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Post by maxwellsmart007 on Nov 11, 2009 10:42:38 GMT -6
I'm still afraid of the skew!  |
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Post by sachbvn on Nov 11, 2009 14:19:29 GMT -6
Me to.... I touched it to the work piece - about chit, and put it back. I'm going to watch some more vids. before I get that dog out.
Zac
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 11, 2009 14:59:17 GMT -6
The one important thing to remember about the skew is... besides always keeping it, like all other turning tools, FIRMLY against the toolrest... Never let the point (the toe, the far tip) touch the work until you've got lots more experience. That tip is responsible for 90% of all catches with the skew - the only other kind of catches you can get come from trying to plane too much too fast by laying the cutting edge parallel with the ways & using it as a really wide flat gouge. I watched Limey get a huge catch that way once - I'm pretty sure he was just showing off. To start using it, lay the skew's cutting edge directly ACROSS the work, straight across it, perpendicular to the work. In that position, it can't cut anything at all - the work rotates right past the sharp edge. Now roll it (but do NOT rotate it like the hands on a clock yet) until you can see or feel the bevel rubbing. You're ready. Last, rotate it slightly like the minute hand on a clock. WATCH THE POINT - DON'T let it touch the work - keep it on the far side of the work. As you rotate it, it'll begin to cut very gently, smoothly, easily right at the one spot where the work touches the edge. Perfect. Now you can slide the whole skew left or right (depending on which direction it's pointing) to plane a cylinder. If you want it to cut more aggressively, rotate it more. If you want it to cut deeper, roll it farther. If you want it to catch, let the point touch the work. ALWAYS RUB THE BEVEL. That's what gives you control over what's happening. |
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Post by fredbelknap on Nov 11, 2009 15:27:27 GMT -6
[Tim said:ALWAYS RUB THE BEVEL. That's what gives you control over what's happening.[/quote]
Tim with the skew a newbe like me isn't sure what you mean to rub the bevel on the skew. The bevel on the skew is about 25° on the cutting edge and around 15° across the wide part of the chisel. Now I can round a cylinder of poplar pretty good but put a piece of hardwood on and I get a catch every now and then. I have practiced using the toe and heel and with a lot of concentration I can get a decent cut in scrap but I don't trust myself enough to do it on something for real.
Fred
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 11, 2009 16:19:19 GMT -6
Lemme see about whopping together a SketchUp drawing for ya, Fred. Take me a few minutes...
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Post by woodmangler on Nov 11, 2009 17:49:22 GMT -6
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 11, 2009 18:07:25 GMT -6
I CANNOT believe that guy is...
1. Stopping to actually hone his skew
2. Honing along the edge instead of across it
Yike. Looks like he's running about a 40-grit stone on the grinder, too. I don't get a bevel NEARLY that rough from my high-speed 120-grit wheels - I get edges I can immediately turn back to the lathe & keep working before the muscle memory leaves.
Any sharpening along the edge further weakens the edge, meaning it'll need resharpening again sooner than if all sharpening was done across that edge.
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 11, 2009 18:48:27 GMT -6
[Tim said:ALWAYS RUB THE BEVEL. That's what gives you control over what's happening. Tim with the skew a newbe like me isn't sure what you mean to rub the bevel on the skew. The bevel on the skew is about 25° on the cutting edge and around 15° across the wide part of the chisel. Now I can round a cylinder of poplar pretty good but put a piece of hardwood on and I get a catch every now and then. I have practiced using the toe and heel and with a lot of concentration I can get a decent cut in scrap but I don't trust myself enough to do it on something for real. Fred[/quote] Here ya go, Fred - like this:    Drawings are a lot easier than photos for stuff like this - no focus issues, unlimited positioning, anything can be shown or not shown for clarity's sake... EDIT: Heck, while I'm here... a couple more for perspective with the toolrest:   |
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Post by kvwebb on Nov 11, 2009 19:34:28 GMT -6
Marc - That is an interesting method for pen turning. Were do you find bushings with a tenon? Kreg
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Post by fredbelknap on Nov 11, 2009 21:55:29 GMT -6
Tim Thanks a lot, that should help l looks like I might need to angle the skew a little more into the direction of travel.
