Greg Haugen
I must admit, I do find it mildly humorous when I hear that oval skews are difficult to sharpen even though many of us have round tools (skews, fluteless gouges, or shear scrapers) that are sharpened every time easily. Why does a subtle radius trip us more than a completely round shaft? It's not like it takes a large amount of pressure to sharpen a tool? Think of your platform as a "tool rest" not a "tool teeter totter". A light, finesse touch of the bevel, which is flat, to the grinding wheel while the tool rests on the platform. Radius grinds trip up some too, even though they have radiused scrapers in their arsenals. The only difference is that it's done on the top as well as the bottom. I think far too often we GRIND our tools instead of DRESSING the bevel. When I teach (I also talk about it during demos) after the student starts to get the technique I challenge them to see how light they can do it or how little they can take off. "Take a larger gouge and see how small of a cut you take with it." "Sharpen this tool but only dress, or clean, the bevel." Far too often I think we get caught up in the BIG lathe, BIG tool, BIG grinder but forget how much turning and sharpening is a delicate finesse.

Glenn Lucas' first DVD, Techniques, covers his technique for sharpening. It's mesmerizing to watch him sharpen. It's an art form in its self.

I'll get off of my soap box now......