Turned some more apricot tonight. Made two small weed pots for prizes at a reunion picnic tomorrow. One provided its own title and required a little outside of the box thinking to make it work. Pic in alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking - message title is Drink Me.
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Turning a 4x4 chunk of pine, cut from some header scrap, is a lot different from turning green apricot in the 1 1/2 - 2 1/2" diameter range.. A big roughing gouge sure is handy to have. Didn't dare try the 1 1/2" oval skew. That thing's just to scary for me at this point.
You've got a much more stable and thus controllable version of that skew built into the roughing gouge. Bring your rest in as close as you dare and you can skew with the upturned portions of a "U" shape gouge , and without that point hanging out there, ready to grab if the tool rolls on that narrow radius.
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Put a bag underneath to grab the chips and save a bunch of effort.
I've got no problem with the rectangular x-section 1/2" skew from a Sorby mini-set and can get into undercuts with the heel corner and in deeper with the long point - on smaller diameter stuff. But at 4 or more inches in diameter with the oval x-section larger skew I feel like I've got less control. Could also be that the larger with the larger skew and its much longer handle moment arm small movements of the handle hand result in larger movement at the cutting end.
I'm on a JET midi-lathe used on my bench top. Don't have room for putting it on a dedicated stand, which, even with sand bags, probably wouldn't be as stabile a base as my 200+ pound workbench.
What I really need to do is finish putting together the real 1400 CFM , 25 pound air foil impellar, cyclone dust collector and use the adjustable collection gizmo I already have. My old Delta "1100" cfm unit with 4" ducting worked semi-ok before I took it apart to upgrade to 6" ducting and the new cyclone. Probably should just put the old dust collector set up back together unitl the new cyclone is finished and I have all the 6" parts on hand.
Anyway, thanks for the tips. Been concentrating on forms and maybe need to think through the mechanics of some of the tools. Maybe, just maybe the college Statics and Dynamics classes will finally get used in the real world.
charlie b
Sleepless in San Jose thanks to a very neurotic visiting friend 1 am -a run to an all night pharmacy 2 am - slamming bathroom door 2:30 am - slamming bathroom door AND toilet lid 3:15 am - slamming bathroom door AND toilet lid AND "I'm really sorry about making all that noise" 4:15 am - "Can I use your phone to call my sister in New York 4:25 am -"Is it ok if I take a shower?" : : the one nerve I have left is really, really, really getting stretched thin!
And, if you grind the wings back on the roughing gouge, you have an even better and more controllable version of a skew. If you hold the tool handle perpendicular to the bed and roll it over to about 2 o'clock (or
10 o'clock, handle low), you will be making a shearing cut. If you hold it at 12 o'clock it works like any other roughing gouge. Last weekend I used somebody else's straight-across roughing gouge and it felt crude and awkward compared to mine Also, the tool rolls smoothly, something which almost no skew does, whether standard, oval or something in between. The exception -- my home-made round skews -- 1/4" and 3/8". They roll beautifully for obvious reasons.
I sold my 1 1/4" oval skew years ago -- a useless tool in my opinion. If I had a lot of money in my 3/4 round edged skew (not oval), that would be the next to go. Now my major use for it is for cleaning up the outside of bowls (yes!) using a technique demonstrated by Guilio Marcolongo at the AAW year before last.
To complete the picture, I roll beads with a 3/8 beading and parting tool (many of the Brits do this) or if they are too small to get in with that tool, I'll use one of my two small round skews.
Perpendicular to the bed? Why on earth would I want to lose the stability of my toolrest? Did you look at the pictures where the regular pattern was fully supported parallel to the bed, shearing and making twisted shavings? It serves as a skew for cleaning up all convex work, without the tippiness of a narrow tool.
I also own the Sorby 35mm forged gouge, which came ground as you modified your roughing gouge, but it gets help from the toolrest all the time, too. Better control.
I'm a firm fan of the beading tool over that grabby skew for cutting beads, though the skew does excel at planing cuts. I would have a straight chisel over a skew in the "standard" sets.
I guess that I didn't make myself clear. I get very good support from the tool rest -- and regardless of how I rotate the tool, the point of support is directly under the point where the cut is being made. That is not the case with skews, btw.
In order to get the skewing cut with the standard grind for a roughing gouge, you need to swing the handle left or right. Now the support (point of contact with the tool rest) is farther away from the cut so supports less well.
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