Late Christmas

Bill Lantry

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Messages
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Location
Inside the Beltway
Well, folks,

It turns out I didn't get *completely* hosed in the christmas present category! Number one son came down from NYC late, and brought with him a...

wait for it... ;)

A 5/8" Alan Lacer skew chisel! First really upscale chisel I've ever had. It's very cool. Oddly, it says hamlet on it, but what the heck? Speaking of odd, he gave Doorlink a "Santa Baby" outfit. What kind of son gives his mother lingerie? ;) But she liked it, so what the heck... ;)

Anyway, I was so happy I went out to the shop and thought "What cool thing can I make for Thomas, equivalent to this lovely skew?" It just so happens I had a chunk of apple trunk lying around, that I'd picked up a couple months back. So, time to turn. Even used the new skew to clean up the rim. 9" wide, 4" tall, spalted wormy apple. Hard to see the details, but I ain't getting a new camera anytime soon... ;)

Thanks,

Bill



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Bill.....Congrats! I've got the same skew but haven't sharpened it yet. Maybe this weekend. Hamlet does make the Lacer skews.
 
you wil like the skew. i have two of them. had to buy the second one so i could see what it was supposed to look like sharpened properly. did a bad job on the first one. his sharpening video is helpful also.
dale
 
Bill, pardon me for saying but I think No1 son got Dad TWO Christmas presents! :D

I want one of them 5/8 Lacer skews, on my short list of turning tools.

The bowl looks great, I'd love to turn some apple, I grew up in an area where the main crop and industry was apples for a VERY long time.

Cheers!
 
Add my congrats Bill. Now that we own the Lacer skews how do we sharpen it?
I made a mess out of mine. I own the wolverine set up and the veritas skew attachment and I can not get the hang of sharpening it Peter
 
Peter,

I've been thinking about the same problem. With the wolverine, I'm not sure there *is* a way to preserve the curved edge. No matter what you do, it's going to come out straight. Maybe someone here has a better idea, but I can only think of two ways to sharpen it. I guess the preferred method is free hand on a sharpening stone (boy would I mess that up!) or use the wolverine and then round the corners on the grinder. It won't preserve that nice curve, though...

Thanks,

Bill
 
Congrats on the skew, Bill, and nice job on the bowl. (You're getting better and better at this stuff.) :thumb: I'll let Stu or Ken or one of the other skew-balls around here make sharpening suggestions. I've used my PSI (Wolverine-style) grinding jig to sharpen my curved skews, but instead of using the "skew" rest, I use the "straight" rest and move the tool to follow the curve. (Dunno if that's the right way, but it's worked for me.)

Keep in mind that the grinder is just the first step on the skew. It really should be honed (I use a card-shaped diamond hone) after grinding. I've been told the skew is one turning tool that should be as sharp as a good knife.
 
For sharpening try something along the lines of this Jig idea. Taken from David Reed Smith Article it is talking about a flat honing stone but principle could be adapted to a Tormek or a normal grinder.

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Bill, get Alan Lacer's first video, he does a good job explaining how to sharpen the skew.

I just do mine freehand, don't have any trouble with it, so I can't really tell you how to do it :dunno:

Chas the jig is fine, but Alan Lacer recommends that 1/2 of the blade be straight, and the other half be curved, not the whole thing as one big curve, like you seem to get with your jig?

Pic of the skew I built sharpened.........


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Thanks for pointing out the difference with Alan's version Stuart, have not looked at one in detail, will look out for one next time I'm near a Hamlet stockists, although can't recall seeing one to date over here.
 
Stuart, WOW! your good. The Lacer tool as made by Hamlet is ground a little different than what Lacer shows in his videos ( I have both videos and skews)
Chas, thanks for the link. Everybody else thanks for the input. Peter
 
Well Bill it sounds like you had a great Christmas after all. That ought to be a great skew and the bowl you made is a beauty. But what I was really hoping for was some pics of the Santa Baby outfit.;) ;) ;) Just kidding!
 
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