Do beading tools actually work satisfactorily for making beads or would I be better off becoming proficient with either a skew or a spindle gouge?

Beading tools are specialty tools designed for specific uses, such as making several beads that are the same size and shape. They work well, particularly when turning small beads in hard, dense wood. Bead-forming scrapers are designed to cut beads of specific size, from 1/16" to 3/8". They are available from several companies. The design of the formed beading tools may be flat or machine fluted. The fluted tools are used with the fluted section of the tool in the downward position on the tool rest. These tools typically cut cleaner with less tearout.

All of the beading tools work with a scraping action and will produce fine work when using dense woods such as boxwood or ebony. However, the softer the wood, the less satisfactory the quality of the work due to tearout in the end grain.

Another tool for making beads of various sizes is the Easy Beader designed by Gary Rance, one of England’s finest production turners. The tool allows anyone to make single beads or a series of beads quickly and consistently. However, the bead size is limited to smaller beads.

Another tool for turning beads was designed by Tom Sorensen, a production spindle turner from Utah. It cuts similar to a skew but is much more user friendly. It is sold by Robert Sorby as the Spindlemaster, by Hamlet as the Spindlemaker, and by Henry Taylor as the Spindle Pro.

In general, for most spindle turning requiring beads, one would be better off becoming proficient with the skew, gouge, or beading and parting tools. When proficiency is achieved, the tools become much more versatile in actual use, with sizes of beads basically unlimited.

With all the different types of abrasives on the market, which would be the recommended one to use for sanding my turnings?

Although abrasives are frequently called sandpaper, they are not and never were made from sand. Flint paper looked like it could have been made from sand, but it was really made from white quartz that is cheap but seldom used today, except for rough jobs which quickly load the abrasive, such as paint or varnish removal.

For woodturners, the backing weight is important. The backing, whether paper or cloth, needs to be flexible yet strong. Paper backing is usually A, B, or C weight, with A being the lightest. The most common cloth backing is J-weight, which is strong and flexible. Abrasives salvaged from belts are usually too stiff for a woodturner’s needs.

The abrasive coating is not as important as the manufacturing process. The grain size or grit is determined by passing the crushed material over various sizes of metal or silk screens. With this system of grading, the larger the number the finer the grit. A 100-grit abrasive has grains which will pass through a screen with 100 openings per square inch.

A common abrasive in use today is garnet, which is much tougher and harder than flint and commonly used by woodturners. Because the grains are hard and sharp, it is well suited for sanding operations. Garnet, an orange-colored abrasive, tends to fracture and break down easily. It is being replaced by aluminum oxide, which costs a little more than garnet.

Aluminum oxide is usually pale brown in color and is made by fusing aluminous clay (bauxite) in a furnace at about 3000° F. It is crushed, screened, and glued to a paper or cloth backing and is probably the best all-around material for power sanding. It works well for hand or power sanding and can be used on wood, most metals, plastics, fibers, and ivory replacement materials. Suggested trade names are Aloxite and Alundum.

Another synthetic abrasive is silicone carbide, which actually is the hardest abrasive, except for diamonds. It is made by fusing coke and sand together at high temperatures. It is widely used on papers that have a waterproof backing (wet or dry abrasive papers) and are usually available in very fine grades for rubbing down varnish, lacquer, or enamel finishes on furniture or automobiles. A common trade name is Carborundum.

My abrasive of choice is an aluminum oxide abrasive glued to a B-weight paper backing or a J-weight cloth. The glue should be a high temperature adhesive. The color of the abrasive may vary with different manufacturers.

There is some debate about grinding skews. Should they be ground with a slight hollow or is a flat grind better? Should the end be flat or curved?

The debate over sharpening skews has accelerated in the past few years with the advent and promotion of oval skews, rolled-edge skews, curved cutting edge or a straight cutting edge, hollow ground or flat ground. All of these tools can and will produce excellent results in the hands of experienced and skilled woodturners. I sat in on a demonstration years ago by Del Stubbs where he was turning a spindle with a sharpened axe. He was making the point that “an edge is an edge.” Whether the cutting edge is flat or curved is beside the point. The edge must be sharp. Typically, any skew ground on a bench grinder will have a hollow ground bevel, which will vary slightly according to the diameter of the wheel. Whether the tool is hollow ground or flat ground doesn’t seem to affect the cutting action and efficiency of the skew. However, it is easier to hone the cutting edge on a hollow ground tool as the abrasive action of the hone rides on the cutting edge and heel of the bevel. Sharpening takes place more quickly as the hone is removing most metal from the cutting edge of the skew.

Law No. 4 of the Laws of Woodturning as outlined in Keith Rowley’s book, Woodturning, a Foundation Course, states: “The only part of the tool that should be in contact with the wood is that part of the tool that is receiving direct support from the tool rest.” With this in mind, using a skew to cut beads will necessitate using the long point (toe) or short point (heel) for such operations as rolling beads, V-cuts, and pommel cutting. These cuts are made with the area of the skew that is basically straight, even though the end may be curved as promoted by several well-known turners. For most work, there seems to be little or no advantage to a curved cutting edge.

In general, good information to keep in mind when sharpening a skew is the bevel area should be about 25° on either side or 1-1/2 to 2 times the thickness of the skew (see Diagram A at right). It is good practice to keep both sides similar, but they don’t have to be perfect since both sides are not used at the same time.

Sawdust, or more likely fresh powder-like dust, coming from a tiny pin-sized hole in the burl is a positive indication that the burl has been infested with the powderpost beetle (Lyctdae). These wood-boring creatures change the wood they eat to a fine powder or dust. An infested piece of wood will have the characteristic “shot-holed” appearance from which the adults emerge and fine powder-like sawdust constantly is emitted. If you have a question about whether the “critters” are still active, dust off the area, wait a few days, and watch for fresh dust. If fresh dust collects around the holes, the larvae are still alive.

After the adult female emerges, she will lay eggs in the pores of open-grained woods. After the eggs hatch, the larvae eat their way into the wood completing the cycle in about a year. Insects already inside the wood continue the cycle and will emerge later.
If the burl is small, the burl can be put in an oven and heated to 125° to 150° F for several hours, allowing the heat to penetrate and kill the insects at all stages. Microwave treatment will also be effective fairly quickly as the heat will concentrate in the larvae due to their high moisture content.

A chemical, Chlorpyrifos (Dursban), is registered for control of powderpost beetles and other wood-destroying insects. This insecticide will kill adult beetles as they emerge from the wood. Follow dosage, mixing, and application directions exactly as described on the product label.