Richard Raffan Sharpening a Skew Chisel

Sharpening on a 150mm (6-in) CBN 80 grit grinding wheel. Tools are used straight off the wheel.
For in-depth explanations of the tools and techniques you need to refer to Richard Raffan’s woodturning books and videos. www.richardraf....

[@jimphilpott902]

Thank you for this series of videos. Your many gifts to the woodturning world are valued and appreciated.

[@GaryKlineCA]

I like the idea of cutting the copper fitting after putting it on the handle, looks way easier to hold. Thank you for posting this.

[@glencrandall7051]

I do like my CBN wheels. I have then on a slow speed (1750 rpm) grinder. I do not production turn so I have not developed the skill to hand sharpen my skews and gouges. I use the Wolverine system. Thank you for sharing. Have a great 2022 and stay safe.

[@masjabrikdiy8422]

hello richard greetings healthy and successful always. Thank you for sharing knowledge and always faithfully watching your latest stuff.

[@glennclarke9787]

Nice one Richard 👍

[@woodsworth3991]

Thank you very much!!

[@robohippy]

Do you hone/strop the bevel to remove the burr after? I found it made a big difference for me, even if I don't use the skew that much. Also curious about a comment that different included angles work better for different woods. More acute for softer, and more blunt for harder? Or the other way around?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I very rarely hone a skew chisel on the grounds that I don't want the slightest hint of a secondary bevel adjoining the edge. There's not much of one to remove anyway. As to the included angle: On softer woods I go for narrower, probably 25-30°, then about 30° on woods like gidgee or African blackwood. Like yourself though, I hardly use the skew these days and not in serious day-to-day production for 40 years.

[@randycosgrove3608]

Thank you Richard for posting these very informative and entertaining videos. I've picked up quite a few hints and techniques that are proving very useful. I have an oval skew. I try to sharpen it as you have shown for your flat skew and I think I'm getting it reasonably well but the skew is my least used tool. Too many scary catches. Do you have extra input on using or sharpening an oval skew?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

The oval skew is notoriously tricky to sharpen and I've never owned one as I can do so much more with the traditional skews. II never recommend oval skews because the very short bevel sides makes rendered t less useful than standard rectangular-section skews. Oval skews are very good for long planing cuts, but not so easy to use for vee grooves and peeling.

[@billgiles3261]

With hollow grind like this I merely hone the edge with a diamond plate when it needs sharpening. A honed edge on a skew is lovely and does cut better. Can I ask, what is easier with a slightly curved edge?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Low peeling cuts are easier, particularly on very twisted grain and box flanges and similar shoulders or tenons. A radiused edge is slightly less grabby than a straight edge. I rarely hone edges used for sheer cutting, prefering to work without the secondary bevel.

[@markb8954]

Nice & straight forward. Any difference without using the CBN?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Same technique. In Sharpening a Spindle Gouge you see sharpening on a 200mm white wheel. The advantage of a white wheel is that you get sparks over the edge which you don't with the CBN. The advantage of the CBN is that it doesn't reduce in size over time.

[@tallerpinocho]

super zom video, never see with that detail. A question, Richard: whats the reason to grinding also the lower face (that form the short point with the two bevels) and isnt necessary to grinding each time, only when is over? thanks.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

You mean the flatten side you see at 24 to 27sec? The corners of a skew chisel or square-end scraper are sharper when the blade sides are flat. Many skew chisels and shear scrapers have rounded sides so they slide more easily along a rest, so it pays to flatten the end against the bevels. It need to be done only occasionally. You'll notice also that the top of my square-end scrapers have been lightly ground on top to make a sharper left corner by removing the small radius on the side corners of better finished tools.

[@tallerpinocho]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning yes, thank you. i have a oval skew of Sorbt and want to know if I missin something without the flatten end. In the square-end scrapers i understand how works.

[@tomislavtomasicwoodturning]

What is your thought on cbn regards to white wheel you used for years? I know of benefits of not changing diameter and not creating sparks but that may not be benefit, I somehow still cant justifade spending so much money on quallity cbn, maybe I'm wrong😀 Awsome video as always

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

As a hand-grinder I'm happy to use either, although having a few sparks come over an edge does help discern when the edge is sharp. On the whole I prefer an 80 grit CBN wheel with some abrasive on the side which is very handy for flattening some scraper top and sides. I was wondering about buying a CBN wheel for my large grinder when it blew up, so I'll now stick with the much smaller 150mm grinder with an 80 grit CBN for sharpening, and a 40 grit carborundum for shaping.

