Which skew should I buy?

[Dick Holt]

l am just getting into turning and want to get some lathe tools. They will be used for spindle work. The lathe I have is small, 12" swing, 16" between centers. I was thinking of getting a 3/8" spindle gouge, 3/4" roughing gouge, 3/16" diamond parting tool and a skew. Should I get a standard or oval skew? Is one type better than the other? I read that the oval skew is more difficult to sharpen. Is this true? Thanks for your help.

Dick

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dick,

Most turners don't like a skew. Personally, I like a skew. That being said, I like a rectangular skew with rounded corners. My favorite is a Robert Larson on which I rounded the corners. This is the skew on which I learned. Close behind in 2nd place are my two Lacer skews. They have more mass and as a result are easier to control.

Try to locate another turner or a turning club in the area. Turners by nature are very generous with their time and equipment. Test drive one of their skews before you buy. Keep in mind, the skew probably requires more practice than any other turning tool to become skilled and to maintain that skill level.

2 things to remember about a skew....sharp, sharp, sharp and ride that bevel!

Good luck in your turning journey!

[Scott Ticknor]

I use a 1 inch and a 1/2 inch rectangle skews . The 1 inch has a rounded bevel, the 1/2 inch is a straight bevel. I like the bevel to be long as it allows me to get deeper where two beads meet without binding. Both of mine are HSS and I round the corners off so I can roll sideways easier. I like Henry Taylor,Sorby but that`s pretty much what`s available to me locally .

[Thom Sturgill]

I love my Lacer style skew - Parkard sells a rolled edge that is affordable and available in four widths. On the other hand my Thompson skew seems to cut much better and also has a rounded edge. A little more expensive and unhandled.

I found the oval skew to be harder to control though some love them. I rencently ground a round skew, but would not recommend them for learners. I have tried hollow ground, rounded and flat ground and prefer the latter. (Capt Eddie has a video on the rounded grind, several artists use it)

The last decision point is width - in general I can do everything with my 1 1/4" skew that I can do with a smaller one and it was easy to learn. On the other hand there are those times when a 1/2" skew is handy, and now that I'm doing miniatures I am debating a 1/4" skew...

So my recommendation would be to start with a fairly wide flat skew with a rounded edge - 3/4" or 1" would be better. Stay with M2 steel unless (until) you have a CBN wheel or plan on using a diamond hone.

Oh and get Alan Lacers DVD on skews and practice, practice, practice.

[John Keeton]

Let me preface this by saying my skew and I had a falling out early on, didn't speak for a couple years, and finally decided to call it quits. "She" is now a radius scraper! But, I do very little spindle work, and what I do can easily be done with my other spindle tools.

All that said, given your bed limits, your spindle work will be limited in size. While a larger skew can be controlled a bit easier, I think a smaller skew (3/4 - 1"?) would be plenty. And, were it me - tainted though I am by my past experience, I would buy a cheap Benjamin Best skew - rectangular in cross section, radius the two belly edges so it can be tilted easily on the rest, and see if the two of you can form a relationship. It will function as well as a more expensive one, and whether you decide to get a better one, or a divorce, it will still make a nice scraper!!:D

[charlie knighton]

you can use as negative rake scrapper

take or see stuart batty about 40\40 sharpen gouge vs skew and how he convinced his father it was better and faster

[Dale Miner]

Let me preface this by saying my skew and I had a falling out early on, didn't speak for a couple years, and finally decided to call it quits. "She" is now a radius scraper! :D

Strange how things work out. I bought a big (1.5") round nose scraper, fell out of "like" with it almost immediately, and it went lonely for a couple of years. After buying Alan Lacer's video "The sweet side and the dark side" and a 3/4" round edge skew from Alan, the big ole scraper was reground into a very much "liked" skew.

I have had a couple oval skews, and probably because my learning curve occurred with rectangular section skews, they never appealed to me. I also found them nearly impossible to sharpen without some type of fixture. The rectangular sections sharpens easily on a flat tool rest.

My go to is the 3/4" for small work, and the big 'un for larger work. The 3/4" seems easier to do delicate cuts with (finials).

