skews?

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

curved cutting edge or straight cutting edge? :confused:

rectangular shaft or oval shaft? :confused:

i'm thinking about buying my first.

any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

[Grant Wilkinson]

What are you going to use it for, Jeffrey? FWIW, I would go with rectangular rather than oval. Oval is hard to keep square to the piece. I like the straight profile on smaller skews, and the curved on anything wider than 1". A good size to start is 3/4". As for sharpening, Lacer recommends forgetting the angle and creating a bevel that is 1.5 times the thickness of the skew. It seems to work well for pretty much everything that I do.

I hope that this helps some. I imagine you will get lots of conflicting opinions in no time. :D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeffrey,

The skew has become one of, if not my favorite tool. The one that I use most a straight 3/4" Robert Larson that I have ground the short point sides down to knock off the sharp edges.

If you are new to the skew....spend a lot of time becoming practiced with it. And sharp, sharp, sharp.......I grind and then diamond hone mine.

Since I bought my 2 Lacers haven't been used or sharpened yet......I tore down my Jet Mini and am painting the shop. When that's done my new Mustard that is sitting there boxed on a pallet will emerge for duty.

You might consider borrowing Lacer's videos....They are excellent!

[Tom Sherman]

Jeff my personal preference is the rectangular blade with the edges softened don't care for the oval ones at all they seem to be too light, and sharpening can be tricky

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jeffery I have the Raffan and both Lacer skews. As with Ken the skew is by far my favorite turning tool. I prefer the rectangular with the corners slightly relieved. In other words the corners are not sharp but slightly rounded. I would get Alan Lacers video on skews. It is excellent and he takes you thru about all that can and cannot go wrong.

[Bill Fleming]

Lacer skews, Lacer sharpening, Lacer videos - and practice... practice. I am not by any means an expert but the skew is a favorite tool for everything a bowl gouge won't do!

Good Luck - Bill

[Neal Addy]

There's no right answer to these questions. It's totally up to personal preference. Your favorite will probably be whichever you learn on.

[Paul Heely]

I have both the Lacer skews plus a rectangular Crown and oval Pinnacle. On the Crown I rolled the edge short edge and chamfered the corners of the long side, just like the Lacer's come out of the box. I highly recommend doing this on rectangular skews for general use.

I really like the Lacer's. They are thicker than any of my other skews and I think this helps when rolling beads, can do more rolling and less sliding until the bead gets really big. I also like the heft of them, to me they just feel good in the hand. As much as I like them though, I survived for almost a year without them. Now that I have them the 5/8 one has become my new favorite pen turning tool.

The 2 Lacer's I have sharpened with a curved edge. The 3/4" crown and the oval one are straight edge. I think the advantage to the curved edge is that it gives you a little more clearance when turning beads with the short point down. I did learn to use the straight edge skews first and think the advantages of the curved edge are subtle and personal preference.

My $.02 is to start with a straight edge 3/4 or 1 in rectangular skew that has had its edges chamfered and rolled over. I think this type is a good all purpose tool and its easy to sharpen with the straight edge. Also recommend the Lacer skew video.

Good luck.

[Curt Fuller]

Buy a cheap one, grind away at it until you like the way it works. Once you get the hang of if (I never have), then buy a good one made out of one of those new fangled super hard steels and grind it to your liking.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeffrey,

Seriously...the skew is probably my favorite tool. About a year ago Chris Barton dared a bunch of us to learn to use it. I spent about 3-4 days over a 3 week period just playing with the skew. It took some practice but often I can turn spindle projects using no other tool and you start sanding at 220. Pens.....Only tool I use is a skew.

You can ask Joel Sauder here. His first bottle stopper and turning lesson, I demonstrated how much and well the skew can be used and I'm a mere amateur compared to those who do it for a living but....once you learn, it's a dream!

Curt gave you some pretty sage advice. I'd buy a Robert Larson 3/4" .....grind and sharpen it. Using your grinder knock off or round over the corners on the short point side so the sharp corners won't catch on your tool rest and go waste some wood. You'll be surprised after a few hours of practice!

[Matt Hutchinson]

I agree with Neal. And I am not just talking about the type of skew you use. There are many tools that overlap in their abilities. In fact, I know a turner who doesn't like to use skew, and he's been a pro for over 23 years! He's developed interesting grinds on other tools that to a skew's job but a lot safer. (By that I mean less likely to srew up.)

