My day with a Skew

[wyone]

So I kept reading.. learn to use a skew.. learn to use a skew, so today was the day. I had a commitment to make 11 pens for gifts, oh and my wife is the customer. I decided to just use my skew no matter what. I have to say, it is awesome! I know my sanding time is cut at least by 75% and the smoothness is better and so is the finish. Looks like the skew is my new favorite tool!

The kits are all slimlines, as the prettier half wanted. Of course now I have to try and figure out what kind of woods they are. Most came from gifts or grab bag type of supplies. Any clues would be helpful! lol

 

[wyone]

hmmm did not attach the pics...

 

[Bowhnter]

They look good! I can't help with all the woods, they are not in the same order.
But I have to say...today I did some extra sharpening to my skews and I was impressed.

I think I need to sharpen a bit more, but I really want to learn to use the skew more myself. A little difficult going left handed though for me so far.

 

[Rockytime]

The pens are looking great. I too read skew, skew, skew. Perhaps time to give it a try. I have a mini skew but have never tried it. I'm looking at a 1/2" skew. I have other mini hss tools but do not use them as I have no means of sharpening them.

 

[1080Wayne]

Well , the second wood is purpleheart , the 3rd is a laminate -Dymondwood or equivalent , the 5th might be zebrawood and the 8th looks like black palm . The 9th pen appears to match the 3rd blank , but matches to the others are not so obvious . Purpleheart turns as a brown until the exposed surface re-oxidizes . Black palm is very difficult to turn , and none of the pens seem to match it . Best I can do with any degree of certainty .

 

[79spitfire]

I have several skew chisels, and I couldn't turn without them!

Now, those 'new fangled' replaceable carbide things, all I do is tear stuff up with them!

 

[randyrls]

Nice pens! The pens counting from the left.

9 is either Dymond wood or ColorPly.
10 is tulipwood.

 

[NittanyLion]

Thumbs up on a skew. If I could have only one tool, my crown 1/2" oval skew would be it. With practice, you can almost get away with no sanding. The key is to keep it razor sharp. Keep up the great work!

 

[wyone]

Wayne... you are VERY observant.. yes.. I had a black palm blank.. and turned it for a LONG time, sharpening over and over again, and almost to the point of finish I had a tearout and had to turn a bit more and then, well the inevitable blow out. I have tried turning black palm like 4 times and so far am 0 for 4 lol It is so hard, yet seems to disintegrate in a flash. I did not think it was that hard, but my skew did not seem to make much progress with it, even though I sharpened probably at least 7 or 8 times during the turning

 

[wyone]

I have wondered about the oval skews and thought.. are they worth getting? Any opinions?

 

[wyone]

I am amazed at how little I had to sand to get a smooth finish! plus I had WAY more success getting better lines. I have to say.. the skew has become my friend!

I have a combination grinder to sharpen that has a small white wheel that turns at like 1700 rpm and a large wet wheel that turns at like 100 RPM. I still do not have the knack for using the large wheel, but am quickly learning how to use the small wheel to free hand sharpen my skew.

I am hoping Santa will bring me the Rikon slow speed grinder and Wolverine jig I put on my list.

 

[Ratimus]

With black palm, it helps to put thin CA on the ends of the blank before you start turning. This will help prevent fibers from tearing off the ends.

Turn with REALLY sharp tools, sharpening mid-project if you need to. Turn the shape to about 1/16th inch larger than you want it to be, and use coarse sand paper to bring it down to its final shape. Inelegant, perhaps, but it works for me.

 

[TonyL]

Several of our outstanding members recommended a spindle master and an oval skew. I have now grown to love the spindle master (and sharpen after every pen). I should receive the oval skew by Tuesday. I was told that both can be sharpened with a stone or diamond card. So far, I have sharpened spindle master with a diamond card and a stone. Works great. I have only tried the spindle master on acrylics...so far so good. I do use square carbide to remove the corners, then right to the spindle master. I thought this was a slow and easy way to get started with skews. We will see.

 

[79spitfire]

I tend to grab my oval skew, and find it to be my #1 tool. I do use a spindle gouge from time to time, and of course, a parting tool to cut tennons.

Honestly once you are familiar with the use of a skew it will be your go-to. The versatility is unbeatable.

You will conquer the Black Palm, and you'll need a skew to do it!

 

[Sataro]

My tool for pen making is my EWT. Before I purchased it, I convinced myself to finally learn the techniques of using the skew. Like you mentioned, it really cut down on sanding. It was amazing the finish you could get out of using the skew.

 

[Cmiles1985]

I started turning with a set of cheap old chisels and a HF bench grinder. Then I bought an EWT, then a set of HF chisels, then a good oval skew. I wouldn't trade my oval skew for anything...especially now that I can consistently sharpen it.

