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Post by phoneman on Jul 24, 2014 1:45:28 GMT
Hello all.
Since the forum doesn't seem overwhelmed at this time, I have been wondering what you all think about skew turning tools. In addition to my grandfather's 1930s vintage Sears turning tool set, I have added Delta (probably made by Sorby) 1/2" spindle and bowl gouges and a pair of Sorby roughing gouges (3/4" and 1 1/4") over the years.
I have never gotten friendly with the skew. My old skews are flat 1/2" and 1". They are carbon steel. The 1" has the bottom edge radiused. They are probably more than adequate for me, however, like many others, I am somewhat of a tool collector.
I watched a you tube of Alan Lacer using his big skew. It looked like quite a tool.
Your thoughts are welcome.
Ken
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Post by Rob on Jul 24, 2014 4:23:41 GMT
The skew is without doubt the most versatile tool for spindle work. Its also the most difficult to master of all woodturning tools and the most feared. The bad news is catches come thick and fast at the beginning but the good news is they're not as bad as catches with a bowl gouge.
When used effectively its range of possibilities is staggering. Planing cut, peeling cut, scraping, beads, coves, precise tapers, polished end grain to name some of the more common ones. You can even part with it and leave a near sanding free surface in end grain.
To really see the full potential I strongly recommend Richard Raffan's videos. He's a Brit that emigrated to Australia and is about the best in the business with the skew. There are some tasters on Youtube and one in particular goes into detail about the anatomy of the catch which is very useful. My turning club has all his videos and they are exceptional.
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Post by Pete on Jul 24, 2014 12:15:36 GMT
This was turned primarily using the Sorby 3/4" oval profile skew the 20 pence piece is in the picture to give scale... for the US members that coin is about 5/8" diameter. I find the smooth roll of an oval profile makes a completely different and more manageable tool to the square profile tools.
Bottom line is they give an excellent cut, with great detail possibilities, but at the risk of a catch...
Part of the training course I did was to be able to talk and present whilst turning, so I set up a practice session with one of the others on the course in my workshop, where we basically turned a simple piece and talked it through as if presenting to a class. Both of us did fine UNTIL it came to the skew, looking away from the job and describing the cut caused both of us to get dramatic catches, in my case the skew ended up pointing at the ceiling luckily gripped tight or it could have become an extremely sharp missile to the front row of any perspective class
Great tool, but needs your full attention even when you get the hang of using it.
incidentally it's a purple heart trembler, ash base with the bottles made of various scraps I had... the one out of it's holder is a piece of apple tree that was heavily rotten when cut down.
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Post by phoneman on Jul 26, 2014 13:46:54 GMT
Thanks for the comments, Rob and Pete. I remember seeing an article somewhere called, "The Taming of the Skew". Maybe the Bard was an early turner........ I have wondered about oval skews. My 1" skew has had the bottom edges rounded, which seems an improvement. Ken
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Post by Pete on Jul 26, 2014 20:12:37 GMT
I have wondered about oval skews. My 1" skew has had the bottom edges rounded, which seems an improvement. It is... but only half way to what an Oval can do for you. The ability to turn a skew from the standard planing cut to cutting a bead onto a V grove of any size by rolling the skew is pretty impressive, more to the point in using it as a plane cut as per the standard method it was designed for the control you get on an Oval is massive compared to a square cut even if the corners are ground off. buy or borrow one, it takes a while to master it, try putting a marker pen line at the half way point and make your standard plane cuts just below the line, with the heal down (standard grind these days has an angled cutting edge, then invert it and us the toe for some perfect tight v groves, once you have the hang of that roll it gently with maximum attention to the cutting point and you will get perfect beads on the slope of the v grove.
I have seen square stock turned into chess pieces with nothing but a skew, I use the Sorby 3/4" skew a lot, also have the 11/4" as well which gets plenty of use but not quite as much. I have some half and quarter inch skews as well that came as part of a second hand set purchase but to be honest these are mostly used as scrapers to give me dovetails.
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Post by phoneman on Jul 27, 2014 4:34:51 GMT
Thanks for the info, Pete. I will watch for a dealer woodworking show with 20% discount and try to pick up an oval skew.
Ken
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paulm
New Member
Posts: 18
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Post by paulm on Jul 27, 2014 14:29:48 GMT
I use round skews occasionally, made from different diameters of silver steel, they have the benefits of the oval skew only more so !
Cheers, Paul
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Post by Rob on Jul 28, 2014 9:59:30 GMT
you make those yourself do you Paul?
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paulm
New Member
Posts: 18
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Post by paulm on Aug 1, 2014 13:13:28 GMT
Yes, very easy Rob, I bought the first one and then being Scottish thought I'd make some different diameter ones, very easy to do.
Cheers, Paul
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Post by Rob on Aug 1, 2014 18:22:16 GMT
and what diameter would you say is the most useful (I'm a Yorkshireman remember :-)
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Post by phoneman on Aug 1, 2014 19:07:00 GMT
Pete, I have a question about your comment, "I have seen square stock turned into chess pieces with nothing but a skew."
My question is a question to learn rather than a comment. We sharpen turning tools because the turning process makes them dull. I realize using the skew for the whole process has a certain macho quality perhaps lacking in using a gouge for part of the operation. However, would it not make sense to do the roughing with a roughing gouge, saving the full keenness of the skew for the detailed work? Is this a real consideration or only theoretical?
I do enjoy your comments.
Ken
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paulm
New Member
Posts: 18
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Post by paulm on Aug 2, 2014 10:36:44 GMT
and what diameter would you say is the most useful (I'm a Yorkshireman remember :-) Probably the half inch one Rob for most skew type work, but it's handy to have a quarter inch or so for getting into tight areas now and again but depends what you're turning I guess, doing small finials or light pulls or such like would probably benefit from a small size, and larger spindle work a bigger size. They are tricky to sharpen though, as are the oval ones, as you don't have anything to help you register the flat faces at the right angle on the grinding belt, so I tend to re-hone on a hand held diamond sharpener a few times between bouts on the pro-edge. Cheers, Paul
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Post by Rob on Aug 2, 2014 20:48:29 GMT
Thanks Paul. I might try one when I get time. I like the idea of anything that helps with rolling beads!
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Post by Pete on Aug 3, 2014 15:50:42 GMT
Hi Ken,
Personally I think it is a terrible idea to use one tool for the entire process... how else to I justify my desire to own more tools
However it can be done and if the grain is fairly straight rounding off a chess piece sized blank doesn't really take much time or toll on the skew, those that are quick, will have the chess piece started and finished in the time it takes me to put down one tool and pick up another so I can see the sense in it. I have rounded off small stock successfully with the skew, but only to deliberately try the technique I have seen.
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Post by phoneman on Aug 7, 2014 14:54:04 GMT
Good, practical thoughts. Thanks, Pete.
Ken
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