do you skew ??

[Rasmus Petersen]

Ohhh yes i do... lets hear... how many use skews (and how many do you have) I love my skews all of them... i have 8 in operation (3 waiting to be tormek´d and set to work)

I love the skew with all its dangers and the joy when you hit the note at the music of long shavings and glassy smooth surfaces

[Jonathan Harvey]

I use a skew. I've only got two but I practice with them at leas twice a week. someday I hope to be more then mediocre with them. I think that like anything else practice is the key to improvement.

[Nate Carey]

The skew is, hands down, my favorite when turning between centers. I think I have five.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rasmus - do not use them much with what I turn these days - but I do have 5 skews that can leave some very cool embellishments on my spindle turnings!

[Rick Prosser]

I have one skew - but I try to use it as much as possible. As a new turner, I still have a lot to learn, and the skew seems to have more dramatic :eek: consequences for poor technique.

Sure looks nice when used correctly. Will keep trying...

[David Walser]

Rasmus,

I have three skews and use them all regularly. I really like the finish from the tool when I cutting within the skew's sweet spot. In addition to using them for planing the surface and cutting beads on a spindle, I find I'm using my skews more and more when hollowing out a box. It's my go to tool for squaring the corner where the box wall meets the floor, putting a fine finish on the box wall, or fine tuning the fit of the lid. (In box making, I use the skew as a negative rake scraper.) Wonderful tool.

As wonderful as it is, I'm sometimes surprised I get better results on some woods or plastics with something other than my skew. For example, I recently made some pens using thuya burl. The thuya burl had some wild grain and a lot of eyes. I found that even very light cuts from the skew would lift the eyes right out of the wood! My spindle roughing gouge -- taking very light cuts -- left a much better surface without lifting out the eyes. The same is true with "money blanks" (cast acrylic blanks that included shredded US curency). The skew will sometimes pull out, rather than cut, the paper. This leaves a hole that needs to be filled with CA glue. The spindle roughing gouge doesn't do this as much. I'm not sure why the spindle roughing gouge does a better job in some materials than the skew. If anyone has an answer, I'd love to hear it.

[Terry Quiram]

I have a love/hate relationship with mine. Mostly I hate it and only pick it up if absolutely necessary.

[David Christopher]

Rasmus, I have two skews and if Im looking to destroy a piece they will be the first chisel I reach for....I use three tools easy rougher, 5/8 Thompson and a thick scraper....oh yea sandpaper

[Rob Cunningham]

I have one skew and like the smooth surface it give when used properly. I'm not to good turning beads with it yet. I have cut some nice threads with it though :eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rasmus,

For spindle turning, the skew is by far my favorite tool. I can't remember the last time I used my Sorby roughing gouge. I can rough out using one of my 3 skews and just continue onto the final turning without even thinking about changing tools.

I use a 3/4" straight Robert Larson, a 5/8" curved Lacer and a 1 1/4" curved Lacer. I grind and then hone.

The keys to using a skew....sharp...sharp....sharp and commitment

[Chris Rae]

I have two skews but I'm a beginner with them. Recently I got the large one out and used it with no catches for the first time. I was pumped! I still need a lot more practice with them though.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Keep at it Chris and that won't just become an isolated instance!

Chant while using a skew "Ride the bevel....Ride the bevel....Ride the bevel!"

It just takes practice.

[jason lambert]

I was just at a class and used a 1 1/4 lancer and it was wonderful. I was going to order the 5/8" curved Lacer and a 1 1/4" curved Lacer from craft supply yesterday till I saw there price was more than buying it from Lancer himself. Anyhow will be ordering both soon just have to decide on the good one or the really goood one.

[Chris Stolicky]

I have predominantly turned pens. So, yes, the oval skew (1/2" & 3/4") along with some kind of gouge for roughing, get a lot of work.

[Don Orr]

I have at least 5, 3 of which I use regularly. Depends on the workpiece. Also, they are the only tools I hone constantly. A quick touch up with a diamond hone or strop and back at it. They must be SHARP !

And to second what Ken said-practice, practice, practice-bevel, bevel, bevel.

[Brian George]

I didn't know what a skew was until I went to a Lacer seminar our new club had a few months ago. Pens were my first foray into turning. Woodcraft said use a 3/4" RG, a parting tool and lots of sandpaper. That's what I did for four years. Made MANY pens and bottle stoppers.

