Paul,

A) I always figure the bevel should rub in the clean area immediately
following the cut, not in an area alongside where you are cutting.
Think of it more like a plane instead of a knife. Bring the skew
around so the handle is closer to 75 - 80 degrees to the ways of the
lathe and work with the very bottom of the cutting edge (the obtuse
angle, not the acute angle). If you use only the bottom 1/8" of the
blade you won't be too far wrong.

B) I recommend Alan Lacer's video, too.

C) Take the other suggestion about making everything you can find
round. Practice helps a bunch.

Good Luck,
David

Paul Kierstead wrote:
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