I am a new turner and just purchased two skew chisels and started practicing on some pine 2x4s. I cut the wood into 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 13 inch strips to practice. I've tried it between centers using a spur drive or in a chuck (squared). I can get a really nice surface at first, but once the spindle gets down to 1/2 inches or less, I get tons of vibration and a lot of tear out (even trying the finger steady method mentioned on this forum).
Is there something I'm doing wrong? Is it the wood? I made a few wands for my kids but they required a lot of sanding.
Any advice/comments/critiques welcome.
tom