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Fred Holder[_2_] Fred Holder[_2_] is offline
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Welcome to the World of the Skew Tom,

My first observation is that 2X4 wood is not a good wood to practice
turning with the skew, or really with any tool. Maple, Elm, fruit
woods, etc are much better for practice. Secondly, the skew must be
razor sharp to do the best turning. You should hone the edge until it
is razor sharp, i.e., will shave the hair on your arm.

For initial practice, I recommend a short piece of timber, say less
than 12 inches long. This way there is no chance for the wood to bow
slightly as you near the center portion of the wood. Forget trying to
cut coves with a skew unless they are very wide and shallow.

To make beads, cut a small groove on each side of the bead to be,
actually, I like a small V-groove made by cutting from each side to
the center of the groove. Then mark the center of the space between
the two grooves. Using the heel of the skew, and placing the shaft
vertical to the wood just to the left of the mark and rotate the skew
with your right hand. The skew should then cut directly down into the
groove. At first it may take several cuts to complete this. The flip
the skew 180 degrees and make the same cut on the other side of the
line. Do a few hundred of these and it suddenly becomes easy.

I also recommend with planing cuts that the tool be at 90 degrees to
the wood being cut. The slant of the cutting edge will give you the
angle you need to cut. This should be done with the heel down and
always cut below 1/2 way of the edge.

Then practice, practice, practice until it all becomes automatic. For
spindle turning, the skew is my main tool. But for coves, a spindle
gouge is the tool to use.

Fred Holder
http//www.morewoodturningmagazine.com

On Oct 25, 11:03*am, tom koehler
wrote:
Briefly, I've been using a lathe to make sawdust for 40 years. I'm
right-handed. I use scraping tools, but have some facility with spindle and
bowl gouges, and a hook. I make some of my own tools. The skew has always
been my nemesis.
Assorted arguments aside, regarding the pros and cons of the skew, I decided
to start practicing with a couple of new skew chisels and alternating left
and right hand techniques.
I have scrap softwood material, mainly 2x4 stuff and have decided to start
out on this stock and just the skew chisels - a 1 inch standard skew, and a
3/4 inch oval cross-section skew. The oval skew has a significantly flatter
bevel grind than the standard skew has.
I'm starting with turning a basic cylinder from square stock. I'm also
working on simple symmetrical beads of assorted sizes. Attempts at coves have
been unsatisfying so far.
I'm using both chisels, trying to learn the differences between them, and
also working on left-handed stances to complement my usual right-handed
stances.
On the basic cylindrical project, I am noticing very smooth surfaces on about
half the cylinder circumference and less smooth on the other half of the
circumference. I believe this to be perfectly analogous to the surface
quality of a planed board edge when going the "right" direction or the
"wrong" direction with the plane. In addition, the circularity of the
cylinder is affected by the alternating hard and soft grain in the wood.
Coves are the worst for me, so far. With no place for the bevel to rub, a
nice spiral catch is almost always the result, unless I make a small notch
first, to start my efforts. Somewhat similar to my turning a bowl, I must
start with a small scraped notch at the rim, so there is a place for me to
start the gouge.
None of these remarks is a complaint, just observations of my early efforts
in retraining myself. I am continuing to study assorted videos for technique,
as I become more aware of what my questions are. A turning club is out of the
question in a mainly rural area like mine.
The turning season is upon me, as my outdoor pursuits wind down, and so this
is what I am doing for now.

Just wanted to post this, as the board seemed pretty quiet except for the odd
spammers. Maybe new turners monitoring this board will be encouraged to
continue their learning, cuz an old fart is still trying and making his
messes.

tom koehler

--
I will find a way or make one.