The taming of the skew I kicked off seminar 2001 with a talk by Jean -Francois Escoulen on the bedane. This is a single beveled tool with its blade square to the shaft , similar to our wood chisels. The bevel is 30 degrees and the tool was used commonly in the twentieth century ,particularly around Paris. You begin a cut by introducing bedan to the wood, bevel upwards. The tool is then pushed upwards until the back of the tool rides on the piece of timber just under the edge. Once a cut has been started the tool is then used like a skew. However the arrival of the common skew was greeted with more relief by French turners than the D -day landings because now they had a tool which was easier to control! Jean -Francois has reintroduced this tool with attitude and we must ask why? He went on to show us his way of making a trembleur which is an exercise in long thin turning.. This required a steady of a special kind, described thus. ~ the aid almost encircled the wood like a large letter C and had several screws inserted in the C. A waxed thread ran from the screws down and around the timber and back to be finally secured to the screws. The waxed thread worked perfectly and did not burn or mark the timber. A wonderful display by a craftsman.