Marc I couldn't get the video to run but I did read it. One question, should the skew be sharpened with a radius edge as he shows. I sure appreciate your alls help. I have the wolverine sharpening system but didn't get the skew jig so I thought I could make one about as good. It seems to work fine.
Fred
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 11, 2009 22:07:53 GMT -6
A little bit of a radius does help, especially at first, to keep the tip out of the workpiece. I find a straight bevel to be easier for my hands to control, though.
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Doug B
WoW Member
[b]Rescued Firewood[/b]
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Post by Doug B on Nov 11, 2009 23:58:17 GMT -6
Fred, I do not use the slow speed grinder to sharpen my skew. I use a benchtop belt sander and/or a Work Sharp 3000.
I think it was Sawduster who I first heard about using the belt sander for sharpening skews from. The WS3000 is basically a powered "scary sharp" method of sharpening.
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Post by woodmangler on Nov 12, 2009 4:14:08 GMT -6
I CANNOT believe that guy is... 1. Stopping to actually hone his skew 2. Honing along the edge instead of across it Yike. Looks like he's running about a 40-grit stone on the grinder, too. I don't get a bevel NEARLY that rough from my high-speed 120-grit wheels - I get edges I can immediately turn back to the lathe & keep working before the muscle memory leaves. Any sharpening along the edge further weakens the edge, meaning it'll need resharpening again sooner than if all sharpening was done across that edge. Yea.. what does he know.... he's only a professional turner. You might want to try something first before criticizing eh? I use the same method, and I can shave with my skew. I try not to get all caught up in theory ... tried and true is what I like best. I tried it, and it's true. If you watch the video, he is getting curls off the wood and he is just hand turning the lathe... must be pretty sharp! |
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Post by woodmangler on Nov 12, 2009 4:16:46 GMT -6
Tim Thanks a lot, that should help l looks like I might need to angle the skew a little more into the direction of travel. Marc I couldn't get the video to run but I did read it. One question, should the skew be sharpened with a radius edge as he shows. I sure appreciate your alls help. I have the wolverine sharpening system but didn't get the skew jig so I thought I could make one about as good. It seems to work fine. Fred This is one of the personal preference things... I use an oval skew with the radius edge, but there are probably an equal number who use a straight edged skew. |
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 12, 2009 6:56:17 GMT -6
I CANNOT believe that guy is... 1. Stopping to actually hone his skew 2. Honing along the edge instead of across it Yike. Looks like he's running about a 40-grit stone on the grinder, too. I don't get a bevel NEARLY that rough from my high-speed 120-grit wheels - I get edges I can immediately turn back to the lathe & keep working before the muscle memory leaves. Any sharpening along the edge further weakens the edge, meaning it'll need resharpening again sooner than if all sharpening was done across that edge. Yea.. what does he know.... he's only a professional turner. You might want to try something first before criticizing eh? I use the same method, and I can shave with my skew. I try not to get all caught up in theory ... tried and true is what I like best. I tried it, and it's true. If you watch the video, he is getting curls off the wood and he is just hand turning the lathe... must be pretty sharp! I didn't suggest it wasn't SHARP - I'm saying that when it comes off his grinder it's ROUGH... and that's probably why he takes all that extra time to hone it. I'd much rather grind (or sand) to a finer bevel using a powered tool and skip the honing 'cause it eats so much extra time. I'm also saying that if he'd hone across his edge he'd get longer turning time between sharpenings... again spending less time sharpening & more time turning. "Professional" means nothing more than that he earns money selling his turnings. I don't lend that term much credence, since there are "professionals" everywhere along the scale of competence, and I've known some amateurs with far more ability than some professionals... I doubt I'm out of line when I suggest improvements over what that particular guy's doing. Better that than keep my mouth shut; that's what lemmings do. |
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Post by mapleman on Nov 12, 2009 9:21:02 GMT -6
I learned more about using the skew in 10 minutes with Limey than hours watching video or making mistakes myself. He started using the skew at a very skewed angle --- b/c it is more forgiving (as long as you keep the point away from the wood). But eventually, he ended up approaching the wood from nearly 90deg (prolly about 85 or so). i find that it gives me more control and a more even surface.
