Thread: Round woodturning tools

You can grind an angled face on the rod and use it for coves, or grind two bevels with the cutting edge at about 70 degrees to the shaft for a round skew.

Gday AJ, I've heard of round HSS being shaped to a 3 point tool ( see here),

For ern's first idea, see here

More on the three point tool here (haven't watched it yet so don't know how good it is )

http://www.woodturner.org/resources/videos/

I've tried making 3-point tools but don't particularly like 'em. But the Skewchigouge, now...

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I have two round skew chisels, 10mm & 6mm diameter, which I find very useful for pen-turning and fine detail work. With pen-turning, the round shaft allows the tool to slide easily along the rest, and it also makes manipulating the tool easier in small spaces than does the traditional rectangular profile. The only downside is that they can be a bit of a pain to sharpen, because they won't easily fit into sharpening jigs, and hand-sharpening on a diamond stone presents a challenge in finding and holding the right angle to dress the whole bevel on each side.

I also have a three-point tool [restrain yourselves!], and have found it very useful for easily applying decorative grooves. These tools are also supposed to be good for forming beads, but I haven't explored that aspect.

At a recent tool-making workshop run by my local Guild, a couple of us practised annealing, profiling and tempering by using old star drills, of about 11mm diameter, to form what we christened "Round Bedans". By grinding a bevel at about 60 degrees across the face of the shaft, and finishing it to a fairly high polish, we produced an oval tool with a continuous cutting edge, which was very easy to use for producing beads and coves. I can't say it represented a significant improvement on a traditional spindle gouge, but it was fun to make and showed that you can fairly easily make yourself a specialized tool for a specific application without spending a fortune on foreign-made, cryogenicly-enhanced, celebrity-endorsed, trendy tools.

. But the Skewchigouge, now...

Skew,
your design is very close to what I grind mine at.

On some I pull up the front angle to give the tip more support, around 80' and to stop burning the edge off on hard wood...old lamp posts ....

Originally Posted by Tornatus

The only downside is that they can be a bit of a pain to sharpen, because they won't easily fit into sharpening jigs, and hand-sharpening on a diamond stone presents a challenge in finding and holding the right angle to dress the whole bevel on each side.

I have a little flat board with a hole the size of the round bit in the end of it. With a grub screw to hold the round bit steady, it's easy to sharpen a consistent profile by holding the little board flat on the grinder toolrest... but it's sometimes difficult (with my shaky hands) to get the bit in the right orientation each time. Maybe placing a dimple in the bit shank for the grub screw to fit in, before the shaping takes place, might make it easier??

(I have a 3-point tool, too, and shape tenons with it.)

Originally Posted by oldsoke

More on the three point tool here (haven't watched it yet so don't know how good it is )

http://www.woodturner.org/resources/videos/

I just watched the video and it is done very well and very professionally. The footage is clear and you watch the 4 basic techniques: facing, beading, etc etc from several angles.....

The file for it is large - I think about 20 megs!~

But definately worth a click!

Cheers
Ken K1UM

Originally Posted by OGYT

I have a little flat board with a hole the size of the round bit in the end of it. With a grub screw to hold the round bit steady, it's easy to sharpen a consistent profile by holding the little board flat on the grinder toolrest... but it's sometimes difficult (with my shaky hands) to get the bit in the right orientation each time. Maybe placing a dimple in the bit shank for the grub screw to fit in, before the shaping takes place, might make it easier??

(I have a 3-point tool, too, and shape tenons with it.)

Thanks for the suggestion, Al. I had been thinking about a jig for sharpening on a stone, as this type of skew rarely needs more than touching up/honing - following your idea, maybe a wooden block which straddles the stone and has a central hole which allows the tool to protrude at the right angle, held by a grubscrew? I shall experiment, because like you my hands are not all that steady for holding something in proper alignment for any length of time. Ain't advancing decrepitude a bastard (as we Aussies would say)!

BTW, I agree with K1um that the video referenced above is an excellent demonstration of how to use a three-point tool to maximum effectiveness, particularly in turning beads - well worth the download.