A pair of mini skews

Been getting round to these for some time, I can't remember when I bought the piece of HSS, but it was some years ago. Anyway, I am getting thoroughly bored with house-painting, and took the opportunity afforded by some rainy spells to spend a few hours in the shed. The mini skews were just the ticket for a small job to while away an hour or three.

I started with a length of HSS, 1/8 x 5/16 x 8 (inches) (from McJing's) which was meant to be raw material for a parting tool for metal lathes. That was just enough for two small blades. I wanted these skews to be about 5mm wide or slightly less, so I had to trim a bit off each side (5/16 = ~8mm). I did the first one by clamping between two bits of steel & using a 1mm cut-off wheel, but it was hard to control & keep straight taking such a thin shaving, so I switched to a metal-grinding wheel for the second one, which worked better. The steel the blade was clamped between kept everything cool - I could hold the blade comfortably in my hand immediately after grinding/cutting, but you can actually get HSS very hot without tempering it. There was certainly no change in hardness of the remaining metal, took me quite some time to clean up the marks from the cutting wheel on a diamond plate! :C

So I popped on some handles, and there they are:Attachment 309717

The handles were turned from a scrap of Bull-oak that almost went into the firewood pile. It was a crotch piece, and full of splits & bark inclusions, but since I only needed small pieces, I decided to give it a go, and managed to get a couple of useable bits. I'm glad I persevered, it's gorgeous wood - the still pics don't do it justice, but it looks like brown opal when you rotate the handle in the light: Attachment 309716

Just for comparison, here is a mini with a Lee Valley 1/2" (re-handled, of course!) and a 1/4" skew made from a good old chisel picked up at a flea market:Attachment 309718

Now I have no excuse not to get started on the gallery for my writing-desk. The skews are for clening out sockets on the tiny half-lapped dovetails on very small drawers, etc.

Sorry, forgot to take the obligatory shavings pics, but trust me, they are sharp & shaved Pine end-grain effortlessly! :U

Cheers,

Very nice Ian
Do you ever use any thing other than oak of some sort.
Just mocking they look great.

Stunning looking skews Ian, and I have no doubt that they work as well as you say and that Bulloak looks amazing.

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

....Do you ever use any thing other than oak of some sort.....

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:U
Fair comment - I do use various she-oaks quite a bit, as you've noticed, partly because I can get my hands on several different varieties, but mostly 'cos it looks good & takes a beating, so they do make good handle material. These little skews will not be walloped, though, at least not while I own them, they are strictly for pushing into sharp corners & planing the bottoms of small recesses.

But if you rummage through my tool cupboard, there are a couple of sets of chisels with Oak handles, but you will find a few handles in other than a She-oak, like Olive, for e.g. Attachment 309789

Or Mulga: Attachment 309791

Or even Brigalow: Attachment 309792

So there.. :q
:U
Cheers,

By re-arranging a drawer, I've managed to accommodate my new minis with my other skew chisels. Took a bit of trying them this way & that way, but eventually the penny dropped & I was able to fit everything neatly & (more importantly!) accessibly:
Attachment 309817

There's even a teeny bit of room left over..... :U

So much for the "one in, one out policy" I vowed to stick to some years ago. I think I have managed to dispose of maybe one old tool for about 10 plus new ones! But I am coming to the end of the road and will have to stick with it, soon! There is a limit to how much more I can stuff into my tool cupboard & still be able to get at it conveniently, and I think I've almost reached it!

Cheers,

Ian
I think u are looking at this from the wrong perspective if I can be bold.
It's not your growing collection of tools that is the problem.
If think it may be time for a lager or a twin tool cupboard.
Which may also necessitate the purchase or making of yet more tools to build said cupboard.
Which in it self may need to be put in new workshop extension.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

........It's not your growing collection of tools that is the problem.
If think it may be time for a lager or a twin tool cupboard.......

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:U Can't do. The existing cupboard takes up all the space I can spare...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

........Which may also necessitate the purchase or making of yet more tools to build said cupboard......

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:o I don't think I could convince the other half on that one, even at my most pursuasive!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

........Which in itself may need to be put in new workshop extension......

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:roll: Ditto - much as I would lerve to have 4 times the floor space!

Seriously, I almost feel guilty admitting this, but I'm at the stage where I really don't need a single new tool. Doesn't mean there aren't a couple I want, but I have more than enough to make anything I'm likely to tackle in whatever time I have left for woodworking. I think I've been through a cycle many of us go through - starting out with a pathetically small kit, impossibly big ideas, & a very limited budget. I spent hours ogling tool catalogues & pining for heaps of shiny stuff which I couldn't afford (much of which I probably never would have used properly, if at all!). Over 30-odd years, I slowly built up to where I am now. Sometimes it seemed painfully slow, but I reckon it was all for the best, because I ended up with a set of tools that suit me to a 'T'. Some of them are very fine tools, most are more your humble working-class types, but well fettled & good users. I stumbled on a few which were the sort of 'find' we all dream about, and splashed out on one big indulgence, when I was in a much happier financial state (after the kids had all left home..). Funny thing, that one turned out to be my biggest disappointment.

So you see, I don't need any more tools......

Or a bigger tool chest.....

Or a bigger shed.....

I don't. :no:

I don't.....

:C

That's very humbling Ian .
I think in one regard being limited makes you push your self hard appreciate what u have and do more with what we have ,you learn to use the tools you have to there full extend .
Craftspeople of 200/300 years ago, had know were near the available must have lasted ,bling bling thing we have today .
Tool catalogues internet search engines .
Matt.