[Aaron Wingert]

I've been instructed on how to use various gouges and other tools, but never the skew. Therefore my minimal experience using it for its intended purpose ended in some really scary ugly catches. My lack of technique has thus far kept me from trying it again, and I honestly do just fine without it. Someday I hope to get some proper instruction on the use of a skew.

My skew does see use on a lot of projects...It is perfect when used as a scraper for forming the dovetails on parted tenons for insertion into my chuck! :D

[Matt Haus]

I honestly would like to get better with a scew. I do mostly finial work and game calls. I don't do big spingle work. If you had to purchase a couple to practice with, what sizes do you recommend. I have a sorby one but have not used it. I have been using a detail gouge so far for my finial work.

I was thinking about getting a couple of these:

http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/tooltype.asp?TYPE=SK

[Reed Gray]

I have 3 skews. One is traditionally ground. Great for longer straight runs like rolling pins or table legs. One is Eli Avesera ground, convex and is great for gentle coves and rounded shapes. I also use it as a negative rake scraper on boxes. The third one I ground an arc on the cutting edge instead of straight across. I will change that eventually. I had some instruction with both Bonnie Klein, and Allen Batty. Great help, but I use them in spurts, and just enough to get the hang of it, then I don't use them for a few months again. I do need to get a skewchigouge though. It is a beefed up version of the Sorby Spindle Master (Allen said they made it wrong, it is too thin.) After using his,for rolling beads, and mostly for coves, it is a really great tool. Allen also relieves the corners on the point of his skews to allow better access to the deep part of beads and for a square across the end grain cut. When I am having trouble with difficult grain, I have found a scraper with a good burr at a shear angle can work better for clean up work, but being able to gently ride the bevel makes for a better straight line.
robo hippy

[Jeff Nicol]

Well I believe that I have 8 and one in the process of being made. I have them from little tiny 1/4" for miniatures, finials and pens up to a 1" hamlet that I like very much. They all have a little different grind on them and I use them at different times when the need arises. The one I am making is going to be about 1 3/8" wide and 3/8" thick, I wanted to have a larger one in the mix and see what it will do for me. I Have found that the skew can be a wonderful tool to use and will make the most wonderful cuts and leave a super smooth finish cut.

Practice a lot and it will be there when you need it.

Jeff

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have a few skews. I'm not good with any of them, so I feep practicing.
Alan Lacers videos are great. I have the skew and son of skew. Reground my 1-1/4 sorby to his grind as well as my 3/4". Have a crapsman 1" that I left in the normal grind to do work next to the spur or tailstock....

[David Walser]

... If you had to purchase a couple to practice with, what sizes do you recommend. ...

Matt,

If I were buying two skews today, I'd get one about 1/2" wide and one about 1" wide. Those sizes should allow you to do most of the things you'd want with a skew. Bob Rosand's uses, makes, and sells 1/4" skews for very fine and delicate work. However, you don't need something that small if you can get a larger skew to fit.

In general, wider is better. That is, because a larger tool tends to be more stable and allows you to reach farther over the tool rest without chatter, you can turn a small bead a large skew more easily than you can with a small skew (unless something is blocking the skew's access to the blank). At the start of his demos, Alan Lacer often turns a very small top -- about the same diameter as a dime -- with his largest skew. He does this to prove you don't need a small skew for delicate work.

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

I have 3.. scared to death of all of them.. I use a tiny 3/16ths with a sharp point for detail lines, and cutting in small beads.. and I've tried a 1" as a scraper a time or two.. but I always find a better tool to do what I'm trying to accomplish with the skew.. I think I need a wide radius curved skew to do the rolling pins that I've promised to certain ladies in my family.. but I haven't been chomping at the bit to do those..

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I have... 7. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them and how I wanted them shaped when Ken and Bernie turned me onto them. So I had the 1/2" and 1" that came with my HF HSS set. I have done most of my skew work with these two to date. They are the traditional flat cutting edge grind. Somewhere along the way I got another 1" skew of the same time that I have as yet never used. I had a second 1/2" as well but before learning to use them I ground it into a flat box-end scraper. The shame of it all! :o

I also bought the 2 tool set from PSI of the radiused edge grind. But they came only very roughly ground. I haven't used them because they need a decent grind on them and I have yet to figure out how to do really do that well. They are thicker than the others which appeals but again they need serious fixing before using.

