I have seen and been at Escoulen's demos and he uses a square bedan.
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How often do you use a Bedan
- Thread starter David Wyke
- Start date
Did he specifically say the tool was Square or were you close enough to see the shape up close?
As always though, it’s quite possible some turners use a square section tool and legitimately call it a Bedan. Over here at least though, a square section tool is normally just called a parting tool, which may have a single or double bevel.
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French Bedans are also available in the USA from this supplier:
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I think you can search You Tube channels by typing in the name of the person, and/or channel after that.
I am curious, Richard has responded to my comments about stropping the skew. He doesn't strop, but I do. It seemed to make a big difference for me. I do try to use a very light touch when I resharpen, and I NEVER hone inbetween sharpenings. With my platform, it is easier to just touch it up on the grinder. Anyone else strop?
robo hippy
I am curious, Richard has responded to my comments about stropping the skew. He doesn't strop, but I do. It seemed to make a big difference for me. I do try to use a very light touch when I resharpen, and I NEVER hone inbetween sharpenings. With my platform, it is easier to just touch it up on the grinder. Anyone else strop?
robo hippy
I strop nearly every tool after sharpening. I use the non-profiled leather wheel on the Tormek with a bit of their honing compound. This is after sharpening on 600 or 1200 grit CBN. I realize the grinder burrs for those sharpening grits are small and don't last long, but I do what I do. I strop just enough to knock off the grinder burr and put a barely detectable polish on the edge - I want "shaving sharp", especially on skews and spindle gouges. I test by shaving hairs from my left arm.
I sometimes examine cutting edges under my low-power stereo microscope to help evaluate my technique. I also have a sharpness tester, Edge On Up, that will provide numbers of the absolute sharpness of an edge.
Scrapers and NRS also get the grinder burr removed and a burnished burr added. After trying various burnishers over the years the only one I use now is the French Arno.
For gouges, I use the narrow profiled leather Tormek wheels to remove the burr from inside the flute. All this takes just 3-4 seconds. (Since I'm quite lazy I use a foot switch with the Tormek for instant on/off.) To touch up inside the flute of a gouge before resharpening I use a very fine conical diamond hone.
Since all my tools are sharpened on 8" or 10" wheels they have slight hollow grinds so when the tool gives a hint of losing it's edge, and depending on what I'm doing, I'll touch it up very lightly with an EZE-Lap extra fine (blue) paddle hone and can use it a bit more before sharpening again. I do this with gouges and scrapers and with skews in the past.
However, a few years ago I started using a different way to touch up the edge of skews. I make stropping boards by resawing MDF on the bandsaw, leaving the bandsaw tooth marks. Rub the end or corner of a stick of some kind of honing/polishing compound onto the surface - doesn't seem to matter what kind, color, grit - it's all very fine. Then strop the skew by placing the bevel flat against the board, raise the handle a microscopic amount, and draw the skew back while pressing the cutting edge against the board. I don't raise the handle much so the edge won't be rounded over. It's easy to see that steel is being removed from the black marks on the compound. Replenish the compound occasionally.
This gives me a shaving sharp edge I like. Everyone has their favorite methods. Don't know if this is the best way but it works for me.
I've given some of these boards to friends and they use them.
JKJ
I have a Thompson bedan. I use it turning mortise on the foot of green turning. It's nice to have a fixed angle with a set start to always get the dovetail right. It makes the cut consistent and only takes a moment.
I sharpen turning tools up to 800g on a belt grinder but don’t strop, maybe I should, if only for finish cuts.
I do though strop knives, and made this many years ago from Ash and Veg Tan Leather.
I do though strop knives, and made this many years ago from Ash and Veg Tan Leather.
I think it was in 2010 at the Hartford, CT AAW Symposium that I not only saw Escoulen's bedan I actually held it. It was square. I actually tried many many times to get Doug Thompson to make a bedan, so much so that he really got mad at me. So I started asking customers to ask Doug if he makes a bedan. 
Sorry guys but from many of your comments they almost read like you're looking to buy a tool in need of a project. No offense meant...j
That sounds like introspection... And most threads for most hobbies. Sometimes we love turning except one step we botch. Come on this forum and ask wtf... And the answer is: a tool made to solve that problem...
All things considered; saying no offense typically makes it worse, not better.
I think it was in 2010 at the Hartford, CT AAW Symposium that I not only saw Escoulen's bedan I actually held it. It was square. I actually tried many many times to get Doug Thompson to make a bedan, so much so that he really got mad at me. So I started asking customers to ask Doug if he makes a bedan.
If you want a Square Bedan just buy some off the shelf square section HSS?
3/8" Square Bedan - Thompson Lathe Tools
The 3/8″ square bedan has a 1/2″ shank allowing it to fit in a standard 1/2″ handle.
thompsonlathetools.com
3/8" Square Bedan - Thompson Lathe Tools
The 3/8″ square bedan has a 1/2″ shank allowing it to fit in a standard 1/2″ handle.
I don’t want one, but as I mentioned earlier, HSS blanks are cheap enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Square-Turni...&sprefix=3/8"+Square+HSS,aps,189&sr=8-17&th=1
I strop my skews on a diy leather wheel I made for carving tools. Also strop gouges for the final cut.
At the Rocky Mountain symposium, I'm pretty sure the French contingent (Yann Marot, Laurent Niclot in 2023, Jean-Francois Escoulen in 2024) said a rectangular cross section is French and a trapezoidal cross section is British. Sorby would appear to agree.
Bedan sounds French to me. The two other manufacturers I linked to both call the tool a “French Bedan”.
Edit: On the page I linked to earlier: “Bedan comes from the French word "bédane" (duck beak, as duck is anas in Latin).”
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M42, 3/8" bedan from Carter and Son. Available with or without a handle, $99 without. An M42 bedan, ought to last about 200 years...
carterandsontoolworks.com
3/8
A nifty tool with a variety of uses such as cutting beads on between center pieces, forming a chucking foot on a bowl, and making plunge cuts on boxes. What makes a 5-star 3/8” bedan? Unique round tang ensures strength, stability & longevity Superior M42 high speed steel with a 10% cobalt...
carterandsontoolworks.com
For those who may be interested and don't know, Laurent Niclot is on the schedule for the North Carolina woodturning symposium, Nov 7-9.
Home | NC Woodturning Symposium
The biennial North Carolina Woodturning Symposium is back! Renowned woodturning demonstrators, innovative vendors, astounding pop-up gallery. One of the best events for fans of the lathe in the country.
www.ncwts.com
I'm planning to attend.
After a couple of years watching my bedan hang in the tool rack, I reground it into a 10mm skew. Now I use it occasionally.
There is only one vendor selling M42 tools that has my total trust and that is D-Way tools. And by the way a square 3/8" bedan from Thompson is $75.