Concave spokeshave opinions; Clifton or Boggs?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I have an old Kunz concave spokeshave that I use primarily for preliminary smoothing and some shaping on the back of guitar necks. It's alright, but it's never been great, and I've been debating whether it's worth putting any more work in the darn thing. I've got it to the point where it works pretty well if the woods agreeable, but it can still be a pain the rear at times, and sometimes it just feels like your fighting with the tool more than anything.

I've contemplated the fettling as seen in an issue of Fine Woodworking a while back; that is, primarily, making a new cap iron out of brass and making a new, level bed for the iron with the aid of some JB weld or similar. All in all, it seems like it may end up being worth just buying a new tool.

I have the Lee Valley concave spokeshave, and while I enjoy it greatly, the radius is generally too tight for many of the places I use a concave spokeshave. I've been looking at the Boggs Concave Spokeshave from Lie Nielsen and the Clifton Concave Spokeshave.

I'm curious if anyone has any opinions on either of these? I haven't heard anything bad about the Boggs shaves, but I also haven't heard much at all about the Clifton ones. I have a feeling I'd be happy with either one, but didn't know if anyone had any opinion.

I was also thinking of seeing how an old Stanley 55 would treat me, (I assume anything is a step up from the Kunz, even after having put some work in it) but haven't had much luck finding one in good condition. (By which I actually mean, intact, and including a blade) I haven't looked hard though as the fancy new ones are a bit too tempting!

I also wonder, are the handles on Boggs removable? That's been a handy trick a few times in tight places with the LV spokeshaves...

[David Weaver]

i don't know if the boggs shave is big enough for guitar neck work.

I have guitars, I have that shave, I never checked the two against each other, but the boggs concave shave I have has a small (and tight) cutting edge compared to an old L Bailey Boston shave I have, which was probably a predecessor shave to a stanley 55 (looking at a stanley 55 picture, I think it's a direct copy of the Bailey Boston shave). I think it's intended for tighter radius chair stuff and not guitar neck type stuff.

[David Weaver]

btw, I don't know if the handles are removable or not. If nobody pipes up, i'll look at mine when I get home.

[john brenton]

Have you ever tried shaping with just a flat spokeshave? On something like a guitar neck that doesn't have a radical radius, I've found a regular flat shave to be just as good, if not better. The Boggs is aimed at chairmakers. I actually prefer a drawknife bevel down for shaping, and switching over to the spokeshave as a smoother.

The Veritas shaves seem to be the best buy judging by the reviews.

edit: The Boggs is a tiny little shave. Holding that and the LN apron plane made me feel like Gulliver. It may however, be good for mandolins.

[Patrick Tipton]

The Boggs spokeshave is a nice tool. The handles are screwed onto threaded rods protruding from the body of the tool and are removable.

I agree with John - I would use a regular spokeshave or more likely a drawknife. I mostly build chairs but have built a few guitars. A well sharpened drawknife is a pleasure to work with - fast and capable of very precise work. I would get the neck blank very close with a drawknife and then refine with a spokeshave and sandpaper.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'd love to start using a drawknife - right now I use a combination of rasps/surforms and course-set straight spokeshaves for the bulk of my stock removal in making my guitar necks. I'm a bit intimidated, but learning to use a drawknife is one of the things I'd like to do this summer. I'm looking to see if I could take a class, or perhaps get a video to help learn. I've seen quite a few nice vintage drawknives, but all the ones I've found are quite large, I assume I would need a smaller one. I don't know anything about what to look for in them - time to do some research.

The Kunz shave has a two-inch wide blade, and around a 2-inch radius on the cutter (at least, according to woodcraft, I don't have the tool in front of me); in some instances, and for some parts of some necks, it works quite well for smoothing things out when it's not being temperamental. Obviously, it doesn't work for all neck profiles; but on necks that are a bit wide and shallow, (the upper registers of a bass, for instance) it works quite well for shaping the outside radius on the edges, combined with a straight shave for shaping the gentler curve along the back. On the lower registers (towards the head) of my electric necks, I find it perfect for smoothing out the shape I prefer there. (Many of my necks are very "baseball bat" like; a bit on the thick side and quite round.)

Again, other instruments and other times I end up using the straight shave, I just find in some instances the concave shave is a bit quicker or easier.

I also use this shave some for rounding over the body edges of electrics on occasion.

I have the mentioned LV shave, and love it, but the radius is much tighter than the Kunz so it's not as useful in neck shaping. I could take a picture of the two when I get home to show what I mean.

I see what folks mean about the size of the Boggs shave, however; the radius sounds right, but the cutter is quite narrow!

[john brenton]

Something in the 10 inch range is what I use. I like two slight curvatures to the edge: towards the middle and towards the bottom, like a slightly cambered smoother iron.

It should be sharp enough too shave arm hair, and sharpening is kind of a pain when establishing a good edge, but touching it up after that is easy.....ier.

You don't need a class. The only real difference between a draw shave and a spoke shave is that there is no sole to control the depth of cut. A little practice on pine and you'd be good to go.

I will use it bevel up on green wood, but bevel down on seasoned wood.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I'd love to start using a drawknife - right now I use a combination of rasps/surforms and course-set straight spokeshaves for the bulk of my stock removal in making my guitar necks. I'm a bit intimidated, but learning to use a drawknife is one of the things I'd like to do this summer. I'm looking to see if I could take a class, or perhaps get a video to help learn. ...

While I don't think anyone needs a class or video, I found the Boggs video available from LN to be quite useful. There are some neat little tricks he shows that make the tools even more useful.

Pam