Lee Valley Cast Round Spokeshave

[Derek Cohen]

I really did not start out to write a review. Someone posted a problem with their LV Cast Round Spokeshave, and consequently I went and checked my own. It turned out that I had the same problem. And then the photos I took to illustrate the issue and the fix .. turned into a review ... sort of.


The spokeshave?


Lee Valley recently offered a reproduction of a small Preston spokeshave ...


http://www.leevalley.com/US/images/item/Woodworking/Planes/15p1701s1.jpg


It is cast in stainless steel and has a PM-V11 steel blade. Now that got your attention!


... and I convinced myself that I needed it for my chair build ... you know ... "I must have a spokeshave for really tight curves ... it's possible that I will be stuck in the build just because I do not have a really small spokeshave ... and it's nearly Christmas ... ".


Well, it is really striking, and I like this style of spokeshave (sans adjuster, that is). And, frankly, it was a bargain at the price (until you look at shipping costs to Perth that is ... so I bought a few more things as well to justify the small purchase ...).


The spokeshave arrived and I whipped it out its packaging, ran it over a board, noted that it was difficult to get a shaving ... but I was over my head with Work work, and put it aside - until the recent forum query.


I do have a few other spokeshaves. As mentioned, I prefer them without adjusters. That low centre of gravity thing. I have a Lie-Nielsen Round Boggs (plus the flat and concave versions) - light and wonderful balance, the HNT Gordon round (and flat) - superb on interlocked grain - and a Stanley #51R (which was spawned by the Devil - truly only for the masochist). I have reasonable experience using these, indeed love using spokeshaves (only second after using chisels).


The LV "Preston" is indeed small, not just in physical size (6 1/2" wide), but its curved sole has a radius of just 5/8". Compared with this is the 3" of the HNT Gordon and the 5" of the LN Boggs.


Of course, if you REALLY want a small spokeshave, get this one - it is a real worker, and only 3 1/2" long from tip-to-tip!


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave12_zps44d184e0.jpg


Now it is Boxing Day and I have a little time in the shed ... shop. I run the spokeshave over a thin board again.


The first thing that strikes me is that I cannot take a shaving pushing it, only pulling it. When I attempted to push the shave, it just chattered ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave13_zpsa40fac32.jpg


Further, it would not take a shaving at the centre of the mouth only one or other side.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave10_zpsbf59dddb.jpg


The likelihood is that the mouth is not flat. A ruler confirmed this ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave11_zpsa525d348.jpg


Here the blade is sharp and flat and it is possible to see the curve of the mouth ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave1_zpsc88a2052.jpg


Now if your spokeshave is the same as this - and I have only heard one complaint of the forums to date - then simply send it back to Lee Valley. You do not have to tell them I said you must. Lee Valley have the BEST return policy in the WORLD. No quibble - just replacement or your money back. They will make it good.


So, I am not suggesting that you do as I did, but you can - it is really easy.


Step 1: cover the metal toe. I used a black felt tip ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave2_zpsb1851dd4.jpg


Step 2: Use a medium file across the length of the mouth/toe to remove the concavity ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave3_zps68f350d5.jpg


Above: only the edges show silver, demonstrating how much the mouth is out-of-square.


Step 3: Keep filing behind the mouth as well. When using a round spokeshave it needs to be rolled, and this cannot occur if the body is not coplanar.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave4_zps359036ce.jpg


Above can be seen that there is a high point at the centre and low points at each side.


Step 4: Finally coplanar.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave5_zps298f4134.jpg


Step 5: 240 grit and 400 grit wet-and-dry will restore the smoothness and shine ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave6_zps9ec1adb0.jpg


The spokeshave now could take full width shavings. It is easy to set up and easy to adjust (with a hammer or by touch). However, it still was so much easier to use in the pull mode.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave8_zps426feb18.jpg


It was also possible to take long, fine shavings by skewing the shave (as one would skew a plane). The trouble with this is that this was not a creating a tight curve, as intended, but a gradual curve, for which I had other spokeshaves.