But my personal opinion is that even if you don't master rolling beads, which is quite trying at times, I recommend at least mastering the skew's other abilities. I especially recommend learning how to make a perfectly flat surface on endgrain, as well as smooth finish cuts along the grain. I am finishing up a few architectural turning jobs, and these skills have proven invaluable. In fact, I don't think I could have done the pieces without them. I know this isn't a very direct answer, sorta off the subject, but I hope it's good food for thought.

More to the point: Right now the only skew I have is a 1.25" Henry Taylor with rounded edges. (Manufactured with rounded edges) The grind is a curved edge, ground freehand. I don't find it worth the bother to hone it. I might if it were a straight grind. It works really well for most things. Only once in a while do I wish I had a smaller skew, though.

Hutch

P.S. A wide skew like the one I use is very useful for large diameter endgrain smoothing. The large blade privides plenty of stability as it reaches 3" and more beyond the toolrest.

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

thanks to everyone for taking time to offer all of this good advice.

lots of wisdom in your comments. that's what i was looking for.

my reason for wanting a skew is for turning finials, and pens.

i signed up for the christmas ornement exchange, and i want to make some ornaments with icicle finials.

i have been using a roughing gouge and spindle master for pens with good results. a figure that a skew would help here, too.

i'm not really a turning tool junkie, but i'm thinking that learning to use a skew is a basic skill that i should possess.

sounds like my initial thought - the curved cutting edge with the rectangular bar stock - is the way to go.

my club has a large video lending library. i'll see if any of the lacer videos are available at the next meeting.

thanks, again!

[Ron Ainge]

Jeff

Iif you want to learn to use a skew I would suggest that you go tho Harbor Frieght and purchase there full set of turning tools. I has two skews in it and they are made of HSS steel. I bought that set when I started about 5 years ago and I still use both of the skews today. I have purchased two oval skews since then, but today I use all four of them equally. Besides this will give you some inexpensive tools to learn to shapren the skew with.

Good Luck I hope you learn to love the skew as you do your other tools.

[Jerry Allen]

I agree with Ron.

I have a couple of sets. The more expensive HF sets only (HSS) which are around $40. I use them alot. They are great for learning to sharpen with without worrying about trashing an expensive skew. And once sharpened correctly, work well. Mine are sharpened per Lacer, one large straight, one curved. The smaller ones I leave straight.
Also they (all eight not just the skews) are great for grinding down to make new tools that you might want to try, like special scrapers.

I would also look at the ones at Penn State Ind. (PSI). Generally better quality but still reasonable and they have a few different styles of skews. I don't have any of their skews as of yet, but have some of their other chisels which are very nice for the price.

You can rent Alan Lacer's videos from Smartflix if you can't find them locally.

[Claude Arragon]

I’m pretty sure quite a few of you are going to say that I am an heretic….
I’m in love with the oval skew chisel

[Jerry Allen]

I don't think so Claude. They must sell a lot of them.
I almost got one at first and probably would have thought it was great.
Before I rounded the corners of the the shaft per Alan Lacer, the sharp edges used to drive me nuts, gouging my rest in the process.

I have some tools I made which are take offs on Sorby hollowing tools with bits. Theirs have flat shafts. Some of mine are round shafts and some flat. I like them both the same and it generally depends on my mood as to which I use. I guess the key is whatever you feel comfortable with is right. Someday I'll give an oval skew a try.

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

ok.

so once you own one of these w.m.d.'s, how do you sharpen it? escpecially the curved blade variety?

i don't currently own any sharpening jig. i am free-handing on my grinder.


why do i feel like i just opened my wallet and said, "help yourself"...:confused:

[Matt Hutchinson]

I am in the same boat. It's actually possible to grind a curved skew freehand. I do the same with all my turning tools, including bowl gouges. In fact, because I don't have a jig system I don't have any tool rest at all on my grinder!! And with only a little practice I can get smooth grinds on my tools. It does take a steady hand and a flowing constant motion, but it's possible to train your muscles to do it. Granted, a sharpening jig would produce even better results, but I haven't had any problems with doing it by hand. However, it is important to have a good grinder.

If you don't want to make a stab at grinding freehand, you can make your own tool grinding jigs for cheap....and they are very affective!! I don't remember where I have seen info on making them, but if you do a little research there is plenty online about it.

Hutch