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Well, I've been wanting to make a violin for awhile, but I don't have any gouges (nor a bunch of other things I need). So my questions are, which gouges are the most useful, and where is a good place to get them?

Thanks in advance,

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Phil- I have a bunch of gouges and chisels. The ones that I use most are 9/15, 5/15 and 2/16. These will get you started. You can get decent gouges from Woodcraft, International Violin or lots of other suppliers. You might also want to look into a couple of Ibex round sole finger planes. If you have any other questions, you can PM me. Pals,Vic.

I'm not a Violin maker although I have worked alongside a few. I have a friend who uses just 2 gouges to carve a scroll and even one of those he uses for the rough arching as well. Fairly flat like a No 3 @ 3/4". He used to put some sort of extension on it for the rough work.
That's a bit minimalist but he went to one of the premier schools in Europe. Even I've made a scroll with just 3 gouges. The technique is to roll the gouge to get the different curves. I used a 7, 5 and a No.3. One Pfeil, two were Ashley Iles. Plenty of other makers who are good.
You will probably find that you will get different answers, dependent on the maker.

Post your question on violinforum.ca you will get many responses. vln Knives , german, japanese, swiss, DIY, gouges ,swiss, chinese, japanese,chisels japanese, austria, wood wherever I can get it.

get them on eBay, if you are willing to hone/grind them.
i made a top and bottom last spring using 3/4" U-gouges, one deep gouge, another a bit more of a shallow "U". would have liked to have an even shallower one as well(sorry, i don't recall the number designations for profiles). i finished them with a home made scraper.
...haven't gotten around to the scroll yet so i can't speak about that.

Thanks for the replies, fellas! This is enough to get me going. I just got kind of lost looking at the gouges at Woodcraft. They have so many! A complete set would probably cost $100,000....

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

no need to break the bank, i think i got my 3 gouges for under $40 US. here's a quick example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Vintage-Buck- ... 20bf3d8ab3

Those type of Gouges are a little on the heavy side for scroll carving. I think it's better to go for the type that have thinner blades, the type that are designed to be pushed with the hand rather than hit with a mallet (are they termed firmer gouges?).

These Taylors are usually around 25% cheaper than other makes, at least here in the UK:

http://thebestthings.com/newtools/henry ... arving.htm

I think that is what they term their 'acorn' brand. I don't own one but I do have one modern Taylor firmer gouge. Steel is fine.
You can get a good deal on Ebay. You need time and a bit of luck. Many times I've seen old gouges go for a similar price (or sometimes more) than the equivalent new tools. It's the lure of old steel. The other problem being that not many people list the actual sweep of the gouge, probably because they themselves don't know it. You also don't know if the steel has been overheated. That's where the luck comes in.