I'll let someone who knows comment on the Skewed Tutorial
What I can tell you is that I know three was to use the skew. And all three have their benefits.
1) long point down, short point up. This is very effective at knocking the corners off a blank and getting it round. Since the long point is down, it can't get dragged into the blank and make you have a catch. I use it when I want to be agressive and remove alot of material quickly.
2) long point up and short point down. Actually more of a flat orientation really. This is where I take lite shearing cuts and get nice smooth surfaces. You have to be careful of the long point though, as if it contacts the wood you will get a catch. So try to keep it up out of the way. You can play with the orietation on this. the more perpendicular the cutting edge is to the tube axis the more shearing is taking place and the smoother the cut will be.
3) scrapping. you can use the skew as a scrapper. long and short points both in contact (assuming you haven't got a rounded skew). This works nicely on some very dense woods to take that last little bit off and not have any tool marks.
4) I know, I said three, but this one is in a different class. long point down. You can use the skew to make grooves. Use the long point to make the groove and turn the skew to each side to widen the groove until it gets to the desired depth and width. Careful though as you can burn the wood if you let it heat up too much.
Then practice practice practice...... Youcan basically use the skew all on it's own from start to finish for making straight work, coves and beads. It just takes practice.
