A technical dictionary of printmaking, André Béguin.
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gouge
Tool used to work wood and linoleum. Gouges are used above all to remove the wood or linoleum between the relief lines. In woodcutting flat and curved gouges are used, both of which have the shape of a long spoon opened on the end and bevelled so that they cut into the wood. Flat gouges, also called flat tools or chisels, are used to cut away the bottom of white areas and the interior angles while the rounded gouge is used to clean the exterior borders and to cope with curved areas. Other types of gouges, included V-shaped ones, are used to cut away [wood].
In linoleum work, little steel gouges are secured to a pear shaped handle. Some of these gouges are flat, others rounded, and yet others are V-shaped. These gouges must be well sharpened since linoleum is quite abrasive and when gouges become blunt the lines cut with them become unclear and lack in precision. [linocut].
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