[Dennis Ford]

If I only had one skew, it would be 1/2" wide. I use it for details and smoothing cuts on slender spindles, larger work I do with a roughing gouge. I also have a larger skew and use it occasionally but it would be hard to do without the smaller 1/2" model.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm not knocking the BB tools, but I will say that some of their tools don't hold a very good edge.

Ovals are tricky to sharpen at first because you have to roll them on the wheel vs presenting them flat to the wheel as with a flat skew. I have an oval, which is fine, but if I were buying again, I'd get a flat.

Personally, I don't find the skew a must-have tool. You can do a lot with the other tools you've listed. You may find after use that you'd rather spend the $$ on other accessories or a smaller spindle gouge. If it were me, I'd wait on the skew.

[John Keeton]

I'm not knocking the BB tools, but I will say that some of their tools don't hold a very good edge.

Ovals are tricky to sharpen at first because you have to roll them on the wheel vs presenting them flat to the wheel as with a flat skew. I have an oval, which is fine, but if I were buying again, I'd get a flat.

Personally, I don't find the skew a must-have tool. You can do a lot with the other tools you've listed. You may find after use that you'd rather spend the $$ on other accessories or a smaller spindle gouge. If it were me, I'd wait on the skew.I agree on all counts! The reason I suggested the BB is that it will make a usable scraper for not much money if his experience is not good with the skew - and, unfortunately, the odds are not favorable. I have two BB scrapers - a left and right, that I use all the time for a shearing cut to smooth surfaces. Since I want a fresh edge each time, the lack of edge holding isn't a big concern. I also have a Thompson negative rake scraper that does really well for a standard scraping application.

[Prashun Patel]

My BB scraper has been a bust. I mean, I make it work, but I have to constantly resharpen, and it loses an edge faster than a drunk skater. I realize everyone's finances are different, but I'd rather have one Thompson gouge than a wall full of questionables. The only good thing about owning lesser turning tools, IMHO, is that they really force you to hone (no pun intended) your sharpening skills and technique.

[John Thorson]

You want to keep the part of the skew's edge cutting the wood as close to the portion of the tool supported by the tool rest as possible to avoid nasty catches. There are cuts that take advantage of the oval skew's shape but (for me) the majority of the usages most of us will have for our skews will be better performed with a rolled edge rectangular skew.

[robert baccus]

All my skews are sticking up in the ceiling where they will stay. These things are danger with a handle in my book.

[Ralph Lindberg]

I also believe that Oval Skews are harder to control.
I found that I don't like either the "straight" or the "sloped" skews, preferring the curved cutting edge, along with the short-point edges being curved along the line of the Alan Lacer.

I have found my "go to" is a 3/4" by 9/32" from D-Way. But the large 1-3/8 "Alan-Lacer" is used a lot for roughing

[Dick Holt]

Thanks for all your replies. It seems that those who do use a skew prefer one with a curved edge. I have seen (never used one though) a Sorby Spindlemaster. Are they basically a skew with a curved edge?

Dick

[Robert Henrickson]

Thanks for all your replies. It seems that those who do use a skew prefer one with a curved edge. I have seen (never used one though) a Sorby Spindlemaster. Are they basically a skew with a curved edge?Dick

Short answer -- no.

[Thom Sturgill]

The 'curved edge' of the Lacer skew grind is only about 1/3 - 1/2 of the edge. The 'top' 1/2 - 2/3 (by the long point) is straight.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The "curved" skew has a constant radius. There no flat sides.

The Lacers have a flat side and top but a rounded bottom. The rounded bottom allows one to "roll" the skew when necessary.

A rectangular skew like my Robert Larson is just that.. rectangular with sharp corners. The sharp corners tend to dig or drag into the tool rest as you try to roll the tool when making a curved cut. Thus, I took a file, a grinder and beveled/rounded over the corners to prevent that drag or digging effect.

Don't mistake a beveled skew with a skew with a round bottom like the Lacers or a rectangular skew with rounded corners.

Like others, I drove a beveled skew....I may even have one that was given to me.... I find the beveled skew too difficult to control to be enjoyable. My other skews, when I get into a turning mood, I enjoy using though...most turners don't enjoy skews.