I recalled what Terry Gordon (of HNT Gordon had said to me once): "I suspect the main reason why the little short based shaves are used for gentle inside curves over the last 50 years was because the curved sole shaves were a mongrel to use with any success. The only problem with using the short based shave on a gentle inside curve is that if you have to transition to an outside curve then the depth of cut will change and most likely you will lose control at this point where you get nasty chatter marks. Lastly you are limited to gentle curves so at some point you will need to go to a curved sole shave".


To use a round shave it needs to be rolled from the toe onto the blade. But what if there is not much toe to start with? Well, that will make it more difficult to start the cut. Is that why I struggled?


Here is a comparison of toes (from top down) ...


Miniature LV, LV Preston, Stanley #51R, LN Boggs, and HNT Gordon ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave9_zpsdaa6104b.jpg


mmm... that LV Preston toe is even smaller and a tighter curve than the Stanley. By comparison, the LN and HNT Gordon curves are gentle and the toes are wider. They are, in fact, easy spokeshaves to use.


To sum up, perhaps others have had a different, better experience of this spokeshave. As it stands I could not recommend it.


Regards from Perth


Derek

[Chris Griggs]

Hi Derek,

Thanks for this review.

My experience with the shave mirrors yours. My first had the same issue as yours and I sent it back (I don't know if I'm the person who you are referring to who posted the issue). Anyway, my second one was much better, but I did still find that rolling the sole on some 400 grit sandpaper trued the sole and improved it more.

I have mixed feelings about this tool. For narrow little chamfers especially those on inside curves I find it nice to use. It's also nice on thin easy to work stock and I recently used it with great success on shaping a template for some curved legs. Very comfortable, and easy to set. However, I continued to find that I struggle some to get chatter free cuts on when working full thickness (e.g. 3/4-1") stock, and also on tight curves where one begins to hit a lot of endgrain. Like you I find pulling is best (though I prefer to pull most shaves, anyway) and like you I find skewing helps when the piece is not too concave. BUT for these tasks I am preferring my Mujifang contour planes (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=46321&cat=1,230,41182,46334), one of which I rounded over the sole to make a nice almost cigar-like sole.

Anyway, I mentioned my experience (both good and bad) a couple times on the forum, but was hesitant to write a full evaluation, given that I don't have a lot of other round shaves to compare too, and being unsure about how much of the issues I had were the tool and how much were me.

All said, what I concluded about this shave is that I would recommend it to someone who wants a tools just for little trimming and chamfering tasks or fairing curves in thin stock, as it is very nice to use in those situations, BUT I would not recommend it to someone who wants something to fare tight curves on full thickness material (such as on a cabinet base). A really nice tool when used within its means, but a bit frustrating when pushed a little to hard.

I do BTW, love the mini shave, and again really like my contour planes an awful lot.

[Chris Griggs]

BTW, here are my contour planes side by side. Not sure if you can see but the larger on the right has a flat toe (how they come) and the smaller is rounded over. I really like the small one, enough, that I honestly haven't even setup the blade on the larger one yet. Haven't decided if I'm going to keep the bigger one flat toed or round it over too. Expect to do a little setup on these, but nothing major. The blade took a little work, and I also relieved the sole/body just behind the cutting edge of the small one to pass shavings better (this need might have been caused by my rounding over the sole BTW). With just a little very easy tuning you get two really nice working wooden shaves for an uber cheap price that you can easily shape to meet your needs (= I'm a fan).

278108 278109

I wish I had thought to take some pictures of the process I used to round the toe and relieve the throat. For the rounding, I basically rounded it over first cutting progressively tighter/increasing number of flats using a block plane and paring chisels, and then smoother everything out by lapping it with rolling strokes on 220 and then 400 grit sandpaper.

For relieving the throat, I set the blade so the it made full contact with the sole (no shaving, mouth total closed) then traced around the front and side edges of the blade with a marking knife, and finally using paring chisels and a file, relived the wood behind the blade up to ( and maybe just a hair ahead) of the lines I scored. Works great!

[Jim Koepke]

Mine had some difficulties as received.

I like really smooth handles. These seemed a little edgy to my fingers. This was quickly fixed with some 400 grit sandpaper.

Of all my spokeshaves this one is the easiest to set by eye.

