Round bottom spokeshave question

[Rob Cunningham]

I don't normally post here but have been delving into the world of hand tools recently. I bought a Kunz #51 round bottom spokeshave to smooth some concave surfaces. My results are far from good. I sharpened and honed the blade but cannot get it to cut smoothly, only chatter. My flat bottom spokeshave works great, however, this round bottom is driving me nuts.
Can anyone shed some light on how to register the tool to the work or how to set up the spokeshave for proper use?
Thanks for any help.

[David Weaver]

Assuming you need the tight radius on that shave, I would say two things:
1) the cigar shave types work very nicely, the only one I've used specifically is the woodjoy shave, but I can attest it is nice to use (it is mine, not someone else's that I've tried intermittently or something)
2) the round bottom shave is barely passable as a tool - barely barely passable. I made the same mistake as you did in buying one, it's been in the bottom of my shave box now for probably five years. One day, I'll rip the screws out of it and throw it away. It is awful, as are most kunz tools. There may be a few exceptions to that, but generally anything that shade of green should be avoided like the plague.

Could I ask if the adjuster nuts are mounted on rods that are in imprecisely drilled holes, making it so that the adjuster nuts barely touch the notches in the iron? If they are, then they haven't changed - it makes it so that the adjuster nuts are barely touching the iron notch instead of moved in and firmly in the notch as they're supposed to be.

Anyway, technique, just do it by feel once you have a decent shave or have been lucky enough to set up the kunz shave acceptably. Roll the bottom until you get a cut, and adjust as you need during the cut (sometimes it's easier to cut with it lightly rolling it as you go), keep the cut depth light if you are having chattering problems and try to work downgrain - you should get decent results, knowing though that you have to be mindful that having almost no sole radius means you can make an uneven surface, so try to minimize the chance of tearout and chatter and do the work with as little material removal as possible.

[Jim Koepke]

I don't normally post here but have been delving into the world of hand tools recently. I bought a Kunz #51 round bottom spokeshave to smooth some concave surfaces. My results are far from good. I sharpened and honed the blade but cannot get it to cut smoothly, only chatter. My flat bottom spokeshave works great, however, this round bottom is driving me nuts.
Can anyone shed some light on how to register the tool to the work or how to set up the spokeshave for proper use?
Thanks for any help.

I wrote a review on spokeshaves, "Just a Whisker on Spokeshaves" a while back.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?153938-Just-A-Whisker-on-Shaves

It may explain why your spokeshave isn't working and may never work.

If you are lucky, you may be able to work the bed to get the blade to seat well and if needed rework the lever cap to clamp the blade more evenly.

One suggestion would be to either buy one of the new ones from LV or LN.
Another suggestion would be to find an old Stanley #63, mine cost me about $25 including the shipping on ebay.

[Steve Friedman]

Sounds like a couple of possible problems. I am a novice, but don't find it any harder to register a convex spokeshave than a flat one.

One issue is whether the radius of the concave wood is smaller than the spokeshave radius. I discovered that different rounded spokeshaves have different radii,, and if the radius of the spokeshave bottom is too big, the blade will actually skip across the hollow.

Not sure if I'm able to describe this properly, but the other is making sure that you are shaving in the direction of the ascending grain (hope that's the correct term). Depending on the location and orientation of the concave portion, the fibers in that area may have been ascending on the surface, but not necessarily in the hollow.

Hope that helps.

Steve

[John Powers]

My Record is at the bottom of Woodbury creek out back. I don't normally litter. I would not compound the error by spending more on a lv or ln. I have their tools and love them but I'd have to try one before I'd buy another. I'm very skeptical that any work consistently. I didn't know you could hate a tool till I met that one.

[Rob Cunningham]

Thanks guys. I was kinda wondering what I was getting for the low cost of the tool. Perhaps I'll try doing some tune ups on it and see if I can get it to work. I did find an article by Christopher Schwarz that has some useful info.
David- the adjuster nut threaded rods seem to be in a location to give the nut good engagement into the blade slot but there is a lot of backlash. I actually took the nuts off because they kept coming loose from the chatter.

[David Weaver]

Well, I guess I could say at least they fixed that issue (the posts), though it doesn't sound like it matters.

you might find a circular plane more useful if you're doing fairly gradual curves.

[Rick Erickson]

I have the LN small curved bottom bronze spokeshave and can say it is the only LN I don't like (so far - don't have them all - yet). Using it is an exercise in frustration.

[David Weaver]

We won't tell anyone if you sand those curves first and then burnish them or if you sand them and then hit them with a scraper with a burr on the downhill.

[Steve Friedman]

I have the LN small curved bottom bronze spokeshave and can say it is the only LN I don't like (so far - don't have them all - yet). Using it is an exercise in frustration.
Really? I had LN open the throat for me (didn't trust that I could do it without ruining the plane) and I love it - actually use it more than the Boggs. Nice small sole radius and it's narrow enough to get into bowls. That said, I like the LV spokeshaves better than the LNs - but I am not doing real fine finish work with them either.

Steve

[Bill Houghton]

I had a Kunz round bottom shave for some years; never worked for me. I knew less than than I know now, so maybe I could get it working better; but maybe not, too. I bought a round bottom Stanley shave (No. 63), and it worked right out of the box, so I'd be inclined to think the problem with the Kunz was 90% the tool, only 10% my ignorance.

Two thoughts:
1. Sharpness, as always, is critical, but perhaps even more critical for these tools, which are, after all, working in difficult grain.

2. I find round bottom shaves work way better for me if I pull them. The point of a round bottom shave is that you're coming around a tight inside corner, and your wrists will turn better one way than the other. Pulling works with your natural body mechanics.

I'll add a vote for a cigar shave. I have one of those, too, and it's pretty cool.

[Rick Erickson]

Really? I had LN open the throat for me (didn't trust that I could do it without ruining the plane) and I love it - actually use it more than the Boggs. Nice small sole radius and it's narrow enough to get into bowls. That said, I like the LV spokeshaves better than the LNs - but I am not doing real fine finish work with them either.

Steve

I opened the throat on mine as well. It was way to tight the way it came. It works a little better than it did but I have three other shaves that work a whole lot better.

[Jim Paulson]

Rob,

I do quite a bit of work with spokeshaves these days. I have had similar experiences as the other creekers (especially Dave) with a Kunz spokeshave and somewhat better experience with the Stanley flat and curved bottom spokeshaves. But once I got a wooden spokeshave from Dave's Shaves I became hooked on using them. His stuff is really fine and a pleasure to use.

That is my recommendation.:)

Take care,
Jim

[Pam Niedermayer]

...But once I got a wooden spokeshave from Dave's Shaves I became hooked on using them. His stuff is really fine and a pleasure to use.

That is my recommendation.:)


I've got a couple of old Stanleys that work fine; but my favorites are the old boxwood shaves, which come in a vast number of styles and thicknesses and roundness. There are also the Japanese versions, which I haven't used yet but will someday.

Pam

[David Weaver]

I have one of the japanese shaves (round bottom). I haven't yet corrected a feeding issue with it, it clogs at the abutments and needs to be cleaned up some to give shavings more room to get past. Until it jams up (3 or 4 swipes) it's a nice shave to use, and the radius isn't too tight.

I think it is a hardware store tool in japan, and maybe a better shave would yield better results.