Spokeshave ignorant - which ?

[Don Dorn]

I've been at this game awhile and have never bought a spokeshave because I really didn't have a need. I'm now interested in one, not for chairs, but rather just for rounding handles and softening outside diameters (and inside to a degree) since I've jettisoned my Random Orbital Sander.

My question has to do with which type. I did buy a Stanley and it works ok, but find the shavings curl under and get between the sole and blade which needs allot a maintence. I've looked at the low angle models such as the Veritas, but I'm ignorant in this area. Advise from you spokeshave folks would be appreciated so I don't end up buying several to eventually find the one I would primarly use. Advise?

[James Owen]

Hi Don,

The modern Stanley spokeshaves will do a decent job, but they usually need some tune-up; flattening the bed (mainly by removing the paint, but also by removing the machining marks) and flattening the back of the iron will give better contact between the two that eliminates most, if not all, of the shavings jamming between the bed and the iron. Flattening the contact surface of the chip breaker will also help eliminate both chatter and shavings jamming between the iron and the chip breaker. The shavings curling under the sole is pretty normal, and just requires periodically removing them...similar to needing to periodically remove the shavings from the mouth area of a bench plane.

Which to buy? Lots of possible answers here, depending on what you want to do with the spokeshave....

Rough cuts and general shaping: the (modern) Stanleys or any spokeshave that has a fairly open mouth will work well for those purposes. Installing a shim or two to close the mouth will give you a usable finer-mouthed shave for finishing type cuts.

Fine/finishing cuts: The Lie Nielsen bronze and Boggs spokeshaves will give you very nice finishing cuts. Both styles have very tight mouths that will handle only (very) thin shavings (unless you file the mouth more open). Lee Valley also makes a couple of nice finishing shaves, but the mouths tend to be a bit more open than the LNs, but not as wide as the Stanleys.

Low angle shaves are really good for gnarly-grained woods that will tear out with standard angle shaves. A shave with a tighter mouth tends to work better for LA shaves.

Cigar shaves or curved sole shaves work fine on flat or convex surfaces, but were really designed for use on concave surfaces/inside curves.

Convex and concave shaves are used for shaping/finishing things like windsor chair seats and various kinds of spindles, respectively.

Nice, usable spokeshaves can be had new or vintage, and in a wide range of prices; like any other edged tool, the single-most important thing affecting the quality of the cut is the sharpness of the iron. You'll find that most vintage shaves will need at least some tune-up, while most of the high quality modern shaves (LN, LV, and others) will work fine right out of the box and will need minimal or no tune-up; the less expensive, and somewhat lower quality modern shaves (Stanley, etc) will usually also need some tuning.

[Don Dorn]

Wow - a great amount of info to digest. Thanks for responding.

[Michael Ray Smith]

All hand tools are subject to personal preferences, but spokeshaves maybe even more than most. I have a bunch of spokeshaves, all of them vintage except for the Veritas low angle, which is one of my two favorites. My other favorite is the Millers Falls No. 1 "cigar shave" which I use for a lot of applications, not just the tight, inside curves on which it was plainly designed to excel. Note, however, that the curved blade of the cigar shaves is trickier to sharpen than most.

[John McPhail]

I recently acquired a couple of spoke shaves from Woodjoy tools, I thought I'd put in a plug for them. I'm not very proficient with them yet, but they feel great and are beautiful. I have the shaves called The Master and The Brass Circular. I find them easy to hone FWIW. Eventually I will use them for cabriole legs and Windsor chairs, but things keep getting in the way.

[Jim Koepke]

I have a few Stanley spoke shaves.

The #51 is the most modern with a flat bottom. It has required tuning up the bedding for the blade. Each time the blade is sharpened it gets checked and a little more work is done on the bed. It gets better each time. It only needs a little more work that will be done the next few times the blade is out.

The #63 is a convex bottom shave. It is an older model and works fine as is. I have no idea if it was tuned by a previous owner. It is very useful on concave surfaces.

I bought a #60 at an antique shop. it has two blades side by side. One is a flat blade and the other is a rounding blade. The flat blade side works fine, but the rounding blade does not hold its setting. It doesn't get much use. I have thought of shimming under the holder to make it work better, but haven't tried yet.

I also have a couple of spokeshaves that are absolute junk. More about them here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?153938

jtk

[Prashun Patel]

I have a Stanley 151, which I upgraded to from one w/o a blade depth adjuster. IMHO, this is the key. Perhaps it's because a spokeshave takes such a skinny cut and is easy to skew, I just find them very easy to use - once the blade is properly adjusted for depth.

neither of mine are low angle; I've not found need for that. Both of mine are flat-bottomed. For fairing and smoothing gentle inside curves, I actually prefer a flatbottomed shave or even a small block plane because it doesn't follow irregularities as faithfully as a curved bottom item does.

[Randy Reitz]

Buy the Veritas Low Angle. It is simple and easy to use right out of the box without a bunch of fussing. That will get you used to using a spokeshave. Later you can add new or vintage to adjust for lots of various uses.

[Steve Friedman]

If you're getting a curved (convex) spokeshave, just remember that the radius of the curve varies from one manufacturer to the next. The L-N Boggs shave has a 5" radius, but the LV Veritas is only 1-3/4". Big difference when trying to get into a corner.

Steve

[Mike Holbrook]

+1 for the WoodJoy shaves. Mine is a New #85.