Originally posted by Chasper
I just got a 1" Australian Patience and Nicholson skew from CSUSA.
Karl,
I only see one P&H skew offered at CSUSA, and it is in three sizes, that must be the one you are referring to.
There is not mention of HSS HHS HYZ and whatever all those initials are that people throw around when talking skew? Is this the good steel that is hard to shapren but holds an edge better? You think one inch is better than 3/4 for pen turning? Thanks
Yeah, that's the one! Before I bought it, I went rooting around looking for information on the steel, it is M2 HSS. I did a lot of research on different tool companies and types of steel, and for the money, I think that these are the best. There's no 'Signature' line where you pay for a name, and like many of the reviews I read, I'm not sold on all the new powdered metallurgy and kryo stuff to warrant paying out that kind of money for something that stays sharp '10x' longer. I imagine it's a lot harder to get it to sharp in the first place, and M2 is plenty hard to begin with. Besides, if you don't get to hone your tools on a regular basis, you'll never get really good at it.
Here's a little blurb about P&N from the Lee Valley site:
"Though relatively new to North America, the Australian-manufactured Patience & Nicholson (P&N) turning tools are well known in the South Pacific and valued for their robust construction and ability to hold an edge. The tools are hard-wearing, M2 high-speed steel. Supplied unhandled, they can be fitted to a custom handle you make or you can use a heavy-duty metal handle (like the Kelton handles), which allows you to set the projection of the shaft to increase comfort, bolster rigidity and reduce chatter."
One of the other things that sold me on these is the weight. They're bulky and rigid, and the flimsiness of the HF really gets me aggravated sometimes. You can have the best mandrel in the world, but if your tool flexes, it's gonna chatter. Also, having the square edge on the top two edges is nice for turning it over and roughing out blanks. The rounded edges tend to slip around a little bit when you're going point-down across the tool rest and working the 'front' of the blank.
I'm very impressed at the quality of the tool. I've looked at the Crowns and Sorby's at Woodcraft, and IMO, this is much better quality. I also liked that I was only paying for the steel, not some half-assed handle made out of ash or something that doesn't fit me perfectly. I ordered a brass ferrule from CSUSA, too. You could get away with the 1" ferrule, but I'm going to use th 1 1/4" one. I actually bought 5 of the P&N tools from them to get the 10% discount, too, so I get to make a bunch of handles, which will be fun, and by buying a quality tool and investing some time in it, I'll have something really personal and unique to hand down to my successor someday. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to make a set with matching wood handles or use a bunch of different woods and designs. I got their 1" roughing gouge, too...I was going to get the 1 1/4" one, but that thing's monstrous. It'd be great if I was turning telephone poles, but for the stuff I do, small bowls and stoppers and such, I think the 1" gouge will be a lot better. I got a couple of their bowl gouges and a spindle and detail gouge, too. I really like that all of their gouges are turned from round stock, too. Makes drilling the handles simple, and they'll also fit in the composite and wood interchangable handles. I'm planning on drilling out the back of my wood handles to add bb's for counterbalance weight, and I'll put enough bb's in there to balance each tool at the ferrule. once I fill it with bbs, I'll add some styrofoam or whatever to keep them from sounding like maracas when I shake them, and then attach some sort of finial or cabochon over the hole. I guess I'm going to have to weigh the plug with the bb's for proper balance - just thought of that. heh
As far as size, it's really a matter of preference, but when I first started using the skew exclusively, I read something that someone said which basically summed up to: The wider the skew, the easier it is to learn, because there's less chance of catching because of the wide cutting edge. They also said as you get better, you get more comfortable and will eventually be able to swing a 1/4" skew with no problem. I just got used to the 1", and I like how wide it is for those times where I use it laying flat across the tool rest to smooth off ridges and stuff. There's more edge there, too, so it's less trips to the sharpener. I personally like having a bigger tool to hold, as I'm a kinda bulky guy and small stuff sort of gets lost in my hands.
Besides, you just get used to whatever you're using. I turned that beaded purple resin pen last night with my 1" skew alone, so it's not too hard to get real detailed with the bigger tools.
Hope this helps!