The lever cap seemed rough on the inside so a little lapping was in order. My choice would have been for a little bigger nub at the top of the cap. Both in width touching the blade and height to increase the angle. I set an 0.040" feeler gauge in between the blade and the cap at the top. It seemed to help a touch, but that may just be coincidental.

I noticed shaving build up under the blade seemed to always be in the middle. After a few light swipes with a safe sided file a few casting pimples were noticed. Bringing these down seemed to help a bit.

I was able to push or pull the shave with good shavings in soft wood. The shaving measured about 0.002". Shaving some ash was a bit more difficult. This was especially noticed in changing grain. The trick seems to be taking as thin a shaving as can be set.

For me it seemed to work well with the thumb screw fully tightened and very light taps to the blade to advance or to the handles to withdraw the depth of cut.

My adjusting mallet is small and made of wood.

278121

As a small shave this seems to be for light work in less difficult woods. ymmv

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Chris and Jim

I do believe that the spokeshave would work better is there was more registration area at the mouth - created by extending the mouth or by pulling it back on the body. It is very likely that this is a direct copy of the Preston, to explain the design. I do wonder how it compares with the LN version? Anyone out there with both?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bill Houghton]

I think the reason that round shaves work better when pulled is that our wrists are designed to curl inward more efficiently than outward; pulling aligns the motion of the shave with your natural body mechanics.

[Roy Lindberry]

Hey Chris,

Interesting you should mention these contour planes as I have had both sizes sitting on a shelf for a year now. I took them down the other day to start preparing them to use (the blades came far from being usable), and flattened the backs. Then I realized that I can't really sharpen the bevels on my stones, because the tangs get in the way, so I put them back on the shelf for now.

How do you sharpen the bevels on yours? Do you just use slipstones? Or a very short stroke on your regular stones? Something else entirely?

[lowell holmes]

I did have a different experience. It came out of the package working. I can push or pull it and get full width shavings. I immediately put it to work on a chair project I have going.

I will check the toe as you did to see if any of the issues you described are present.

[Chris Griggs]

How do you sharpen the bevels on yours? Do you just use slipstones? Or a very short stroke on your regular stones? Something else entirely?

Hi Roy. I side sharpen it on the long edge of the stone. Same as a router plane blade. I also ground a little bit of a hollow in both the bevel and the bottom using a a little chainsaw sharpening stone on a dremel. That sped up the initial setup.

[Chris Griggs]

Lowell, I'm curious to know what kind wood you've been using it on. I find on softwood full width shavings are super easy, but then when I get into more moderately hardwoods things are less consistent. Walnut and cherry are ok with a really light cut as long as the curve doesn't hit too much end grain, but maple is more troublesome. I do BTW, continue to believe that these issues I sometimes have when taking wider shavings in harder wood to be user error, but at the same time I have an easier time with my rounded contour plane as well as with the rounded toe on the LV aluminum LA shave.

[Chris Griggs]

It is very likely that this is a direct copy of the Preston, to explain the design.

This is correct. When I first got mine I spoke with someone at Lee Valley and it is indeed intended to be replica (minus the blade and body material) as opposed to an improved version of an old design. This explains why it is the "Lee Valley" spokeshave and not a "Veritas" product (A Vertitas product has to be an original design).

I also talked to someone who has used the original Preston version and they described the ease of use as being similar.

I've was tempted to get an LN just for the sake of comparison, but decided not to spend $95 just to satisfy my curiosity (though I still may at some point). I would imagine that the bronze body and the fully machined bed (the LV's bed is cast) would make it a tool that could be pushed into harder work with more ease and make it less prone to chatter. Again, haven't used it though so can't directly compare.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I always find curved shaves easier to use in a pulling fashion as well. The chattering issues sound similar to what I've experienced with every curved shave I've used if the curve is such that you aren't able to register the entire toe on the workpiece - if the curve is gentler than the radius of the shave it's very easy to lose registration, rocking the blade in and out of the cut unless you make a very conscious "scooping" motion or focus very intently on keeping the angle of the shave to the work correct. I've gotten better, but not good enough. I generally only use curved shaves for very thin shavings to smooth out the curves, like a smoother plane, rather than try and actually *create* the curves with shave. Although, I've moved to getting that finished surface with a chisel held bevel down whenever I can. I love the waxy look on something like birch end grain.

