A question about a drawknife

[David Rinehart]

Gents,

What is a good bevel angle for a drawknife?
I have never had to sharpen one and have no idea what the angle should be.
I have 3 that are in bad need of some TLC and I would very much like to get them back in shape to be put to use.

Thanks a lot
David

[harry strasil]

Think Chisel and Plane blades.

[James Scheffler]

Gents,

What is a good bevel angle for a drawknife?
I have never had to sharpen one and have no idea what the angle should be.
I have 3 that are in bad need of some TLC and I would very much like to get them back in shape to be put to use.

Thanks a lot
David

This isn't from personal experience, as I have yet to sharpen a drawknife. However, the Lee sharpening book suggests a 20 degree bevel with a perfectly flat back, or a 15 degree bevel with a five degree back bevel. Lee suggests that they shouldn't have a secondary microbevel.

Jim

[Mike Olson]

I just watched the woodwright shop and a chairmaker named Brian Boggs was on there. I was most interested in his draw knives and spoke shaves and his horse. His draw knife had a bevel on both sides of the blade and he explained why.

http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/2900/2911.html

[Doug Roper Chairmaker]

A typical range for a flat backed knife is between 25 and 30 degrees. My knives are sharpened around 30 degrees.

Flatten the back on a course stone, hone and polish. As with plane blades and chisels, make sure the entire cutting edge is polished. Bevel the front edge making sure to remove all nicks. Hone and polish the entire cutting edge.

If you are using your knife bevel down, strop both sides, being careful to keep the back flat and not round over the arris.

If using your knife bevel up, strop the beveled face being careful not to round over the arris. Strop the back a couple of times flat, then, a couple of times lightly at 5 degrees. This slight angle at the bottom edge allows the knife to come out of a cut easier.

[David Rinehart]

Thank you very much for the info fellas.

Thanks Mike for the link to Sir Roy. I watched the program twice this afternoon. We don't get the program on tv, haven't seen it in a long time now.
I'll be taking care of this little chore this Sat.

David

[Doug Roper Chairmaker]

Brian actually has done a video with Lie-Nielsen that covers sharpening various tools titled "Drawknives, Spokeshaves and Travishers: A Chairmaker's Tool Kit".

[Alan Schwabacher]

To watch an excerpt of the Brian Boggs DVD for free:

If you go to thewoodworkingchannel.com it will ask you to join and log in. If you simply ignore that and click on the "videos" tab, then the "Lie Nielsen Toolworks" tab, the top video in the list is "Brian Boggs on drawknives, spokeshaves, and travishers". It's an excerpt from his DVD and is quite good.

[Don C Peterson]

Think Chisel and Plane blades.

In terms of angles that pretty much sums it up.

However, the handles on a drawknife present some special problems. I was used to just putting a stone on my bench and away I went. This doesn't work because the handles tend to hit the bench. I had to make a sharpening stone holder that raises the stones/strop off the bench by about 4". This provided me the clearance I needed.

[David Rinehart]

So many videos so little time to sit and watch. Thanks guys.

I was planning on starting this little chore this weekend but I started last evening. Sharpened the smallest of the 3, a 4".
Don you are right about the handles but I use an 24" piece of 3"x4"X3/8" angle iron mounted in my metal working vice. Plenty of room for the handles either up or down.
Now that I will have sharp knives it's on to starting that shave horse thats on the to do list.

Thanks again
David