• Congratulations to Alex Bradley winner of the December 2024 Turning Challenge (click here for details)
  • Conversations are now Direct Messages (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Gabriel Hoff for "Spalted Beech Round Bottom Box" being selected as Turning of the Week for January 6, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Is a skew chisel the right tool for turning pens?

G

gritskringle

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
6
Likes
0
I have recently purchased a Delta midi-lathe. I am interested in starting with pens. What is the proper chisel for this job. Any tips would also be helpfull. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
I have turned just a few pens to date,but I almost always use a 1' skew to do my pens.

If you are not familiar using a skew.I would suggest some practice is in order,as the skew can be tricky to use at first.
 
Yes, try a skew chisel or spindle gouge!!! A skew chisel is a great tool if used properly. You can turn almost anything if you have a spindle gouge and a skew chisel... they are very versatile and are both good choices for pen making. If you are new to woodturning I would suggest getting "Turning Wood" by Richard Raffan. It is a great book with an accompanying video/DVD! I am fairly new and have learned alot from him. He shows a lot of good tecniques. Pen making is pretty fun and there is a lot of good stuff out there on the subject. And yeah, you want to practice with the skew chisel before trying it on a pen! Anyway, Good luck with your turning!!!

Jonathon.C
 
Last edited:
Go to Home Depot and get some 4X4 and practice on scraps before you start on pen blanks. You can get used to how the various tool cut and shape the wood on that. You will also want to learn how to sharpen your tools before you are doing fine, close tolerance work.

JimQ
 
The skew is my favorite pen turning tool, but you probably can't just pick one up cold and start using it without first going through a short learning curve to learn about some of its nasty habits that it likes to spring on poor unsuspecting soul. Until you can sucessfully turn small pieces of cheap 2X4's ripped up into 2X2 pieces about 8" long using the skew, it is best not to use it for pen turning -- unless you do it the way that a bud of mine does it -- to him every tool is a scraper (not that there's anything wrong with that except for all of the dust and tearout).
Bill
 
Large radius gouge is a great choice. Sometimes called forged or continental pattern, they produce almost the same smooth surface that a skew does, minus the catch danger, because when you use them, they curve away from the piece in two directions. If you have one of the big U shaped roughing gouges, you can use the upright portions as a chisel and really peel for slick.

Then there are straight chisels or Bedan types, which work as the skew does, but without that oft-neglected overhanging nose to catch the otherwise occupied. Half-measure of using a convex skew profile does relieve a bit of the catchiness, but I found that it took more away from the tool's usefulness the way I cut than it added.

Practice with the straight edge cuts, using the skew, the square, or the gouge with your thumb on the tool and your fingers curled behind and beneath the piece to serve as a steady. Did I neglect to mention that speed isn't really important with the proper presentation? Slower's easier on your fingers!
 

Attachments

  • Whittling-with-Rough.jpg
    Whittling-with-Rough.jpg
    24.3 KB · Views: 362
  • Whittled-with-Rough.jpg
    Whittled-with-Rough.jpg
    18.1 KB · Views: 361
Last edited:
The skew can be used for turning pens, and there are some things that it can do better than any other tool. But, as a beginner to woodturning, you will have a more successful experience with a Continental-Style spindle gouge or a 3/4" roughing gouge.

I prefer the Continental spindle gouge amd show how it is used in my pen turning tutorials on my website:

http://www.woodturner-russ.com/Pen10.html
 
I make and sell a lot of pens but most of mine are cross-grain or burl woods. Therefore I favor a 3/8†spindle gouge with a severe swept-back grind. This allows for shear scraping with its' wings. A skew is fine for spindle oriented pen blanks and it is what I use for those. But, as most others have already posted, you should practice with it on something else first. Or of course you can use it like a scrapper, as I once saw at a pen making demo. But this isn’t a good idea with pensmithing because you then have to do more sanding to reach a good finish. This in turn makes it more difficult to achieve accurate sizing of the finished diameter to match your parts. This I find is the most important thing. After all, the human fingers can feel a .005†edge. I have found that no matter how colorful or finely finished a pen is, inaccuracy in the mating of barrels to parts, especially at the nib, will prevent a sale. 😱
 
that is the only one I use for pen turning, and I do not know the anglo saxon word for it
f50ga0.gif
 
I use a 3/4" roughing like a skew most of the time. Otherwise I use a 1/2" skew.

Also, I don't think it is a good idea to try turning 2x4s into pens. I think you will quickly become very frustrated. I feel the best wood to start out on is some seasoned maple.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top