Just throwing in my experience with other similar shaves.

[lowell holmes]

Lowell, I'm curious to know what kind wood you've been using it on. I find on softwood full width shavings are super easy, but then when I get into more moderately hardwoods things are less consistent. Walnut and cherry are ok with a really light cut as long as the curve doesn't hit too much end grain, but maple is more troublesome. I do BTW, continue to believe that these issues I sometimes have when taking wider shavings in harder wood to be user error, but at the same time I have an easier time with my rounded contour plane as well as with the rounded toe on the LV aluminum LA shave.

I'm working on a chair that is inspired by the chairs at the http://collections.lacma.org/node/246316 site.
The wood is curly maple and it is not rock maple.

I have examined my shave and it is not as pronounced as Derek's. I will probably dress it down a bit as he described.
This is the first round shave that I have been able to push. The width of the shavings are probably more like 2/3 the width of the iron rather than what I said in the earlier post. Other than the posts and rails, there are not any straight lines in the chair. Most of the shaping has been done with shaves.

I was so excited to get the shavings I was getting, it seemed to be full width.

[Chris Griggs]

I'm working on a chair that is inspired by the chairs at the http://collections.lacma.org/node/246316 site.
The wood is curly maple and it is not rock maple.

I have examined my shave and it is not as pronounced as Derek's. I will probably dress it down a bit as he described.
This is the first round shave that I have been able to push. The width of the shavings are probably more like 2/3 the width of the iron rather than what I said in the earlier post. Other than the posts and rails, there are not any straight lines in the chair. Most of the shaping has been done with shaves.

I was so excited to get the shavings I was getting, it seemed to be full width.

That's helpful info Lowell. Looks like I may need to spend some time improving the proverbial Indian rather than just the arrow.

[Derek Cohen]

My concern about the spokeshave is actually more than the mouth being out-of-coplanar. This alone makes the spokeshave extremely difficult to use. Some might argue that one does not take a full width shaving anyway, but that is not the point. The point is that taking a full shaving tells us that all is well with the mouth.


The second issue is the design of this spokeshave. It is a copy of the Preston ... for better-or-worse. This has been my criticism with some of the features on LN planes as well. That is, the design, per se, includes all features, both good and bad. Some of the bad is not a deal breaker, just not as good as it could get, and there are many who enjoy these historical features. What LV is known for best is their innovation and development of classic designs. They take a historical classic and turn it into a modern classic.


Now here is the thing: this spokeshave is not a beginners spokeshave. At its price point I can see some wanting to wet their toes with this spokeshave. It is a spokeshave for someone who really knows what they are doing. I have some experience, but not nearly enough to make it work properly.


I was taught to use a round spokeshave by Terry Gordon, to role it from the toe through the mouth and onto the sole. This Preston-designed spokeshave has a very narrow toe. The photos I posted illustrate this.


In addition to the picture of the HNT Gordon large spokeshave I posted (above), Terry has developed a smaller version, one very similar in size to the LV/Preston. Terry has this to say of his own version ...


The small curved spokeshave is designed to do tight inside curves. It is a difficult tool to control as there is no support in front of the blade so it wants to roll as you start to push.


Terry continues ...


When using the curved sole shave I generally push it but it can be pulled. The only part of my hand which exerts any great pressure is my thumbs on the flat part of the shave directly behind the blade. The rest of my hands have a light grip on the squarish handles to prevent the tool from rolling which keeps the blade cutting. I have a little weight down on the wood and my thumbs then do the pushing and drag along the wood to help steady the body. My wrists are flexible so I can roll with the curves.


Note that he is pushing here ...


http://www.hntgordon.com.au/sspokecurves.jpg


Link: http://www.hntgordon.com.au/usingsmallcurvedsolespokeshave.htm


With regard the Preston handles, I find that the curves ask one to pull rather than push. It actually feels unnatural to push with them. Consequently there may be a different way in using them compared with the HNT Gordon.


