"Bill Rubenstein" wrote in message
m...

And, if you grind the wings back on the roughing gouge, you have an even
better and more controllable version of a skew. If you hold the tool
handle perpendicular to the bed and roll it over to about 2 o'clock (or 10
o'clock, handle low), you will be making a shearing cut. If you hold it
at 12 o'clock it works like any other roughing gouge. Last weekend I used
somebody else's straight-across roughing gouge and it felt crude and
awkward compared to mine Also, the tool rolls smoothly, something which
almost no skew does, whether standard, oval or something in between. The
exception -- my home-made round skews -- 1/4" and 3/8". They roll
beautifully for obvious reasons.

I sold my 1 1/4" oval skew years ago -- a useless tool in my opinion. If I
had a lot of money in my 3/4 round edged skew (not oval), that would be
the next to go. Now my major use for it is for cleaning up the outside of
bowls (yes!) using a technique demonstrated by Guilio Marcolongo at the
AAW year before last.

To complete the picture, I roll beads with a 3/8 beading and parting tool
(many of the Brits do this) or if they are too small to get in with that
tool, I'll use one of my two small round skews.


Perpendicular to the bed? Why on earth would I want to lose the stability
of my toolrest? Did you look at the pictures where the regular pattern was
fully supported parallel to the bed, shearing and making twisted shavings?
It serves as a skew for cleaning up all convex work, without the tippiness
of a narrow tool.

I also own the Sorby 35mm forged gouge, which came ground as you modified
your roughing gouge, but it gets help from the toolrest all the time, too.
Better control.

I'm a firm fan of the beading tool over that grabby skew for cutting beads,
though the skew does excel at planing cuts. I would have a straight chisel
over a skew in the "standard" sets.