The Skew Chisel 201: Advanced Shapes & Practice Drills
If you’ve watched our Mastering the Skew Chisel guide, you already know the four fundamental cuts: the peel, the plane, the slice, and the scrape. But knowing the cuts and applying them to complex designs are two different things.
The skew chisel is often the most feared tool in the shop, but it can also be the most rewarding. It leaves behind a burnished surface that requires almost zero sanding and creates crisp details that a spindle gouge simply can’t match.
In this guide, we’re going beyond the basics. We’ll walk through a practice piece that incorporates pommels, ogees, and narrow beads to help you build the muscle memory needed for master-level turning.
The Setup: Material and Tool Height
For practice, we recommend a 2” x 2” x 12” piece of cherry or similar wood. If you are just starting out, try using wet material; it’s far more forgiving and less likely to “dig in” during a catch.
The 10 to 11 O’Clock Rule
The most overlooked aspect of turning with a skew chisel is tool rest height. You want your cutting edge to contact the wood between the 10 and 11 o’clock position on the diameter of the wood. This height provides the most efficient shear angle and makes it much easier to roll tight beads without the tool skipping.
Turning Square Pommels (The V-Cut)
One of the hardest things to do with a skew is transitioning from a square section (a pommel) to a round section without chipping the corners.
- Never start by peel-cutting straight down into a square corner. The fibers will splinter back and ruin your piece.
- Use a series of light V-cuts to establish the wall. Start at the line and work your way back, gradually deepening the groove. This leaves the square stock undisturbed.
- When turning square stock, the tool is constantly jumping on and off the wood. Use very light pressure. If you push too hard, the tool will bounce off the corners, creating “chatter.”
The Ogee Curve: Concave to Convex
The Ogee is a “high risk, high reward” shape for the skew. It requires a transition from a concave cove to a convex half-round.
- Start with the handle low and the tool at 12 o’clock. As you sweep into the cove, rotate the tool to about 10 or 11 o’clock while slowly raising the handle.
- Once you hit the transition point, you must swing the handle back toward your body and rotate the tool back to vertical to finish the convex portion of the curve.
Pro Tip: Watch the horizon line (the top edge of the wood) rather than the cutting edge. This allows you to see the silhouette of the shape developing in real-time.
Rolling Narrow Beads
The narrower the bead, the faster the tool rotation needs to be. This is where many “catastrophic catches” happen.
The Common Mistake
Most turners lift the handle too early before the tool has reached a vertical position. This engages the “unsupported edge” and causes a skate.
The Fix
Ensure your cut follows a straight line across the rest while rotating. Think of it as a dance: the handle must move in perfect synchronization with the rotation of the blade.
Pro Tip: Use a pencil to mark the center of your bead. This gives you a target to work from on both the left and right sides.
Tool Geometry and Maintenance
Is your tool working against you? Small changes to your gear can make a massive difference.
Radius Edge vs. Straight Edge
Use the right tool for the job. Straight edge and radiused edge skews each have their place. Practice with both types and find out what works for you. When turning beads and rounded shapes, we prefer a radius (rounded) edge skew. Because the corners are swept back, you have more “clearance” to get into tight coves without the heel of the tool catching the adjacent wood.
The Power of Honing Your Edge
Even fresh off a 320-grit CBN wheel, your tool has a micro-burr. Inspired by production turner Alan Batty in his invaluable guide, Woodturning Notes, I recommend using a simple piece of leather to strop the edge.
- Lay the leather on a flat surface.
- Drag the skew in a trailing position (away from the edge) on both sides.
- This removes the serrated burr and leaves a polished edge that results in a “mirror-like” finish on the wood.
Final Thoughts: Why Practice?
The skew chisel isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about the joy of the craft. Learning new skills and mastering tools is why we all began our journey into woodturning. Challenging yourself to improve reinvigorates your passion for the lathe. Mastering the skew challenges your footwork, your hand-eye coordination, and your understanding of wood grain.
Don’t rush your practice pieces. Focus on the repetitions, embrace the occasional catch as a learning moment, and enjoy that clean, burnished surface that only a skew can provide.
Featured posts
