"Brad" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

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.