If you are knocking pieces out of a Talon with a skew then you have to be
digging the point into the workpiece. Always pay close attention to where
the top tip is at all times and make sure you are working above center. You
do not necessarily rub the bevel on a skew it is worked at all angles to
form the shapes and curves and cut you desire. I often do lay it rather flat
and then lift and rotate the handle to feed it into the workpiece. Make sure
your tool rest is close to the workpiece and at a height that makes cutting
comfortable and above center. The skew must be sharp and it is the one
lathe chisel that I will spend time honing to get a good edge.

When you mentioned the Talon I thought you might be using it on a bowl-
doesn't really work except for decorative grooves made by the tip.
Billh

"Paul Kierstead" wrote in message
news
Newbie here...

OK, I have been patiently trying to learn some turning. Mostly turning a
bunch of coat-style hooks for aprons, etc. They all seem to end up
looking like pawns, but that is another story....

Anyway, I have been trying it with the skew chisel. This tool kinda
drives me crazy. When I used gouges, I wondered what all the fuss with
"catches" was; just rub the bevel, happy happy joy joy. Then came the
skew; whoa, you *can* knock something out of a Talon pretty easily. I
have the "Turning Wood" video and book but it is .... less then helpful
(that is a topic for another posting).

I am coming to the belief that my primary problem is that my skew is too
thin. Odd theory, I know; but the problem seems to be that I need a
really extreme angle to rub the bevel, so much so that the
tailstock/head gets in the way much of the time. It seems I frequently
end up with an unsupported edge and some really nasty catches. This is
because the factory angle is quite shallow (which I more or less
duplicated). A very shallow angle will be a bit wierd on such a thin
tool (a Henry Taylor oval skew,
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...1,330,43164,43
173&ccurrency=1&SID=); it seems a bit unwieldy. The ones in the
book/video are much thicker.

I have been really determined to keep expenses in check and concentrate
on technique and would really appreciate any help here.

PK