"George" George@least wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
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.


Beading tool. Bevel on one side, longer, not skewed. Alternate,
single-sided skew. More clearance in narrow quarters, no nose to catch
with the beading, and all plane real well. Don't have to buy one, as you
probably have a couple cheap scrapers you can convert.

The best tool for any job is the one that does it best in your hands.

Funny, but after posting my last response to Derek, I chatted with a friend
in California--a long-term woodturner--who said the same thing--"use a
beading tool, fer cryin' out loud." After almost 30 years of turning, he
claims he still cannot make decent mini-beads with a skew. I guess I
shouldn't feel so bad.

I do have some cheap scrapers, including one narrow one I never use, that
I'll try to convert. Now I face the problem of being able to make a nice
set of half-coves on the tool with a small ledge in between. OR, Robert
Sorby has one for not too awfully much money, if I fail.

Max