Did you ever make a travisher?

[lowell holmes]

I posted this several years ago on rec.woodworking newsgroup. I never got an answer.

I'm still curious.

"My first travisher is one I purchased from one of the woodworking tool stores. It is one that has a prominent chairmakers name associated with it. It is a good tool and I have no complaints. The radius of the iron on it is about 4 1/4".
I was attending a Windsor chair class at Homestead Heritage near Waco and one of the other attendees had a travisher he made. He loaned it to me when I was carving the chair seat and I had better luck smoothing seat with it than with my own travisher (purchased from the store). I liked it so much that I was able talk him into selling it to me. The radius on the iron on it is 5.6". The flatter curve in the iron makes for very fine cross grain carving.
I have a question for you tool makers in this group. Have you made travishers and if so, what consideration did you give in determining the proper radius of the iron. Is there a standard?
I have no reason for asking other than curiosity. The maker of the second travisher said he formed the iron on an old automobile brake drum. It must have been a 10" drum."

[Bob Glenn]

Check Peter Galbert's blog, Chairnotes. He has some info on the travishers that he makes and he also sells them.

[David Turner]

The best instruction I have seen for making a travisher is in a book "Making Wood Tools" by John Wilson. John uses 3/16" thick 01 tool steel and bends it around a wooden form. John Wilson also gives classes on constructing any number of traditional woodworking tools you can make in your own shop. See him at John Wilson, Home Shop Books, 406 E. Broadway Hwy., Charlotte, MI. 48813 or www.ShakerOvalBox.com

David Turner
Plymouth, MI.

[robert dankert]

some info here
http://travisher.com/

[Paul Saffold]

You might find this video interesting.

Harry Rogers has 61 videos on YouTube. He does quite a bit with a small shop and outdoor work area.
This one shows him making a travisher http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-2SGOop9AzA

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-2SGOop9AzA)

[george wilson]

He really doesn't know how to use a hack saw or a file. It is better to saw and file tool steel slowly,with long strokes. Indeed,I have had 01 actually suddenly harden from filing too fast,or bearing down and getting it too hot. It will harden just a few thousandths deep,and dull your file or hacksaw
blade very effectively.

[lowell holmes]

My question has not been addressed. This is a matter of curiosity, nothing else. I have the two travishers I mentioned and I don't need another.
Now spokeshaves are another issue, I have five.

The thing about the travishers is curiosity, why do most of the travishers have a radius under 5".

Is it the diameter of the anvil used to form the blade, or is it something I am missing?
I know that I prefer the feel and results from the flatter travisher. The tearout is almost none existant when using it.
There is a lot of cross grain shaving when carving a chair seat and having to deal with tearout is a pain. :)

[george wilson]

I don't make Windsor chairs. However,there is nothing on those that needs a terribly tight curve. I have a German inshave that would work perfectly on Windsor chairs. I happen to be sitting on one right now. My inshave has a MUCH less tight curve and 2 handles. Rather like a bent drawknife. If I was to make a chair seat,I'd prefer to use my inshave. It matches the concave curves much more closely.

Yes,in the video he uses the round piece of iron to hammer the travisher around. I'd use the horn of my anvil.

[Tony Shea]

I would love to see a shop made travisher and a how to on the build. I have recently been interested in the Windsor chair seat shaping, not so much the windsor chair but more the process of shaping the seat. I would like to make myself a few stools for my bar in this style, thinking about a 3 legged version similar to Peter Galbert's (or whoever actually came up with it) Perch stool. Something about the form of the 3 legged stool with the shaped seat really appeals to me. A Windsor chair is a different matter, I'm not real big on that form. The continuous arm Windsor isn't bad but prefer the chair unpainted made of a hardwood such as cherry.

Anyways, if you are able to find a tutorial or someone with experience in making a travisher I would love to see it. Or I just might wing my own design when I get around to it. Something similar to Peter Galbert's would be nice. It looks very functional and a lot of fun to use. I enjoy his work and video's of him working, as most people with a decent amount of experience he makes it look extremely simple.