Lord of the Skew: Lessons Learned

[Chris Barton]

Well folks, as good as my intentions were they can't seem to work, at least not here. I am cancelling the contest. I won't get into specifics because thinking of some of the behavior I have seen related to this project frankly sickens me. The money I had put up for this project has been donated to the American Arthritis Foundation. I am sorry if my efforts with this contest caused anyone grief.

[Chuck Saunders]

Thanks anyway Chris. At least you got me to explore what I could do with a skew.
Chuck

[Don Orr]

Wow, that's realy a shame. :( I thought it was a great idea and very generous of you. I was hoping to get a little skew time this weekend and try something for the contest. Please try not to get too discouraged by this. I'm sure you know this group is really a good bunch of folks at heart. And at least the Arthritis Foundation got a generous contribution!

Take care,

[Bob Noles]

Sorry to see this Chris as I was looking forward to seeing what some can do with the mighty skew. I have learned some new things from you about the skew and look forward to trying to use it more as a result.

Thanks for your effort and I'm sorry to see it not work out for what ever reasons came about.

[Gary Max]

Because I am almost ready to start my entry----I got the 6 benchs done and one of the three chairs finished----heck I am still going to make my skewzilla project anyway.
Chirs thanks for giving it a try I know it was hard for you to cancel the contest.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Don't know what happened but.............Thanks for your generosity Chris!
A few months ago I spent most of one Saturday playing with my skew. I got a proper angle ground on it according to Rowley and I found I had better control. I also ground the sharp edges off the bottom corners and it doesn't hang as much on the tool rest or leave deep nicks when a catch occurs. I find myself using it much more often and don't fear it as I once did. I'm finishing a wedding gift this morning...working today and this evening and leave tomorrow for my daughter's wedding in Oregon. When I return......I'll try regrinding my skew to look more like yours and I have an apricot limb given to me by Forrest Price. I'll let you know how it goes with that!

[Don Baer]

Chris,
I don't know the circumstances nor do I want to but I am sorry that somthing has occured to make you cancel the contest. I have already larned a great deal and can't wait to try out what you have shown us about the skew. Thanks for trying.

db

[Chris Barton]

Thanks guys. Like I said, I really learned a lesson from this.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Chris thank you for trying. I agree with all that it made us stop and go out to try our skews although I do use mine a lot.

[Doug Jones]

Sorry to see this Chris as I was looking forward to seeing what some can do with the mighty skew. I have learned some new things from you about the skew
I am also sorry to see this happen. I wasn't going to enter the contest but like Bob, I was very interested in seeing some results from the skew only contest.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Well folks, as good as my intentions were they can't seem to work, at least not here.

Chris, I haven't been involved in this mainly because I have only learned to rip things to pieces with a skew, however your first sentence here does involve me. You have placed yourself quite high on the totem pole while putting the rest of us about three feet under it by saying "at least not here", which involves everyone here. Perhaps what sickens you is what you yourself did not take care of right off the bat.

[Chris Barton]

Hi Ernie (and others that may feel slighted),

I am truely sorry. And, with that statement I join the ranks of the lurkers.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris..........I don't know what happened ...........I wish I did.........Unlike Ernie.........I don't feel that your statement degraded the membership here and I'm sure that was never your intention!

I do know I have and still do value your responses to threads and I hope you'll reconsider just lurking.

[Corey Hallagan]

Chris, I am sorry this has not worked out like you would have liked it to. I was out of town during the period where something happened however, regardless the reason, I certainly hope you do not fade into the background here. You ARE a very valuable member here and one of my favorite people.

Corey

Corey

[Claude Arragon]

Chris double congratulation
The first for having had the courage, tenacity, and patience to set up the contest.
The second to have take a brilliant decision after what you have seen and read.
I do appreciate very much what you did.
But I would very much like to know why it has been cancelled ....

[Ernie Nyvall]

Hi Ernie (and others that may feel slighted),

I am truely sorry. And, with that statement I join the ranks of the lurkers.

Chris, I don't feel slighted. I was telling you what I read from your statement, and my thoughts on it. If it seemed brutal to you and others, well...it's what I read. Whatever happened, communication is the only thing that will clear it up. Claude Arrogan evidently read something I missed or maybe some sent you PM's that were nasty. If people did the nasty PM thing, well they are not worth the time of day in my opinion if they can't post their thoughts out here where we can all read, and they are certainly not worth you leaving... and if I misread something, let it be known. Heck, I've been wrong before... once I thought I was wrong about something and then realized I hadn't been wrong, so I was wrong about thinking that.

[Mark Pruitt]

Chris, FWIW I agree with what Ernie is saying about the need for communication to clear things up. I chose not to participate because I'm so new and because my learning is presently focused on facework which from what I've read and heard, is not a proper venue for a skew. But while I was not participating, I was interested in watching the whole event unfold. Evidently someone (or several people) p---ed you off by their reactions, but that is to be expected. Try to lead any group or organization in a less familiar direction and you get the same thing. You just have to let the whiners whine and go with the people who are willing to listen and explore. The day will come when I will be reday to pick up my two skews and say alright now is the time to get into this.
My .02
Mark

[Lee DeRaud]

Chris, I don't think it was anything I said that gave you a bad feeling about this, but if so, I apologize.

That said, I had a major issue with the contest. I'll stipulate that I seriously suck with a skew, and yes, it would probably be a good thing for me to learn how to use it. But even if you substituted "bowl gouge" for "skew chisel" everywhere in the contest rules, I'd probably still pass: there are good reasons why we use more than one tool, and (even at my newbie level) knowing which one to use in a given situation is probably the most important skill a turner can have. The rules as written made this into a learning exercise, which is fine...but as a contest it made as much sense as asking piano students to record fifteen minutes of scales and submit the tapes for judging.

Bottom line, there are "learning situations" and there are "contests": mixing the two tends to be a bad idea, IMHO.