Skew problems

"Maxprop" wrote: (clip) Any suggestions will be appreciated. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I used to have a lot of skew troubles. Our club chairman suggested that I start using the skew as much as possible, particularly for things like roughing and gross shaping. There seems to be a special kind of nervousness that goes with the critical finishing cuts, that makes the skew more treacherous. You will not be good with the skew are able to relax--until you are able to concentrate on the shape, letting your "muscle memory" take care of the mechanical part. It's a lot like learning to drive, or play music.

you might want to try Alan Lacer's video The skew, the dark side the sweet side. He goes into allot of things that may help. I like the dead center as a driver. You can slip the work depending on how tight you make the tail stock. If you can grab the work a catch is not going to be that bad.

Bruce

Maxpr> I'm still having difficulty with skew chisels. I seem to get far too many

Max, I was having terrible catches with the skew when I first started turning. An experienced woodturner watched me turn and looked at my skew, and said it was not sharp. This does not seem to be your problem. Another problem I was having was the top and bottom of my skew was digging into the wood as I tried to use it. He suggested I grind back those spots, I did that and have had no more problems. Since then (5 years ago) I have bought a new skew and now use it without grinding down the edges. The skew is one of the tools I use the most now. I use heavy and light skews for different jobs, but the heavy ones the most often. Glenn Nashville, GA

There is some good advice above. Also make sure you are cutting down hill - meaning do not cut into the end-grain, instead cut away from the end grain. Even with great technique, you can get catches if you cut into the grain. I learned the skew from a Brian Clifford article he has on the web. I do not have the link at hand, but you cn find it on the links page on my web site. Brad HardingPens.com

Max,

I don't think the size of your skews is the problem. I taught myself to use the skew w/o fear by using the only skew I had at the time, a

1/2" Sorby mini tool, to reduce pieces of 8" diameter firewood to shavings, over and over again, from rough to finish. It's really just a matter of getting comfortable with where to hold the tool, how to hold the tool and what you can and can't ask of it. While videos are _very_ helpful, there is no teacher like experience.

Back in the stone age, and even after I learned turning, it was common to find left and right skews. Simply put, the bevel on one side, the other flat. For the same reason that a bevel chisel digs in when you use the flat side down, a skew will do the same.

Also better to use a beading tool - narrow straight chisel - for cutting beads, in my experience. Saves you from yourself, and the tendency to cut only inward, forgetting that there comes a point (no pun intended) where the projecting part grabs and throws you out as it catches what you had not cut down upon.

If you are having problems using skew chisels.......that probably just means you are fairly normal in motor skill development, likely well-adjusted and happy in most other aspects of your life.......and much like a whole lot of other woodturners.

I'm certainly no expert with the skew, myself. Personally, I find that larger (longer cutting edge) skews, say the 1" size or larger, are usually less prone to catches. I like the heavier traditional skews (rectangular cross section) rather than the newer and lighter weight oval skews. I doubt the length of your skew chisels has any bearing on their propensity for "catches". Watch you cut and make sure you are doing the cutting with the lower one-third of the cutting edge.

There is a DVD by Alan Lacer, entitled "The Skew Chisel" that you might find useful. Watch the DVD, then find some cheap wood and practice, practice, practice. If that doesn't help, avoidance might. If you switch to turning bowls and hollow vessels, you'll rarely have need for a skew chisel. Good luck.

Barry

Hi Max, Glad you have skewered the epithets.

I agree with the Lacer CD and 3/4" skew, but why do you need a Steb center? I've read the ads, but I've never used one as it seems to me to be an expensive device that like a cheaper dead center tends to perpetuate instead of improve poor tool work and it fills some other needs that most hobbyists don't have. Other's opinions will differ and I'm willing to learn.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

So am I, obviously. I was reading a turner's website a while back in which he recommended the Stebcenter as a means for mitigating the ill effects of a nasty catch--the sort I have been experiencing. Several catches have yanked the skew from my hands, and on one occasion it caught my faceshield and ripped it from my headgear, destroying both. Better it than I. But I was hoping a Stebcenter might be a good device to use while learning the taming of the skew (sorry). I don't own a dead center--my lathe came only with a live one plus some drive centers--so I shopped for a center that would allow slippage, but couldn't find a dead center offered. At least the Craft Supplies catalog doesn't seem to have them. I'm sure they've got to be cheaper than a Stebcenter, so I'm all ears if you think they'll work as well for less money. As for poor tool work, I believe that is my middle name, but I'm improving.