 

[robutacion]

Wayne... you are VERY observant.. yes.. I had a black palm blank.. and turned it for a LONG time, sharpening over and over again, and almost to the point of finish I had a tearout and had to turn a bit more and then, well the inevitable blow out. I have tried turning black palm like 4 times and so far am 0 for 4 lol It is so hard, yet seems to disintegrate in a flash. I did not think it was that hard, but my skew did not seem to make much progress with it, even though I sharpened probably at least 7 or 8 times during the turning

Hummmm...! well I can hard feel sorry for you on that one, my friend, after blowing the first blank, you should have turned to the "Flap Disc system", you would have endup with 3 made pens and not the whole 4 blanks destroyed...!

Not even a skew, in the hands of a master, can do what a Flap disc can, I have already proved that. There are different tools for different needs, the day you accept that the Flap disc is in fact your best friend, when it comes to blanks that blow appart just by looking too hard on them, losing one blanks is just bad luck, blowing more than one, is your fault intirelly...!

Sure, perfect you skill with the right size, shape and steel quality (brand) skew, they are great tools but not the easiest to learn quickly however, they are capable to produce amazing finish on the material turned, sending time and effort, is well know to be one of its great advantages so, practice, practice, practice but remember, it won't help you much, on some materials characteristics...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[mikespenturningz]

The skew is the only tool I use for every pen that I make. I keep it sharp and it cuts wood all day long.. Great job on these pens, I am so happy you learned and stuck with the skew. You will be so happy you did.

 

[wyone]

George

Your point is well taken. I did not try all 4 of those black palm blanks today. I have tried to turn 3 times previously and really thought my failures were because of my lack of skills and not the right tool.

I bought an oversize blank and it actually was working with the skew, although VERY slow and was so proud of myself. I thought I was finally learning the proper techniques.

I think what I did learn was that there really is not just one tool, like the skew for a project. I was dedicated to use ONLY the skew on this project, which was, in looking back, not realistic with all woods.

I have enough black palm to make 4 or 5 pens and I will use the flap disk to do that. I have the grinder sitting beside my lathe as I have used it many times for difficult woods. It works GREAT. I have taken your advice to heart MANY times George and really value your input.

 

[robutacion]

George

Your point is well taken. I did not try all 4 of those black palm blanks today. I have tried to turn 3 times previously and really thought my failures were because of my lack of skills and not the right tool.

I bought an oversize blank and it actually was working with the skew, although VERY slow and was so proud of myself. I thought I was finally learning the proper techniques.

I think what I did learn was that there really is not just one tool, like the skew for a project. I was dedicated to use ONLY the skew on this project, which was, in looking back, not realistic with all woods.

I have enough black palm to make 4 or 5 pens and I will use the flap disk to do that. I have the grinder sitting beside my lathe as I have used it many times for difficult woods. It works GREAT. I have taken your advice to heart MANY times George and really value your input.

I'm glad to hear that you already had considered the Flap Disc system as part of your tool kit and the must have, for difficult/fragile blanks...!

As for the skew, the biggest mistake some people make is to try learning to use this tool, in any of the known fragile and difficult to handle materials, that results most times in people getting so frustrated that, they don't want to hear about "skews" for good...!

I'm pretty sure, you will have access to some local wood that is inexpensive to use for practice, I also know that, one of the best ways to start learning the skew use is to first consider how high or how low from blank centre, the tool rest need to be set at. Sknew shape, size and thickness do require to be taken into consideration and as per what to do for starting to know/learn how to approach the tool to the turning wood, to avoid all the nasty catches so common with the use of a skew is to, start with a square blank, any size you want.

Learning to approach the tool with square corner turning and all the "empty space/air" in between the wood tips as they turn, is a great lesson on, watch and learn where the cutting edge of your tool is all all times, becoming "gentle" with the tool approach to the square corners, only will improve your senses and touch, to the tool itself. Simply try and you see what I mean...!

Cheers
George

 

[Oldredbeard]

I have a 3/4" oval skew, and love it. I have a rectangle shaft skew that so far I just can't get the hang of. It seems the oval skew doesn't change as much when you using it to turn a bead.

 

[wyone]

George

I have learned a LOT about the skew.. and did turn all of those pens from squares. I was VERY delicate, and VERY slow to approach the wood and it seemed to work pretty well for me. I did not have any big chip out issues at all, with the exception of the Black Palm. I also was VERY close to getting the black palm to work, but I think the fact I was turning using slimlines and with such little wood around the nib worked against me.

I do use the grinder and flap sander on really difficult woods and will be trying it on the black palm soon. I used it on the leather and also when I turned and used coins as one of the segments, so I know how effective it really is.

This was just one of those, prove to myself I can learn new things weekends and it was not 100% effective, but pretty close.

I really value your advice and opinions and always know any criticism is coming from trying to help me improve.

That is why this forum is so great, all of you expert turners are willing to help us newcomers!

 

[Fay Prozora]

Today I ordered 2 new skews and one of them is an oval one so I will see how they will work out for me. I like using a skew but the one I have is so tiny that I get a little bit of a tear out once inna while. Looking forward to getting my new tools. Fay