Lidded box, Ash

This is from an almost rotten piece of ash that's been sitting in my back yard for years.
The outside is all done with the skew chisel, no sanding whatsoever.
Our AAW chapter hosted Alan Lacer this past weekend, I learned some tips on grinding and using the skew which made it a lot less scary to use.
Just a little one--2" diameter, 2 1/2" high.

Photo Details

kengrunke

Registered: November 2004
Location: La Farge, SW Wisconsin USA
Posts: 199

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Date: Fri April 15, 2005
Views: 1,194
Tags: 1
Keywords: lidded box ash

Comments

Chris Wright

Pretty cool box, especially when it's just from a skew Ken! I really need to work on my skills. Any hints you can share?

#1 Fri April 15, 2005 9:47pm

Negeltu

Interesting shape. I like how the bottom bevels in.

#2 Sat April 16, 2005 12:09am

Gil

Nice skew work!! That color is good looking too.

#3 Sat April 16, 2005 12:19am

kengrunke

Thanks for the comments, guys.
Chris, per Lacer's advice, I hone the skew often and go one step further by polishing the edge using a fine-grain particle board disk (MDO or MDF?) loaded with either rouge or tripoli, not even sure which one. The recommended polishing compound is the white stuff, used in the Beall system. Lacer uses the edge of the polishing disk, just like a grinding wheel but I use the face of the disk held on an arbor chucked in a cheap little benchtop drillpress. Many turners scoff at the idea of honing and polishing, but it only takes a few seconds and is well worth it!
When I first tried using the skew, my bevel angle was really short, and it took me a while to figure out that a long bevel with an included angle of about 30 degrees between each bevel made it much easier to go around a convex curve as when turning a bead (this is what is called a rolling cut). With a more obtuse angle, you have to swing the handle a lot more, and you have less control and more chance of a catch.
If the length of your bevel is at least 1 1/2 times the thickness of the skew, but not more than twice as thick, you are in the sweet zone for bevel angle.
What really increased my success with the skew is the curved edge at the short point. With a straight edge, you really have to bury the short point in a ring of shavings to maintain control and keep from catching--but the curve allows you to take a peeling cut just up from the short point, all the way around to center on a convex rolling cut.

#4 Sat April 16, 2005 3:24am

Ugly Duck

Lee Goehring

I was having a hard time with a skew until I went to the curved cutting edge too. Although Alan is not a fan of round-shaft skews, I have 2 and use them both, along with a standard flat shaft version like Alan's. Honing with a small diamond hone works well for me on the outside of the bevel, but I use several different diameter wooden dowels wrapped with 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper for the inside of my bowl and spindle gouges and hook tool. One point Alan made, which is probably obvious to most, but maybe not, is to make sure the edge of the honing wheel is turning AWAY from you when using it. Just the opposite of a grinding wheel.

#5 Sat April 16, 2005 12:37pm

nappen

Nice shape.

#6 Sun April 17, 2005 12:23pm

roo_mac

just to say that i also use a honing wheel, it can be seen in this pic http://tinyurl.com/78nga (on the left hand side of the grinder) and i use just a soap stick to produce a really good cutting edge on all my tools. this also means i only have to shape my tool on the grind stone then hone them when they get dull, so i don't waste some really expensive tool.
anyway nice box ,really good!

#7 Sun April 17, 2005 8:30pm