Spokeshave Blade--Can It Be Saved?

[Noah Barfield]

Hi all,

I recently bought a wooden spokeshave. The body's in wonderful condition and I'd love to be able to use it some day. However, the blade seems to be badly damaged / worn.

However, I'm a total newb to woodworking, so the situation may look worse to me than it really is. The person I bought it from offered to refund my money, but I'd thought I'd see if it could be brought back to use.

Yesterday I contacted Donna at Rose Antique Tools. She has the exact same spokeshave in stock (same maker) and she sells NOS Hock replacement blades. I explained the situation and asked her to see if any of the Hock replacement blades would fit. Unfortunately none will.

Here are some pictures of the blade:

https://picasaweb.google.com/noah.barfield/SpokeshaveBlade?feat=directlink

Can it be restored or should I return it for a refund?

Thank you,

Noah

[Matt Evans]

you should be able to still get some use out of the blade. The mouth will be more open, but that brass mouth-plate will be easy to duplicate if you want a finer mouth.

Also, that style blade is easy to make. Flat stock, tape to body, use a punch to locate your holes (through the top) drill, tap and insert two small machine screws.

As long as you didn't pay an arm and a leg for the shave, I would keep it personally. . .

[george wilson]

The blade doesn't look very worn. You just need to clean it up,and put a straightened out cutting edge on it. You could make a wider throat plate from brass,but I think the gap isn't really wide enough to worry about,even after you straighten the cutting edge. Spokeshaves aren't as fussy as planes about needing a super small throat. I doubt you will ever wear that iron out. Spokeshaves just don't get the hours of use that planes do.

[Harlan Barnhart]

I've found it's nice to have a "course" shave and well as one with a tight mouth. I'd keep it.

[Noah Barfield]

Thanks all--it's good to know that it can be salvaged. I'll try cleaning it up first and flattening the blade first. I'd also like to give Matt's suggestion of making a new blade a try.

Noah

[george wilson]

I just make spokeshave blades by sawing them out flat,and heating up the ends and bending them up. The trick is to bend the legs in exactly the right spot so they go into the holes. When we made a bunch of them,we drilled the holes for the legs after we bent the legs up. Are yours threaded? Ours were the simpler 18th.C. type.

[Noah Barfield]

I just make spokeshave blades by sawing them out flat,and heating up the ends and bending them up. The trick is to bend the legs in exactly the right spot so they go into the holes. When we made a bunch of them,we drilled the holes for the legs after we bent the legs up. Are yours threaded? Ours were the simpler 18th.C. type.

Hi George,

The drilling the holes to match the blade sounds like a much easier solution than trying to match the blade to existing holes. Unfortunately I'm in the second situation and the legs are threaded. I'm tempted to try to make one myself, but I've never really worked with metal before.

Noah