At about the same time as I bought those from PSI I found a sale at Craft Supplies in Provo. I bought 2 more skews from them. Both were 1 1/4". I like neither of them and have never used them. I was actually going to return them and then got sucked in with the birth of the baby and forgot all about it until right now. RATS. They are Sorby's IIRC. But one was a radiused edge and one was a straight cutting edge. Both had the radiused corners on the short point side. Which is what I wanted to easier sliding on the tool rest and for rolling beads. (Which is actually quite easy with a bit of practice.) But also had the long point similarly rounded. I really don't care for that personally. Not just corners knocked off but truly rounded. When I use the long point I am making a V cut. I like the very square flat back for stability when doing that. But that is just me.

I have no oval skews. I got to use one when demonstrating the skew at the local Woodcraft a few months ago. I just didn't care for it. Hard to sharpen and behaved differently than what I was used too. As I said I just didn't care for it.

So those are my 7. The first 2 are my go-to tools. Whenever I do spindle work it is almost all done with the skew. Love them. Would use them on bowls if I could... :D

Joshua

[Roger Wilson]

I have 3.. scared to death of all of them.. I use a tiny 3/16ths with a sharp point for detail lines...


Have you looked at the three point tool. It was designed for creating details and beads without the scary factor of skews.

Making one:

http://aroundthewoods.com/three.shtml

Buying one:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Turning_Tools___Bowl_and_Spindle_Tools___Henry_Tay lor___Henry_Taylor_Pyramid_Point_Tool___htt_pyrami d

Using one:

http://cnew.org/tips_techniques/using_a_3_point_tool.pdf

Video on using one:

http://www.woodturner.org/resources/videos/2005_fall_point_tool.wmv


SMC thread on someone who made one:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=43307

[Brian McInturff]

I'm not really sure how many I have. I have a lot of tools I've picked up over the years. But I have 4 that I keep by the lathe. 2 Lacers,one of which I just bought off of the Sawmillcreek classifieds. 1 Thompson 3/4 and a crown oval(I think). The 2 lacers are my favorites by far. The Thompson is great too. I need to put the lacer curve on it sometime.
One thing I learned real quick is don't use a skew when you are tired. The worst catch I ever had was with a skew. I just kind of zoned out for a second and WHAM!! You definitely need to be focused whenever you use the skew.

[Ryan Baker]

I have three, I believe. I do like using them when I am doing spindle work (which isn't that often). One of these days I am going to get a nicer one (or two). I do OK with a skew but am hardly an expert ... need lots more practice. :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Rasmus I have 8 skews and they are my favorite tool to use. They range from a 1/4" round, 3/8" straight, both of Lacers, 2 of Raffans and 2 Thompson straight skews 1/2" and 3/4". Lacer's DVD is probably the best on using a skew and if you get to see him demo don't miss it.

[Wayne Leach]

I have 3 skews, 2 Raffan curved type and one huge 1-1/4 P&N which I absolutely love now that the intimidation factor is gone.
Wayne

[Jim Koepke]

I really like the skew, but I sure hate it when it wants to dance.

jim

[Billy Tallant]

I have two in my collection. I only turn pens at this point in my learning stage of wood turning... When I first started making pens, I did not really like using the skew. Now it is my finish tool on my pens.

[Rasmus Petersen]

man i think i hit a nerve ;) (as intended)

[Bonnie Campbell]

When I first started turning I didn't know how to use ANY chisel. The skew looked to be the easiest, so that's what I learned first. I made complete turkey calls just using the skew. I STILL like the skew best.

[Mark Burge]

Yes, I use the skew and then I use a gouge to clean up the mess I made.

[Mike Meredith]

I have three skews that i use regularly, a 1" and 0.5" in 2030 steel with the Avisera grind, which i like very much, and a 1" Thompson 10V steel skew with a standard grind.

[Rick Flink]

Initially I hate the skew, but then I heard about and then bought a couple of the round nose skews. They have become my best friend for a ton of things I do. I have actually gotten to the point I am getting pretty good with the regular skew I got with my first set of gouges. Overall, the various skew I have now (5) are my go-to tools when nothing else seems to get the job done.

Rick (mtgrizzly52)