Convex skew
The Question ; to concave or to convex?One of the demonstrators at Turnfest 2014 was Eli Avisera , who made everything look so easy, and in hindsight probably is with enough practice . ( yeah like years )One of the tools he used was a skew ground with a convex on both sides
These diagrams are exaggerated views.
The convex grind only needs to be slightly raised above flat.
Let’s take a look at the theory.
Standard concave ground skew.
– the cutting edge has no direct support ( exception when cutting a cove / radius )
– easy to regrind / sharpen
Convex ground skew.
– the cutting edge always has direct support
– very difficult to sharpen free hand or sharpen with a jig
Conclusion / challenge
If you have an old spare skew, experiment with it. Work outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself. But don’t just stop there, try a concave bevel on other tools too – for example Gouges / bowl gouges.
We would like to hear your positives and negatives, so we can share your feed back with other wood turners / craftsmen.
Cheers, Gerald