[Lee Reep]

I could not keep a skew from eventually gouging during use until I watched "The Skew Made Easy" by Brendan Stemp, on YouTube. Probably lots of good videos out there, but this one seemed the best explained to me. He made it really obvious that you need to keep shavings coming off the middle of the skew, so that you do not dig in either the heel or toe. You can do that most easily by holding it at about a 45 degree angle from the axis of the spindle.

Here are a couple pictures of a lathe tool handle I just finished today. I made 24 napkin rings for Christmas, and got a lot of practice trying to use the skew. This handle was totally finished using a skew, other than the brass compression nut, which I took down from hex-sided to round with a carbide tool.

My recommendation is to buy a cheaper set of HSS lathe chisels, and learn to sharpen them. My set is an old Harbor Freight set that was maybe $50 when I bought them. Here is a set similar to mine. These are natural color, mine have a reddish finish, but also came in a wooden box. Looking closely at the individual chisels, they look identical, even down to how the handles are turned. These are $54.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-high-speed-steel-wood-lathe-chisel-set-69723.html

I would not buy their dirt cheap set which sells for less than $20, because I think the handles are junk. But ... they work OK, when sharpened correctly. I did buy this set with 20% off coupon, primarily out of curiosity. I have reground a few of them for specialty chisels -- a narrow parting tool, and a really narrow pointed scraper. At some point I'll cut off the handles and make new ones.

I bought a small Sorby SpindleMaster to try on pens a few years ago when I was failing at skews. I do not like it particularly, but it is too small for making tool handles, and I use a carbide cutter for pens, so the SpindleMaster just gathers dust.

One word of caution. Harbor Freight skews have sharp edges from tip to handle, and can cause drag, and ultimately wear, on your tool rest. I took a file to mine to lightly knock of these edges. I would describe them as having lightly rounded edges. This fix helped immensely.

This handle is for a bowl gouge I bought unhandled. I've never turned bowls, so I plan to try this year. This handle is maple, cut in half several times to add green veneer in the laminations. The front cap is walnut. I did very little sanding, the cut was so smooth with the skew I just lightly sanded it a bit before adding a butcher block finish.

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[Stan Smith]

@ Lee Reep..................Your tool handles make mine look like a 5th grader made them. If I had handles like yours, I would be afraid that I would ding them up so I probably wouldn't use them. Yours are the most beautiful handles that I've seen so far.

stan

[Dick Holt]

Lee,
I just watched the video Brendan Stemp did. You were right, it is very helpful. Thanks.

Dick

[Lee Reep]

Stan,

Thanks for the compliments. Believe me -- it just takes practice. I've not been turning that long - -a few years. I told my wife that I only make fancy tool handles since it gives me a chance to practice turning. Regarding fear of dinging them -- well, I'll just do some more practicing. :)

I made some reversible screwdrivers for the guys in the family, two Christmases ago. I specifically told them I expected them to treat them gently, and no dings! These use copper couplers for ferrules. These are cheap plastic handled screwdrivers from Home Depot. I just cut off the handles and pulled out the socket for re-use in a new handle.

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[Lee Reep]

Lee,
I just watched the video Brendan Stemp did. You were right, it is very helpful. Thanks.

Dick

Dick,

Glad you found it helpful. Many videos I've watched show some amazing result, but not a lot of detail on the reason that person's technique works so well. I had really just about given up on skews until I watched that video.

[Steve Carroll]

Brendan Stemp's skew video is definitely a good start, Brendan certainly knows what he's doing, but I was put onto The Skew Chisel with Alan Batty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfeLAHQSbqk) a couple of weeks ago, and it would have to be the best skew video I've seen to date. A little long at 54min, but well worth a look.

I'm surprised that no one has recommended the P&N skews, too. The 1", (actually 24mm x 8mm here in Australia, but I believe that the US version is imperial), is a good starter. It has a standard 70 degreee flat bevel and while the top and sides are flat, the bottom edge is rounded, making it much easier to slide along the toolrest and more comfortable for rolling beads. It holds an edge very well, too, compared to some.

If you decide you prefer a curved Alan Lacer style bevel, it's easy enough to reshape to suit your preference, but in my opinion it's not a bad idea to start with a standard, straight bevel and see how it feels before going to the more advanced shape.