Thread: Gotta love that skew

Matt!It does really hurt, and when you dwell on that beautiful grain it is like rubbing salt in the wound; Usually at the end of a job also!!!! Feel for you man. Amos

Yair, isn't it a bugger? Skews are wonderful tools until.......

They are a bugger of a thing to master but if you can they work well.

Get straight on there with the skew and give it hell

Count yourself lucky - 'cos there are 4 ways a skew can turn vicious. In increasing order of overall cost they are:

1. They can take a bite out of your blank. It may break your heart, but when pen-turning what have you really lost? An offcut of wood that's too small for any other purpose. [shrug]
2. It can take a bite out of your blank and slam down into the toolrest hard. Hard enough to break the skew! A hundred odd dollar tool, gone bye-bye just like that. [$igh] Painful enough that the few times it has happened to me I haven't cared in the slightest about the blank that was ruined at the same time.
3. It can slam down hard enough that even if it doesn't damage the skew itself, it can break off your toolrest. Which generally means end of session, unless you have a spare. It often also involves secondary damage to the skew (and environs) when it's manually launched through the air as you realise just what has happened...
4. Any of the above three, but your finger is also trapped between rapidly ascending skew and the toolrest. I won't elaborate, except to say: OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!

Actually, I fully empathise with you. It's always painful to lose a nice blank. But don't you feel that little bit better now, knowing what could have happened?

Know where you are coming from Matt88. Same darn thing happened to me on the weekend. All set for a great day turning.... chores almost up to date, husband and child distracted... load up the lathe, everything is peachy... felt a small dig but not overly concerned as have plenty of spare wood on the blank. Ahh will just stop the lathe and see how we are going Big chip right down to the tube. Grrr wood to spare all along but there. The joy of the skew.... always the victor!!!!

Oh well I thought I'll assemble a couple of pens that are ready..... the darn tube is a fraction large.... hmmm dont get it then I check the other couple..... same darn thing . A glich in the kits.

Oh lucky me.......... So think about starting again..... I know I will try the new European Round top...... load up the lathe .. start off... yep the bushings dont fit and the blanks are off centre.

Common sense then kicks in. Shut her down... shut the shed door and go and tackle the ironing instead!!!!!! All I can do is burn something then

Next week I will try again The joys, the joys

You're preachin' to the choir, Matt. Hang in there though. Sometimes they turn out.

Yup Yup Yup thats pretty nasty

Jenny

I have given up on the skew. I only use scrapers, make them up myself, silver solder HSS onto a piece of mild steel, in the shape I want. Mastering the skew is beyond me, the odd times it has gone OK it gives a beautiful finish, and I start to think I have got it right then ZONK

I only ever use a skew for pens...maybe I'm special or something

Thanks all, you've made me feel better, particularly Skew, I got a chuckle out of his post.

FC, using it as a scraper doesn't count.

(matt runs for cover, j/k j/k j/k)

Originally Posted by williampp

I have given up on the skew. I only use scrapers, make them up myself, silver solder HSS onto a piece of mild steel, in the shape I want. Mastering the skew is beyond me, the odd times it has gone OK it gives a beautiful finish, and I start to think I have got it right then ZONK

I thought I was alone in this.. I use scrapers almost exclusively. (after the roughing
gouge, of course)

I have a dovetail scraper, or a spear scraper, or a diamond scraper .. I'm not sure.
It came in a kit, and it's my 'go-to' chisel of choice. good bevel, nice and thick so
I can sharpen it. Don't know what it's called, I only know that if I hold one edge parallel
to the wood, the other edge cuts the correct angle to put a dovetail on the end so that
it matches up with the jaws of the chuck. I also use a square nose scraper and the
round nose scraper .. a large (1.5") bowl scraper and a undercut bowl scraper.

But I CAN'T use a skew! .. except as a scraper.

Newlondon88, Good to meet someone who uses scrapers. I went to a woodturning weekend a couple of years ago, and was amazed at the number of turners who use a gouge as a scraper, straight in no bevel rubbing as they say in the books.
And I use a skew as a scraper a lot.

I don't know if I could use a gouge as a scraper or not. Might be interesting to
try it. But I did find a photo of the scraper I use the most. I have been told it was
a dovetail scraper, someone said a diamond scraper and someone else told me
a spear scraper. When I do image searches for diamond or dovetail, I see the
same shaped tools, but they're not what I use. I just found one, called a
"Dovetailer" only mine is about 9" long and this one is 4".

But if I put a fresh edge on it, I can shave with it. I can also use it like a cutter
on a metal lathe. I can also start in the middle of a blank and shear straight down
to the end of the blank at an angle so I meet the bushing. (It just slows down as
you get toward the bushing, you're cutting more wood) But it will throw off 'fuzz' that
is much finer than human hair. Kinda fun to see it.

ps.. Cisco .. that 'oops' photo looks like the chechem I've been trying to find.
I got one 4/4 piece that I crosscut half of (that's all the interesting grain there was)
but I can't find any more!

Ah yes, the agonizing at the end of a day, supping a good red with a rare steak cooked over the embers of the latest offering of the skew demon. A not uncommon event.

One may cast the skew or bastardize it's use but I would offer the following:

"Which method - Cutting or Scraping?

A common dilemma.

Cutting is the accepted method of turning for generations - handed down from father to son and jealously guarded by craftsmen. It is the fastest and cleanest method of turning but can only be learned through much practice and patience. The skew and gouges are the tools for this purpose.

A professional employs this technique wherever possible and is rewarded with the satisfaction and sense of achievement from mastering it.

Scraping is a much more recent method employed by pattern makers. It is slower and will produce a result that requires greater finishing however it does have the strength of providing greater accuracy as the amount of material removed can be more precisely controlled.

Scraping is probably best for those who turn only a few articles now and again and will produce satisfactory results with less practice or loss of stock. To master a difficult craft and acquire the greater skill it is necessary to learn the art of cutting."*

Guess it's a matter of what floats your boat FWIW

*Acknowledgments to Dale Nish with considerable editing