Drawknife things

[John Powers]

Has anyone actually used those guides lee valley sells that you attach to your drawknife to facilitate shaping and avoid digging in I guess. I have to slim down a little mast in the off season and they might be of use. Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

Haven't tried them, but wonder why not try using a plane?

Maybe I should ask how big is the mast and much wood do you need to remove?

One thought on these is they might not work well on tapered items like a mast.

jtk

[John Powers]

Jim, actually I'd do use a bob smalser dyi spar plane made from an old Ohio woodie and it's works just fine. Just saw those things in the lv catalog and wondered if anyone had an opinion. My wife is always bugging me for a Christmas list. From the lack of response here, woodnet and wooden boat I'm thinking there might be a close out sale on them.

[Patrick Tipton]

Hey John, I don't see the need. If you spend just a bit of time with a drawknife, you can get very good control and take as small or large of a shaving as you want. If I wanted more confidence before going to work on the mast, I would take a couple of pieces of split oak or maple and just play. If the drawknife is really sharp (and it should be), it is a wonderful and quick tool to get things into shape and even pretty close to finish ready.

Regards, Patrick

[harry strasil]

They are not to stop digging in, but to help you cut a UNIFORM WIDTH Chamfer on timber frame timbers, which are chamfered to help retard fire from getting quickly started from a sharp thin edge. In the event a timber framed structure does catch fire, the so called modern method of joining with fish plates and thru bolts is suseptible to failure due to the fact that the plates retain heat and transfer it to the thru bolts and causes the joint to fail rather quickly. If the joints are cut the old way the joints rarely fail in a fire.

Also the stops are handy to cut eight sided handles for rakes, pitch forks and such before final rounding with a spoke shave.

I originally saw them in an old catalogue and made my own from some brass stock.

If you have ever used a Stanley #65 Spoke Shave, you will understand how handy the guides are, but they Lee Valley ones are made to fit on a narrow Lee Valley spoke shave and the method of clamping to the draw knife blade is different than the original ones that will fit any draw knife.

[John Powers]

Good info. The lv are for drawknives and look like the old goodall and Pratt ones from rose antique tools. Google lee valley drawknife guides and you can click on a picture. I was curious if anyone had used them and out of about a hundred views here, woodnet and wooden boat, your the only user. They seem to be a speciality item. I'll pass unless someone gives me a pair. Thanks.

[john brenton]

I've often wondered the same thing. I use my rawknife quite a bit, and only use bevel up for green wood, which I harly ever get to play with. Using the knife bevel down is much easier. If your looking to buy I'd check the new small bevel up plane....that sure looks sweet.

[Patrick Tipton]

I use my rawknife quite a bit, and only use bevel up for green wood, which I harly ever get to play with. Using the knife bevel down is much easier.

Hi John, not to hijack the thread here, but just wanted to share a couple of thoughts about bevel up vs. bevel down. I have a handful of drawknives that I use frequently, mostly in green woodworking. Some knives work better bevel up or bevel down, but I think it has more to do with handle angle than anything else. Many folks seem to think that sharp for a drawknife is different than what most would call sharp for a plane blade for an example but it isn't. A really sharp drawknife is finely controllable without superhuman skills. A dull drawknife cuts, but it is a rodeo comparatively.

If you prefer working bevel up or bevel down, it isn't much to put the drawknife in a vise and then heat the metal where the handle bend begins and adjust the angle of the handle slightly to make it cut in a natural position for your hands (biased bevel up or bevel down as you prefer). It might bend cold, but I have used an oxy-acetylene rig - maybe you could use a propane torch as well.

Lastly - like all woodworking, holding the workpiece is vitally important. If you are going to use a drawknife regularly, build yourself a shavehorse. The guys who designed them figured it out and once you have played with the combination, it will become a go to set of tools for quickly and accurately refining shapes.

Regards, Patrick

[john brenton]

Hey Patrick,

My drawknife will shave hair and I have a swedish style shave horse. For me I'm pretty sure it's not the handle angle...I don't know, it just seems to want to dig in more bevel up. I usually use it for curved things too, so of course the bevel down is going to be more appropriate. I appreciate the feedback though!