Using a skew like Richard Raffan

[Mark Hubbs]

I'm just starting to develop my turning skills so please bear with me if this is a old subject or simple question. I have learned alot from this forum already and really appreciate having access to it.

A friend loaned me a copy of the Richard Raffan "Turning Projects" DVD recently. It has been around for awhile so I assume many of you have seen it. I was impressed with Mr. Raffan's use of the skew for almost everything. I noticed that his skews have a slightly rounded edge and appear to have been sharpened on a stone instead of a grinder.

My questions are, can one get any of the results that he makes look so easy with a straight edge skew....especially if it has not been been honed to the same degree as his?

I was also supprised to see him rest his hand on the turning wood and stick his fingers into the turning opening of a small bowl. :eek: He obviously has much more confidence around a lathe than I do!

Thanks

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mark..........Richard Raffan is obviously an extremely experienced and talented turner. His experience gives him the confidence to do and try things a lot of turners won't try. The skew is the one tool turners either hate or love. Most hate it. At the challenge of Creeker Chris Barton I spent a number of days wasting wood with my normal traditional straightedged skew. It's become one of my most used and loved tools. Just last week I bought a 5/8" and 1 1/4" Alan Lacer skews made by Hamlet to try my hand at using round nosed skew. I also bought the Lacer video "The Skew". While the skew can give a finish that requires no sanding it can also put deep divots in projects should a catch occur. Like any other tool and maybe more than any other turning tool it requries practise. I know on a lot of spindle projects, the skew has become my "go to" tool. It takes practice and with practice comes the confidence to use it.

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

I hate it. I use it, but it scares the cr** outta me. I know that if I have a really flat area on a spindle, the skew is the only way to get it clean and perfectly flat. I use the point of a very small skew to cut lines into pieces, and then burn them with a wire... I learned very quickly to be VERY careful with the skew.. I split a really nice piece of box elder by just carelessly moving the tool. I stuck the point into the wood, and BOOM! I didn't pick it up again for a few projects..

[Don McIvor]

Mark-

The rounded edge on Raffan's (and Lacer's) skew has less of a tendency to catch because less blade is exposed to the wood. That doesn't mean you can't generate a catch via any of the other myriad mistakes you can make with a skew chisel. I think the rounded edge also extends the range of the skew, making it easier to turn beads and coves. My smallest skew (~1/2") still has a straight blade and it leaves as good a surface as my two larger skews, both of which have the Raffan grind.

Videos are great, but if you can find someone to spend an hour or two giving you personal instruction, you'll climb the learning curve far, far faster. I was lucky because the person who took me up that curve in a hurry was Raffan. Among the many helpful things he did was take my Ellsworth skew and put his grind on it.

Raffan's skew is ground on a wheel, not by hand on a stone. That man is all about speed and efficiency--he is amazing to watch.

And he does do things that the rest of us would be advised not to try, at least not before getting several years of experience behind us. Raffan is a proponent of using cloth rags for applying oil and wax finishes, and most people argue that is far too risky and to stick with paper towels.

[Gordon Seto]

The best way to take away the skewfobia is using a safe drive (instead of the spur drive), and use only enough pressure from tailstock to spin your blank. Rotate the blank by hand to understand the mechanics of skewing. With a safe drive, your catch only stops the wood from spinning.

Richard Raffan is good, but his video is too fast pace to learn a new tool. Both Alan Lacer and Alan Batty have very good DVD in this subject. There is no substitute to joining a local club and have some hands-on.

You can never get your skew too sharp.

Ken, how do you like the Lacer skews. I have them, but they are not my favorites. I find them too thick for the scale of work that I do; they are blocking my view.

Gordon

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Gordon....I've not used the Lacer skews yet. UPS is supposed to deliver a new diamond hone stone today. It's much larger than the little diamond credit card I currently use for my other skews. I'll let you know after I've had some time to practice sharpening and using the new skews.

[Gordon Seto]

Ken,

The Lacer diamond isn't inexpensive, but worth every penny.

Gordon

[Bill Wyko]

Any chance one of you could put up a pic of these tools? I'd like to see the gring on them. Thanks.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill.....here's a link to a photo....the one's I bought have the short point side rounded and the long point side...the corners have been knocked off but the flat side is still there....

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=247-3066

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have the Raffan skew. I love it. When doing lidded boxes or ornamental birdhouses the surface is so smooth it hardly needs sanding or at least most times I start at 320 and maybe 400. I grind mine on the grinder and then hone with a diamond hone. I can get it sharp enough to shave hair. I made a top just to see if I could that was 3/4" long. It would spin fine. I also make the 1 1/4" long by 1/8" thick perches for my birdhouses with the skew. The two straight edge skews I have I either don't use or use them for scraping. As others have said get Alan Lacer DVD the Skew and his other the Son of Skew. Both are excellent.