Max

Max, instead of using a skew, use a round nose scraper, freshly sharpened, tilted up at about a 45 degree angle, with the bevel rubbing. Guess what? It cuts well, will not catch. However, it really doesn't work well for long straight sections, as the handle is at a 60-75 degree angle to the surface. But for plankwise open bowls, it is great to do the last pass (inside and out) to leave a very clean cut. Try it, you will like it!!

James Johnson

They even sell a similar tool. If you take the bevel back even farther, you can get more to guide on what is surely an extreme Lacer grind.

I have a heavy (1/2" thick) round-nose scraper which should work well, but I'm unsure as to how to use via your method to cut beads and coves. It does, however, leave a very smooth, chatter-free surface on bowls, as you've implied.

Max

Max, another forgiving tool for smoothing a spindle surface can be made by removing the bevel and grinding a new one on the flute side of a shallow 3/4" or larger gouge. Held upside down & flat on the rest and pulled at an angle, the wings prevent rotation and 'slam-downs' while the fixed tangent of curved gouge to curved wood helps control the chip width and 'dig-ins'. Find the sweet-angle and it works quite well. If you have an unused old carbon steel gouge you may want to try it.

Not condescending to you, but a true beginner should remember to use a dead _ring_ center, not a dead 60deg. center as a clutch. Maybe I've forgotten how to 'double clutch' :), but a dead ring center drive is a pain to me. It either slips too easily or it needs too much tailstock pressure.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

An interesting idea. As a relative newcomer to turning, I don't have anything that's old. But I'm replacing my first, inexpensive tools with better ones as finances allow.

It sounds as if a Steb center might be a better alternative. I found a dead ring center from Packard, and it is somewhat less expensive than the Steb.

Max

FWIW, while I was waiting for my nicer turning tools to arrive when I got my first lathe, I picked up a set of carbon steel turning tools from Menard's for about $15. For that price, you could consider them "unused old" tools right out of the package, and play with the profile all you like. It's the special alloys and tool steels that cost a lot of money- but the carbon steel ones have thier place as well (They take an edge like nothing else, it just doesn't stay keen as long, and is prone to rusting)

While I have invested in a rather nice 1/2" bowl gouge that now has a David Ellsworth profile, plus a couple of other *quality* tools, my first tools were a Harbor Freight set of HSS tools. Amazingly they aren't all that bad, but I doubt if the steel is M2. They hold an edge reasonably well, and I don't worry about ruining them while trying different grinds on the Wolverine jig. In fact, I've taken my 3/4" skew and put a Lacer-type gentle radius on it. That certainly made it more user-friendly--I have yet to get a catch with it after altering the edge profile.

I also want to report that since implementing some of the suggestions made by those who responded to my original plea for help, I'm now enjoying my skews tremendously, having almost no catches, and definitely getting better results.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Max

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Max, Sears has one in their online catalog. It's a 60 degree, MT2, and cost is $7.99. They once had a cup center, and it may be in their tool catalog, but not in the online version.

Ken Moon Webberville, TX.

Thanks, Ken. I'm not sure I need one any longer--spent my spare time the past two days turning pine 2x2s and so far nary a catch. In fact, I'm discovering just how much fun a skew can be when used properly. I'm still not rolling nice beads yet, but my surface quality has improved 100%. Thanks to the help from posters here (and some time spent with one of Raffan's books), my learning curve is steepening.

Max

My problem is with small, narrow beads, not the larger ones. I seem to be able to make wider curves, but the tiny two or three part beads, like those decorating bowl rims, etc., are the ones I can't seem to create well. They are harder to visualize, but that doesn't seem to be an issue. What is a problem is my ability to roll the skew smoothly to round a, say, 1mm bead. I'm wondering if a skew with rolled edges might help. I can actually do slightly better with a fine detail gouge, but I'd really like to get these things down with a skew. I guess I'm just pedantic enough to want to be competent with every tool.

Thanks for the advice, Derek.

Max