For making pens I find a 5/8 or 1/2 inch bowl gouge that way from the square using the centre as a scraper action no nasty wing split cuts then it could be upside down and still work great. Then I shape somewhat and finish with any of a few scrapers always on the flat and all design work with the pointed end. The wing splits are also easy to acheive or more so with a roughing gouge IMHO. Especially with our really rugged timbers. When the great Frenchman demoed his Bedan ( used by every tradesman turner in that country for ever) many years ago we all made a square HS Steel scraper cut at 45% as a Bedanbut it can be a bit savage for mine perfect for shoulders to fit a chuck though. Seems every UK or US hero on the visits promote their own version of wunderchisel. The real confusion is also they all had a speciality, long stems, cathedral length box tops a la Richard Raffan also his fiddle sticks, stems etc. One of the great things for me when a mate really clever with giant bowls from bridge timber etc only ever used a lower grade scraper for everything. Another mate never used his grinding wheel conventionally for bowl gouges sharpening them on the flat of the wheel in front using the rest eyeing the cutting face from above this I have done ever since.
There are world beaters who hand sharpen on really course grinding wheels with huge success others like me use double ended wheels one courser than the other for shaping and finishing one time or another I have bought and used a number of so called answer to prayers devices to hold chisels for sharping and shaping.
These days before a session I sharpen a few of each tool I use so Im not rushing over to the grinder for quite a while keeping my mind in the groove. For my finishing skew I have set the simple rest for ages it seems and angle the scew to the stone watching for the sparks just over the top of the cutting edge, incidentally if it perchance becomes uneven that is a different slightly one side shoulder to the other if its sharp I carry on and use it next sharpening making the shoulders more even and so on.
Whatever floats your boat there are no true rules only perceptions if you adapt to the shape and size a choice we all face in life.
Have fun I do.
Kind regards Peter.