Re-discovering the skew

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Dale Allen

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Oct 27, 2012
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Massillon, OH
Now I like to use the skew. Yes, I was afraid of it and I was not 'afraid' to say so.
Amazing what a little proper instruction can do.
A gentleman by the name of Jim Echter did a demo at our woodturners club today and I learned a bunch.
I had 10 blanks to use for making pens for the troops so I gave it a go with a 1" rectangle skew.
First I sharpened it properly. All of these blanks were turned from square to round without a single catch.
Amazing, and I dare say it did not take any longer than my old methods.
 

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I have struggled with the skew my self. I have known for a while that I need someone who knows what they are doing to show me. I use it now once I get my blanks rounded but not all the way down because of catches.
Someday I hope to get someone to show me so that I can have more confidence with the skew.
 
You say that you started with 10 blanks ???

I count only 9 in the picture. . Did you utterly destroy the 10th one ?

Never mind. . You seem to be in complete control of your skew and I congratulate you heartily for that achievement.

I still am totally terrified of a skew of any kind or size. . And so is my metal-working lathe, which I use for all my pens.
 
I like using the skew on my pen blanks! First off you can get a very good finish, which saves on sanding, and I like using it to get a more symmetrical shape and not having to pull the calipers out all the time. Looks like some nicely done blanks!
 
I think the skew is the best tool for pen blanks, because it makes extremely gentle and sharp cuts, and the cut angles can be precisely controlled.
 
In my defense, I did not say there were 10 blanks in the picture! :rolleyes:
It has been a while since I've turned a pen so I got the first one to the point where I will square the ends before the last bit of turning.
No catches on this one either.
Good 'catch' Mal!🤣
 

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I regularly use the skew to rough small blanks. I find it especially useful when I turn basswood bobbers, as I turn with a dead center and a live center - no "holding" device other than pressure from the tail stock. The skew lets me rough quickly without spinning the blank between the centers. It's about time for me to upgrade in fact, I've been using a cheap 1" and 3/4" skew from one of those 8-piece sets for a while now, albeit very well sharpened.
 
MiteyF said:
I regularly use the skew to rough small blanks. I find it especially useful when I turn basswood bobbers, as I turn with a dead center and a live center - no "holding" device other than pressure from the tail stock. The skew lets me rough quickly without spinning the blank between the centers. It's about time for me to upgrade in fact, I've been using a cheap 1" and 3/4" skew from one of those 8-piece sets for a while now, albeit very well sharpened.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I have run across some great videos on the skew- Stuart Batty and John Lucas, to name two.
 
Jim Echter, who did the demonstration at your club, lives here in Rochester and is a member of our local club, Finger Lakes Woodturners. He has given many demonstrations at our club meetings and has had many members, including myself, to his studio. I had tried for several years to use a skew. It turned out all I needed was a little time with Jim and suddenly I could use the skew. BTW, he was also a demonstrator at the last AAW symposium. Do you want to guess what he demonstrated?
 
I learn from books and other writings, not videos. Nonetheless, this YouTube video is worth watching. It is an hour-long lesson focused entirely on the skew chisel by Allan Batty. I do not know if he is related to Stuart Batty. It is exceptionally good. I cannot recommend it highly enough:

https://youtu.be/KfeLAHQSbqk

P.S. After reading the above, I found an article by Jim Echter on the skew chisel from an ordinary web search. I haven't finished reading it yet, but it looks very good. Here it is:

https://tcturning.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Sensational-Skew-Article-April-2019.pdf
 
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