but again - that is preference. the 85-90 approach leaves little room for error... and i still will get catches occassionally if i am out of practice or getting tired/lazy...
what i do if i have not skewed in a while --- is i will round the spindle - then skew a finish on it. just for practice. that gets the muscle memory back that Tim was talking about. THEN I can shape/skew away...
nothing compares to the skew in turns of time invested for the finish. a skew can do in a minute what sandpaper would take 15 minutes... it is certainly worth the effort. and no dust!
john
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admin
Forum Management 
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Post by admin on Nov 12, 2009 9:39:15 GMT -6
When I first started using the skew, my worst habit was to use it like a scraper (9 o' clock if we're looking at the headstock from the tailstock). It kills the edge almost immediately, and, nothing but dust will come off the lathe.
Getting up high on the piece for a very light shearing cut is what the skew was meant to do, even though I sometimes catch myself scrapering with it. I've gotten a few spectacular catches though, let the toe get a little too low and dig in and it'll take me for a ride.
It's all in time on the machine. I've tried to pick up on stuff by watching videos and the like, I find that my best luck has come with an old piece of scrap and time. I've even done my practice work on green wood knowing it would bust, but knowing as well that I'd get the practice in and learn how to move my hands just right.
I do most of my skew work backwards. Instead of having the toe pointed to my left, I turn the tool over so the toe points to my right and allow the toe to go above the top of the workpiece while the edge makes the cut in the middle. It's backwards, but I find it allows me to get better sweeping cuts right to left without the grain lifting out quite as badly.
It all about time as far as my inexperience goes. Just making big round pieces into small round pieces. I've done a lot of perfect cuts in my head to have them go bonkers when the tool hits the wood. Likewise, I've had some awfully shabby cuts on an idea in my head and turn into a great little trick on the lathe. Learning to maneuver the tool, select the right tool, and then learn how to do just what you want with it, it just takes time on the lathe and quite a bit of decent wood finding its way to the sawdust pile in the form of curled shavings.
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Doug B
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[b]Rescued Firewood[/b]
Posts: 1,938
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Post by Doug B on Nov 12, 2009 10:19:45 GMT -6
Hey guys, the skew can be used for a lot more than just planing cuts! Making beads of all sizes is super using the skew. I would hate to make my snowmen using anything other than a skew. Paring off lots of material very quickly when using the toe end approaching straight into the piece being turned. This can be done much faster than doing the same thing with a parting tool. Using the skew as a scraper to get a perfectly flat and straight. Surprisingly, I got the very best results on my rattlesnake pen blanks by using the skew this way...on wood it does not give similar results, but if you want to make sure a piece is straight and the same diameter all the way down the skew scraper works great. You just have to have a very steady hand and use a light touch. So, what other things do you guys use a skew for? I am sure I'm missing something.  |
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Beamer
Forum Management
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Post by Beamer on Nov 12, 2009 10:33:57 GMT -6
Everything I ever needed to know about the skew I learned from Alan Lacer's first DVD on it. "The Light and the Dark side". There are several cuts you can make with the skew and he goes in to all of 'em. I highly recommend it I'll hone my skew. But to imply that tim's suggestion of not going parallel with the edge is somehow "theory" is just flat wrong. That ain't theory, that's proven. It DOES last longer if you go perpendicular to the edge - a rudimentary understanding of edge physics is all you need to know this. Sometimes people have success with one technique and don't really understand what's actually going on to know there might be room to improve. For some, that's enough, for others it seems reasonable to me to let them pursue a finer edge. Discouraging the spread of knowledge is probably not helpful, though. |
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Post by woodmannie on Nov 12, 2009 23:00:56 GMT -6
I love it. Been turnin for years and still learn stuff from you guys farther in the vortex.
Tom
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