Turning Archive

Subject:
Re: So tell me, what skew do you like and why

Jorge
I only have 7,down from 9, the 2" and the 1 3/4" found new homes.
I did give away 3 oval skews, a pain in the nether regions to sharpen, I did replace them with 3 Thompson: ! 1/4", 1" and1/2", love all three!
The most used is the 1 1/4" followed closely by the 1/2". Now rarely use the non Thompson.

I don't grind them anymore, just sharpen them with a diamond file, Thanks Allan Lacer! They will last until my great, great grand children and beyond.
I grind mine to a 20 degree angle or is it a 70? I never knew what the convention is for talking about angles in skews and gouges, and the bevel is something like one and a half times as wide as the thickness of the stock.

It was the first turning tool I did learn to use and never had trouble using it, In the past I did experiment with curved skews, but besides being hard to sharpen consistently I saw no advantage using them, at the time I was tuning stairs parts mostly and had only 10 minutes or less to finish a spindle. My boss and mentor sold me a skew, a spindle gouge and a bedan, for the sum of $5.00, I still have all 3, since 1977! and in the year I did work for him never used the gouge or the bedan! It is easier just to keep going with what you have in the hand, touch up the edge with oil stones every 4 or 5 spindles. We used a parting tool for some details...

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