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Messages - Redoak

#1
Wood Turning / Re: The Taming of the Skew...
March 22, 2010, 05:41:52 AM
Well Jeff...Done, finally! The skew now has a new profile (straight,btw) and is perfectly sharpened and honed. And if it knows what's good for it...It'll stay that way.  :)
One thing though, after the initial shaping on the vertical mount, which was pretty good as it was, I decided to move it over to the horizontal mount to polish it off a bit before honing. I used the TT setter to set the universal mount on that side and thought that would be "close enough". Apparently not.
A secondary bevel developed which didn't appear to be too far off the existing bevel and also seemed to favor one side. So instead of adjusting the universal mount I thought I'd just polish out to this new bevel. After all, that would be about what would happen when the skew needed resharpening.
However, seeing that the bevel was favoring one side after switching mounts I suspected the stone was no longer square and the error was compounded. Sure enough, when I trued the stone it was off about 3 thousands. (All that scrubbing with the stone grader) It seems for large area flat surfaces, having the stone square is essential, especially when switching mounts. But I've been wondering if i could have just loosened the tool in the jig and re-aligned it to the stone with the same results? 
#2
Wood Turning / The Taming of the Skew...
March 19, 2010, 06:21:07 PM
Hi all, As a new turner I'd like your advice on the skew angles you all find best ("easiest"). I bought a Pinnacle Cryrogeginic skew chisel that had a 30 deg. straight skew angle with a 30 degree edge angle. However I noticed that the TTS-100 Turning Tool Setter only works with (straight) skew angles of 20 degs. So in order to use the TTS100 I decided to change the skew angle to 20 degs. with a 45 degree edge angle which has been tough to reshape to say the least.
After a solid 4 hours I'm about halfway done and now have 2 edge angles of 20* @ 45 degree edge angle and the original 30*/30*.
The skew kinda now has a roughly radiused edge and I'm wondering if it best just to make the change now to a radiused edge as Jeff has alluded to and the users manual points out as being easier to sharpen. I don't mind doing the re-shaping if I'll like it in the long run. And as being a new turner I haven't grown used to any particular grind on the skew or even if I'll like using it. ( I also bought a Crown skewgiwedge just in case :)) which looks to present some interesting grinding problems itself.
Books and articles generally state that either you'll love or hate the skew chisel with little in between but most agree that it is wothwhile learning to use it. After half a day of reshaping mine I"m leaning toward the "hate" side.
Any help or advice you all can offer would be  much appreciated.
#3
Hi All! Well...I've been a 'woodworker' for quite some time now ( which means that when my wife wants a new piece of furniture like a table or cabinet, say. I say "Aw!, I can make a lot nicer table or cabinet than that! And at a quarter of the cost!") And that's generally true, except...the project gets put on my 'things to make list' where they tend to backup. Things to Make list Item #1,543 - New Sofa Tables.
Yet, in all that time, I have never picked up a turning tool, (don't have a lathe as yet) or a carving tool (cause, well I don't know how to carve). But I have felt the need for while now and started to pick up the occational tool when I had a few extra bucks.
So, now I own a set of Pinnacle lathe tools (mostly for spindle work) and a set of  Pfeil carving tools. A lathe stand, a lathe bed extension, a bunch of 'How To Turn' and "Carving' books, and a G3 chuck (still no lathe as of yet.) The reasoning being that sooner or later, I would have invested in so many tools and accessories for the lathe, that well...I'd have to get a lathe. See, makes perfect sense.
And I haven't tried to carve a deer or flower yet, even though I have some awsome carving tools. Because the book says, "that if you want to enjoy carving and be successful, you need really sharp tools". And what most experienced turners and carvers know, but I just recently learned, is that new tools always need sharping or honing before use. And since I really would like to "enjoy and be successful" I knew that I would need some way to sharpen all those tools.
Which brings me (kinda long way around the barn, I know) to the Tormek T7 and this forum. And no, I don't own the Tormek yet, but keeping with my previous... uh, logic - I have been quietly gathering Tormek accessories. (Sorry Jeff! I didn't buy them from SharpTools - Woodcraft had a Big Sale) So, I bought the 'Wood Turner's accessory package' and the Truing Tool and the Square-edge jig and the Stone Grader and a Universal support. And...(Don't get mad Jeff) The Grizzly Industrial T7 clone.  I thought that having Tormek accessories, that just about anything that could spin a stone wheel would work just fine.
Luckily, I didn't mount the stone on the Griz or try to sharpen anything (They won't accept returns if they are used). But I did try to mount the Tormek universal support on the Grizzly. Don't fit!
Tormek's centers for the support are on 90mm centers while Grizzly's clone are at 100mm. It would seem no big deal to drill new holes, but...I would have never been sure of why things weren't sharp. Was it my holes or the Griz or some other thing.
Anyway... I shipped the Grizzly back and a lot of the Tormek accessories that come 'standard with the T7' to Woodcraft. And (when I get a few more bucks, Jeff) I'm gonna order the T7 from Sharptools!
For now I thought(and this is where it gets a little wierd)... I got the extra 'Universal Support' set up on the sharpening table with a 'wooden T7' I made out of shop scrapes and a wood disk and 'practice sharpening' with the various jigs and chisels.
But after about half an hour of putting imaginary "scary sharp" edges on new chisels, gouges and skews I began to feel pretty foolish. Be hard to explain if someone should walk into the shop while I was 'sharpening'! Best keep the shop door locked - for safety reasons.  ;)