[@tomislavtomasicwoodturning]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning forgot to mention that I sharpen freehand hand as well, thank you for answer, I think I may stick to white wheel for a bit more time then see if there will be any discounts😀 do you think that puting 150mm on a 200mm grinder cbn is a problem? They are a bit cheaper 150mm cbn.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@tomislavtomasicwoodturning The periforal speed will be quite a bit slower than on a 200mm wheel, so if you have a 1750rpm grinder that might take some getting used to. I'd use your white wheel until it's 150 dia. so you can see if you manage with the slower speed.

[@tomislavtomasicwoodturning]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning its high speed grinder 200mm.... Will see how the white one perform when it gets to 150mm, with your experience will the different size of wheels affect vibrations on grinder?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@tomislavtomasicwoodturning I don't see why it should. A CBN wheel might be better balanced.

[@bobcrane9945]

Great video Richard. I am new to the wodd lathe and am doing well with all of spindlechiselexceptthe skew. I have it sharpened at 40 degrees inclusive and it chatters on hard wood. Is it sharpened wrong or is it me?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

If there are chatter marks on the wood, that's you pushing the tool too hard towards the lathe axis, possibly exacerbated by the tool not being as sharp as it could be. If the tool is chattering, you don't have the bevel in contact with the wood and there will be telltale cleanly cut ridges on the spindle. You see this at 3:40 in kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJvSiHl7gdB5iqs

[@bobcrane9945]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning It is wood turning so the chisel can always be sharper but it was the bevel not in contact. Thank you so much Richard.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@bobcrane9945 I'm glad we sorted that one. The same applies to gouges on bowls. Cleanly cut ridges = bevel not rubbing.

[@bobcrane9945]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thank Richard. I don't have any bowl stuff yet I am still working on spindle skills. My roughing gouge works great as does the parting tool. I am getting better with the large and small spindle gouges. Maybe bowls in a few months. I have been doing woodworking for years but am just starting to learn the lathe. It is a whole new and exciting challenge. I will watch your videos going forward.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@bobcrane9945 If you come to terms with spindle turning first, you'll find bowls a breeze.

[@Sokolovwood]

Good afternoon! Is it possible to sharpen a vintage turning tool on CBN wheels?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

CBN is just for High Speed Steel (HSS). Older carbon steel tools are best sharpened on the white aluminium oxide wheels.

[@Sokolovwood]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Got it! Thanks a lot for the advice!

[@frankwice4864]

What tool rest is it that you are using

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

It's the cutdown platform from a sharpening system that hasn't been manufactured for at least 20 years. The manufacturer's label came off years ago and I can't recall the name.

[@WhoGnu08]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thanks for this answer. I was looking for this information because I have the Wolverine System and the tool rest or platform is much lower than yours, making sharpening the skew more cumbersome. Maybe I can fashion a removable wooden block to sit on the tool rest to raise the angle of approach.

[@leenoble7472]

It seems like every video I find would be more aptly named “how to RE-sharpen a skew”. Setting the platform using a sharpie will only work if the skew was previously sharpened with a proper angle. Thanks anyway though.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This skew has been sharpened dozens of times, in fact every time it loses its ultimate sharpness, which could be several times a day with some timbers. Maybe I should talk about re-sharpening, but I've rarely heard professional woodworkers talk of resharpening when a tool is blunt - we say a tool needs sharpening. This skew was and is the shape and included angle I want, so I show how to set the angle of the rest to maintain that included angle, and how to recognise when the edge is refurbished.

[@leenoble7472]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Yes sir and thank you for your reply. I was referring to sharpening a skew that you just pulled out of the box. One that doesn't already have the shape and included angle that you want. Maybe I just need to be searching for how to shape a skew instead of sharpen.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@leenoble7472 New skew bevels vary a lot. I'd go with the manufacturered bevel initially unless you know what you want, in which case it's simply a matter of setting your rest at the required to achieve that.

[@Cancun771]

The first step in this is "how to make a decent tool sharpening platform for your grinder" because the factory ones are all garbage.

[@leviwoodworking1501]

Hi Richard I'm a 13 year old wood worker and just started a KZbin channel and I was wondering if you would be willing to give me a small shout-out to help me grow

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Good luck with your KZbin channel.