Ken I have been looking at the Lacer skews. Let me know what you think and how you like them.

[Robert McGowen]

I checked out your link Ken. As everyone knows, the lathe is the CHEAPEST part of this game. Now I can't decide between the car payment or a couple of new skews. :rolleyes:

Guess I'll ask SWMBO. :D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

'Less you want some more broken fingers......I'd talk that over with SWMBO!":D

[Mark Hubbs]

Thanks for all the responses.

Can a straight skew be converted to a rounded version...or is that something I will need adult supervision for?:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mark....In Alan Lacer's video he shows you how to do it. He says to use a belt grinder and not a wheel grinder. You grind the cutting edge first just to make the rounded profile. He actually blunts the cutting bevel just to get the rounded shape in the area of the bevels. Don't worry about sharpening it at this time. Then he rounds over the short point side. Then he knocks off / chamfers the sides on the long point side leaving the flat surface. Then he grinds the bevel to sharpen it. Then he hones the two working bevels surfaces; then hones the long point and then hones the short point. I hope this makes sense. If you saw the video you'd realize how easy it is.

[John Shuk]

The best way to take away the skewfobia is using a safe drive (instead of the spur drive), and use only enough pressure from tailstock to spin your blank. Rotate the blank by hand to understand the mechanics of skewing. With a safe drive, your catch only stops the wood from spinning.

I have used a dead cup center since Alan Lacer recommended it to me at a symposium a few years back. It has helped me alot. My turning time is precious since I have 3 young boys and that can make it difficult to just go down and waste scrap wood. The safe drive has allowed me the ability to get projects off of the lathe without blowing them up when 90% done. My skills have improved as a result as well.

[Vince Welch]

HI Mark,
I seen Micheal Mocho use the skew and make a nice box in Orlando at the AAW Symposium a few years back. I remember thinking "I have to learn how to use this tool." Micheal made it look so easy! Richard Raffen is a true leader using the tool.

One suggestion I have when learning to use the skew is to raise the tool rest much higher then you might normally. By doing this you are able to present the skew from the "top side" and simply lay the tool (bottom 1/3) on the wood! By doing this I feel you eliminate other varables and only have to focus on the tool presentation. As I learned to use the skew this allowed me to look down more directly at the cutting action and insure that I was using only the bottom 1/3 of the tool. Also, I do not believe the catches are quite so bad from this angle. Some might disagree but you be the judge because it did help me and today I reach for the skew as I do any other tool.

[Roger Bell]

I don't know that any comparison between most of us with Raffan is worth even contemplating. Raffan is a professional, production turner with gazillions of hours behind the lathe, among other qualifications.

You can learn to use the skew. The Lacer and Batty videos are the ones to watch. They break down the moves into simple elements. Avoid using the skew on project work for starters. Practise instead. Practise. Hone. Hone. Hone. It must be razor sharp. Don't forget to hone both points. Continually hone. A Vince points out, raise the rest higher than with gouge work. Lacer mentioned that last weekend in Portland AAW. It makes a huge difference in planing cuts. The curved skew is easiest to use and less likely to dig in than the straight-across grind. My larger (over 1/2") skews are all ground curved. My 1/2" is straight. I prefer the thinner section - longer edged skews rather than the thick steel kinds. I dont think you need a lot of thickness or mass in a skew since you are usually close to the work.

After spending a week in a class with Lacer and Matthew Hill about a year ago where the skew was a major focus, I came away feeling confident with the skew. Sure, I still mess up once in awhile, but it is such a terrific tool....once you get the drift.

[Gordon Seto]

Robert,

Here is another one to make your choice more complicated.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o83/gbseto/Forum/928786a4.jpg
The picture is the A-11 steel Thompson skew. The insert was the steel came back from the heat & cryogenic treatment before cleaning up and shaping. I couldn't wait to lay my hand on it and was afraid that they might sold out. (It is now no longer available on his web site: thompsonlathetools.com (http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/)).
It is 5/16" thick, the short side has a rounded over shaft. Before I put the handle on, I tried to used it as a John Jordan shear scraper. I got very fine curly shavings. Since it is a better wearing steel, it lasts longer than my other skews used this way.

Next time, I will just order and pay for the tool and let Doug do the cleaning up, shaping and hold it for me. The steel is tough to work on.

Gordon