drill a small pilot hole, I somehow managed to go off-centre at this stage, but that's recoverable. Now drill a larger hole, you want to make this reasonably big, but still want the steel to be 2-3mm thick.

Using a grinder cut open the gouge hole and then grind the profile flat. You can also smooth off the teeth of the old file at this stage.

You can either use some sandpaper or a Dremel to hone out the inside of the gouge to remove any drill marks.

Now using a torch or charcoal heat up the last couple of inches of the gouge chisel until it's 'cheery red' or a magnet longer sticks and quench it in some old oil. Now clean off the burnt oil with sandpaper or a wire brush, I've recently learnt that brake cleaner helps remove it as well.

Lastly, temper the steel in an oven at about 200 degrees celsius for an hour.

You can either use an old piece of broom handle or turn a new one from some wood, make sure the handle is tight on the gouge chisel, I sharpened the handle end of the chisel so it would bite in.