CARP roughing gouge 40 mm
CARP roughing gouge 40 mm
A CARP 40 mm roughing gouge is a beast of a chisel. For turning longitudinal timber, spindle work. Quickly round a square beam, that's what it's for. Nice long handle to press firmly against the body.
Handle
A handle for a woodturning chisel is sometimes long and sometimes short. Depending on the function of the chisel. A bowl gouge or roughing gouge needs a long handle, a profile gouge needs to be manoeuvrable and so a short handle is useful. Furthermore, it is useful to easily recognise the handles when they are hanging in the rack.
CARP chisels
Carp's chisels are made of hardened HSS M2 steel. They are forged and/or milled, then hardened to 63-64 HRC, then ground and polished.
Harden
How good a chisel is depends largely on the hardness and toughness of the steel. So a lot of attention is given to hardening chisels. This is a lengthy process. It starts with heating the steel. This is done in absolute vacuum. Then the chisels are hardened in 3 steps, before undergoing another process of heating and cooling. Here, temperatures of up to -185 degrees are reached (in liquid nitrogen). Quality is strictly monitored. Between 5 and 10% of each batch of chisels is tested for hardness and toughness.