Now all that does sound like a review!


Regards from Perth


Derek

[Jim Koepke]

After reading this thread yesterday, before Derek's latest addition, some time was spent working with my LV-CRS.

There was a little concave curvature of the sole from side to side. It has mostly been removed by working it on some oil stones and then a few strokes on a strop.

A little more work was also done on the bedding using an auger file.

This improved the usability noticeably.

My test piece was alder. It is a rather soft wood.

As the grain changed so did the ability to cut using push or pull strokes.

Taking as thin a shaving as one can set the blade to take seems to be how this spokeshave wants to roll.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Here are some images of my Lee Valley Cast Round Spokeshave.

First noticed was crud build up under the blade. This was jamming between the bed and blade.

278218

That is why my first fettling chore was to address the bed.

This image shows some remnants of the 'pimples' that can be seen in the upper right area of the image.

278217

They are a bit shiny from being filed. A little more work was done on them after this image was taken with a small oil slip stone.

Here is the shave in action on the push stroke.

278219

This area would chatter and make a mess on a push stroke unless the piece was turned around.

My adjustment mallet is also shown. Extremely light taps seem to have a lot of effect on the adjustment.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I spent about five minutes checking the mouth on my shave. It had very little misalignment, It took less than five minutes to work it out with a file.

I was already getting good curls out of mine and the fettling did produce a small improvement. The curl coming out is fuller.

Jim, I put both thumbs on the shave like you have your right thumb in the last picture. This allows me to find the sweet spot that produces controlled and mostly full shavings.

I find the shave easy to push with that grip.

[Mike Henderson]

I went and checked mine - very slight concave before the blade. But the shave works fine - no chatter. I'm usually using a spokeshave on something small so I often have one side of the blade exposed a little bit more than the other. As I work the project, I switch sides depending on whether I want a deeper cut or a finer cut.

Mike

[Hilton Ralphs]

For someone new to curved work, is this shave recommended over the Veritas curved version? I know the radius is smaller and already have the Veritas low angle with the reversible sole and two Stanley 151s.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Hilton

I would say (and did on my last "review" commentary) that this in not a beginner's spokeshave. Because of the tight radius, it is difficult to register on the toe and then progressively enter the wood. I have improved greatly with practice, but it does not work as easily as a round spokeshave with a large radius.

The Stanley 151 is also a tough user since the toe area is small. The LA Veritas is easier and may be all one needs.

I have both these spokeshaves in a comparison with the HNT Gordons, the review written in 2007 (the latest HNT Gordon spokeshaves look different now): http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/THE%20HNT%20GORDON%20SPOKESHAVES.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Hilton Ralphs]

Thanks Derek. I'll take a look at that article of yours.

Ta.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Hllton

I put in a little bit of practice with the LV Preston spokeshave and was rewarded for my efforts.

It is much easier going on Pine but I could do this on hardwood as well. In the first picture the shave long curls are now being pulled. This is really easy ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave19_zps6007ea61.jpg

In the second photo the shave has planed the entire length, which ends into the grain and leaves tear out (as expected) ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave20_zps14d8349f.jpg

Now the idea is to be able to come back with the grain and remove the tearout. To do this you have to push away from yourself, and do it from the edge of the board - that is, immediately and working from the smallest registration area ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Spokeshaves%20and%20Drawknives/LV%20Preston%20Repro/Spokeshave21_zpsd3af8297.jpg

Note that I could not plane this curve with the round LN - the curve is too tight.

I do think that those starting out would be better served by a LV or LN round spokeshaves. Even a Stanley #51/151 is easy after the Preston.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chris Griggs]

Today in the shop was spent cutting, faring, and, smoothing curves in the stretchers and legs of the storage bench I'm currently working on. I ended up using the little cast round shave quite a bit and must say as I use it more I do have more success with it and like it better and better. It worked really well for taking down isolated humps in the curves, final faring, and general smoothing. One thing it consistently does well is remove tearout inflicted by my coarser set shaves and with thin cuts it smooths well both down hill/with the grain and uphill/against the grain.

