Shopsmith Forums

Good morning

I know that of the many tools a SS is, the lath is the one I use the least. I know there are many fine turners here. I know that if I'd take the time to practice, practice, practice I could get better, but....

I play chess every week with a handful of old farts and one of the regular players has a set, made in India. It was a gift from his son. Unfortunately, his dog got one of the Bishops. He's been after me for months to try making a new one. So I thought I'd give it a shot. The one on the left is my effort.

I really should have sealed it before adding the stain. It looks pretty blotchy.

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The skew chisel is the hardest for me. On this project it seemed that as I lifted the handle to bring the cutting edge into contact it was hitting the locking handles on the tool rest.

Nothing like starting out with a less than easy project! Small turnings are more difficult than larger ones.

Good Job!

I'd say you did an excellant job sir!

I would say that "You are not a Beginner"!

This is an excellent attempt at replication. A very good job.

I would say you did a great job "for a " Beginner"

Oh! common, Berry! These are very nice pieces!:) You may not be all fired happy with these pieces, but you old friend will thank you and be very happy with them.

Please realize that you did a real good job here!!! (old rule of woodworking: Never point out your mistakes!)

If you really wish to - you can make more. There is always more wood!

I fully agree - the skew is the most difficult lathe tool to learn. One trick I learned in a weekend SS session is to grind off the edge of the skew shaft on the heal side so it is rounded. This will allow you to roll the skew more easily.

berry wrote: The skew chisel is the hardest for me. On this project it seemed that as I lifted the handle to bring the cutting edge into contact it was hitting the locking handles on the tool rest.

Two suggestions to counter this:

The handles are repositioned by pulling out on the handle, you can then turn the handle independently of the locking screw. I usually turn the rest lock fully counter-clockwise. Then, holding the screw with the 5/32 Allen wrench, bring the handle clockwise a couple of notches. This allows me to loosen the rest just enough to adjust it. The post handle, I lock then reposition the handle so it is pointing down parallel to the post.

The second way is to replace the handled screws with flat point set screws and just use the wrench for adjustments.

Have fun, very nice Bishop!

Nicely done Berry.

The skew does take a bit of practice. I have customized my skew quite a bit.

Spent some time on the strip sander getting rid of the square edges as described by charlese. Changed the grind to to an Alan Lacer grind where the skew is actually radiused at the heel.

http://woodturninglearn.net/handouts/sharpening_of_the_lacer_skews.html

This also took some learning to figure out, but most of that was unlearning previous habits. I much prefer the Lacer grind.

A good article on using the skew

Thanks for all the kind words but more importantly thanks for the tips!.

While many of you thought it turned out pretty good (pun intentional), I did too, it took hours - I spent almost a day on something that should have been done in 20 minutes. And I had to use sandpaper to help shape.

My skew chisel was part of set I got from our friends at SS in 1982. I still have the original carton. The skew seemed too large for this project. I'm in the office but it must 1.25" across and it has the sharp corners too. I was tempted to go to Woodcraft and purchase a smaller one but then my common sense kicked it and I hung on to my Discover card.

+ 1 for the common sense.

Keep in mind that the actual cutting portion on a skew chisel is actually very small. (Unless you are using it as a scraper) The larger profile gives the user options on the sweet spot as the turning changes shape and diameter.

Find a local turner to assist with handling the skew. If none of those are available there are tons of you tube videos and even more online information and articles on the subject.

Get your rest, keep your tools sharp, wear your safety gear, be safe and practice. The good news is the best material for practicing is the cheapest. If you can get good results on big box store dimensional lumber or firewood (especially soft woods), then you are doing well. The hardwoods and exotics are actually much easier to turn and turn out much nicer once you know how to handle the tools.