Ahhh.... Arch.... you bring up the old nemesis, the skew.

I used to use the old excuse, "well, I don't really turn enough
spindle work to be good with it". Then I met a guy that is a devotee
of Richard Raffan, and he actually uses the skew for everything from
finish planing down to roughing. To be a wise guy, he finished the
outside of a bowl I was turning to make his point.

I can do a little detail work with it, but I have long fingernail
grinds on my spindle gouges (I mean long) that will work for me just
as well as a skew.

Oddly, we had a club workshop several years ago, and while I had
someone at my side, he had me using the gardening digger tool ('scuse
me, skew) very well. I went home and immediately practiced a lot,
trying to imprint in my brain and muscles the memory of what I
learned. No success.

Worse, a few years ago the same thing happened. "Bring the tool you
are having problems using", was our theme. I taught freehand
sharpening techniques, honing, etc., and when I had a break I took out
my razor sharp skew. The skew guy is a friend of mine, so he was
gentle. Once again, as long as he was standing there, it was great.
Left to my own devices, almost all of my new skill was gone in a few
weeks.

In my experience of using the skew incorrectly, I have extensively
covered most mistakes in a very thorough fashion. I am aware of the
bruising, and it is the same thing that happens when you are white
knuckling a spindle gouge. You just bend the fibers over and the heat
"cooks" them into place. The greener the wood, the worse this is.

My only surefire solution is to sand aggressively. removing the
fibers that are not properly sheared or cut. Any other shenanigans I
have tried have only resulted in messing up my finish.

As for reusing the grinders in throw away spice bottles, shame on
you. (I had to laugh though, as I explored this possible resource
myself!) My conclusion was that if I was going to spend my time to
make something that could be for my own personal use or a gift to
someone I would see again, I should make it to last. Although.. the
temptation is a powerful one for us tightwads.

You know, you could make a "redneck" grinder on the cheap. I did this
before when my peppermill broke, and did it again when my coffee mill
broke.

I was making a nice meal and wanted fresh cracked pepper on the
steaks. The grinder mechanism literally broke into pieces right at
the critical time!

I put the peppercorns into a zip lock bag and closed it. I took my
redneck peppermill (aka - small mallet) in the house and carefully
tapped the peppercorns into the right size. Worked great! Sadly, the
bag was only good for one use, though. ;^)

This could be a good tightwad Christmas gift, Arch. Turn a small
mallet, go to the .99 store and buy some sandwich bags. Give the
mallets with a box of bags as a peppermill with a lifetime warranty on
the mechanism! How many folks could say they received a gift with a
lifetime warranty?

For those coffee nuts like me, a little bigger mallet and freezer
thickness bags could do the trick!

Just number your mallets to make sure there are no imitators that try
to horn in on your lifetime warranty on the "mechanism".

After all, you wouldn't want a plain old iron head hammer showing up
as a "warranty" item if this catches on.

I am laughing pretty hard as I type this, as I can hear in the back of
my mind my family groaning. I love to give gag gifts like this....
and it's not too late for this year!

Hmmmm.....

Redneck pepper mill....

LMAO!!

Robert