It is still frustrating at times, and I continue to need to skew it, take slow cuts, and really pay attention to avoid chatter. Makes me wish I had the little LN version to compare too. Once thing I found surprising today is that for whatever reason I had an easier time avoiding chatter when pushing instead of pulling. This is really weird as I usually find pulling easier, but for whatever reason pushing was working well for me today.

Anyway, I was glad to have it today. I guess overall I would still say what I said before. That is, that its really nice when its working within its limits but frustrating when pushed too hard, and as Derek said its a somewhat challenging tool to learn to use effectively. Again, though, really great once you begin to learn how to use and when its working within its limits.

Definitely though, its time for me to get some more bevel down shaves. I'm doing more and more curved work, and the I kept thinking how nice it would have been to have the Boggs round shave, with its gently radius sole, to smooth the gentle curves in the legs and stretchers I was shaping today.

[Ralph Juarros]

That Lee Valley Cast Round Spokeshave is a thing of beauty. I don't even need one yet, but I've got to have one - I think. Ralph

[Derek Cohen]

That Lee Valley Cast Round Spokeshave is a thing of beauty. I don't even need one yet, but I've got to have one - I think. Ralph

Exactly Ralph!

As Chris has mentioned, the more one uses it, the easier it becomes. Learning to ride the toe is what it is all about. Be patient and it will come.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

As Chris has mentioned, the more one uses it, the easier it becomes.

Another one in agreement on that here.

jtk

[Hilton Ralphs]

Makes me wish I had the little LN version to compare too.

I'm doing more and more curved work, and the I kept thinking how nice it would have been to have the Boggs round shave, with its gently radius sole

Now here's the interesting part.

LN Boggs curved spokeshave has a 5" radius.
Veritas round (curved) spokeshave has a 1-3/4" radius.

LN Small Bronze spokeshave has a 1-1/2" radius.
Lee Valley Cast Round spokeshave has a 5/8"radius.

Are these radii really that different? The small shaves look almost identical and I wonder if the PM-V11 blade would fit the LN?

[Chris Griggs]

Now here's the interesting part.

LN Boggs curved spokeshave has a 5" radius.
Veritas round (curved) spokeshave has a 1-3/4" radius.

LN Small Bronze spokeshave has a 1-1/2" radius.
Lee Valley Cast Round spokeshave has a 5/8"radius.

Are these radii really that different? The small shaves look almost identical and I wonder if the PM-V11 blade would fit the LN?

Pretty different seeming I think, at least for the full-sized ones. Think of the curve on bucket compared to the curve on a coffee mug. I always kinda though I would prefer the tighter radiused LV, but what I'm realizing is that for really tight curves I'd used rather something low angle (like my contour plane with a rounded sole) or files/rasps (I'd also wouldn't mind having one of these (http://shop.woodjoytools.com/product.sc;jsessionid=77074AF712D4AAF114DEF51AB53B 7950.m1plqscsfapp01?productId=17&categoryId=6) for tight radii).

For gentle long grain curves that I would tend to use a BD shave on, I'd think the less curved boggs would be easier to use and I also think on something small like a shave the weight and vibration dampening properties of bronze might be helpful. Both brands have knurling though so the decision is tough :). In all seriousness, one of the reasons I haven't bought either is I don't know which radius I would prefer. The radius best suited for the work I find myself doing would be the deciding factor for me (YMMV YMMV YMMV) between the two large round shaves.

In practice though I do wonder HOW different the different radii actualy play out. The large ones are different enough that it could be a good excuse to own both:)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

For tighter curves in smaller work, I really like making paring cuts across the grain with an in-cannel gouge. It sometimes requires going back over with a card scraper, chisel bevel-down, or sandpaper before finishing, but with the work backed up well, and maybe some saw cuts to help things along, it's just the ticket, and certainly one of the quickest methods I've stumbled across. Basically the same technique one uses with a chisel to rough out convex curves.

If you've got nice forstners and a good drill press and good workholding, don't discount that method for tighter radii as well.

[Derek Cohen]

The small LV/Preston will cut tighter curves than the larger radii spokeshaves. That is its speciality, what it is designed to do.

But don't forget the use of rasps and files for curves as well.

Regards from Perth

Derek