spokeshave tuneup?

[Daniel Rode]

Stanley makes a flat bottom spokeshave (IIRC model 12-951). It's inexpensive and resembles the #151 but I'm told the bed casting is typically painted and rough making the tool perform poorly. Is this a tool I could tune up without too much trouble? File the bed flat, lap the sole, sharpen the blade and put it to work? Kuntz makes a similar spokeshave that costs more and might be made a little better but would still take some fettling.

I've been looking at vintage #151 spokehaves as well but $30 - $50 for an user tool that probably needs at least as much work seems high to me.

Can anyone point me toward more info on cleaning up and tuning a spoke shave.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

There was an article in FWW a while back, where they tuned up one of these types of shaves and ended up making a new, brass, lever cap, and rather than trying to file all over the bed, hit it with files in a few of the high spots, and then made a "new" bed with a thin coat of something like JB Weld or some sort of epoxy product. I'll try and dig out what issue it was in, but it was an interesting approach.

[Dave Cullen]

Here's one that I found useful:

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodworking-tips-1206jun/spokeshave.html

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Found it - it was the October 2002 issue, (#158) it's titled "Soup Up Your Spokeshave" and it's by Brian Boggs. It also shows up in a couple of Taunton handplane books - if you search "Soup Up Your Spokeshave" and "Brian Boggs" in Google, I'm getting a Google Books preview of the Taunton "Working With Handplanes" book, that lets me read most of the article. (Page 97 is telling me it's not part of the preview.)

[Dave Anderson NH]

I personally am a believer in the make your own approach. You can buy a blade from Hock and use the teach shave instructions or you can buy the large or small kits from Veritas/Lee Valley. Both make exceptional low angle shaves. Either ways it is only a days work and you get a tool customized to your own choice of wood and shape. A shave is an easy tool to make.

[Jim Koepke]

If you want to fettle a couple of newer spokeshaves, I am tempted to make you an offer on a pair I have.

Here is a former thread on some Kuntz spokeshaves:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?187888-Hey-whatever-happened-to-my-Kunz-spokeshave

Here is a post by Bob Smalser on fettling spokeshaves:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?7415-Spoke-Shave-Tune-Up

Here is another post by me on how my opinion was formed on the two spokeshaves mentioned above:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?153938-Just-A-Whisker-on-Shaves

Since that was written I have bought two more spokeshaves. One is a flat bottomed Stanley of which number my memory fails and the other the Preston reproduction from Lee Valley. There was a thread on the LV spokeshave here. Most of us who purchased one found it needed a little fettling to get optimum performance. I also did a little work on the handles to make it more comfortable to use.

Unless you feel a need for the adjusters on the #151, the #51 is more common and usually going for less. Just be sure you are buying one with some blade left. New blades will cost you as much a the shave. My hope is the blades out of my junk shaves are decent metal. Maybe they should get a test drive.

For fettling you would need a very thin file if you have to work the bedding.

jtk

[Daniel Rode]

The reason I like the #151 style spokeshave is the adjuster. (I'm told) It's pretty easy to make fine incremental adjustments and it's also easy to set the blade askew so that one side takes a wider shaving and one takes a thin shaving. What else I've read about spoke shaves is that a well tuned one is pretty easy to use but a poor example can be difficult to get good results.

I've never used a spokeshave. I'm just hoping to get one on the cheap to learn and practice with.

[Daniel Rode]

Thanks Joshua. I was able to track down the article. I'll read it tonight.

Found it - it was the October 2002 issue, (#158) it's titled "Soup Up Your Spokeshave" and it's by Brian Boggs. It also shows up in a couple of Taunton handplane books - if you search "Soup Up Your Spokeshave" and "Brian Boggs" in Google, I'm getting a Google Books preview of the Taunton "Working With Handplanes" book, that lets me read most of the article. (Page 97 is telling me it's not part of the preview.)

[Daniel Rode]

I'm not against making my own but I have no experience making tools. I've been thinking about trying my hand making a simple block plane later this year but even that is a bit daunting for me.

I personally am a believer in the make your own approach. You can buy a blade from Hock and use the teach shave instructions or you can buy the large or small kits from Veritas/Lee Valley. Both make exceptional low angle shaves. Either ways it is only a days work and you get a tool customized to your own choice of wood and shape. A shave is an easy tool to make.

[Jim Koepke]

The reason I like the #151 style spokeshave is the adjuster. (I'm told) It's pretty easy to make fine incremental adjustments and it's also easy to set the blade askew so that one side takes a wider shaving and one takes a thin shaving.

I am sure having adjusters helps a lot in the beginning with the learning curve of spokeshaves.

Setting one is actually not real hard with a small tapping mallet or hammer. A light tap on the blade will advance it. This needs to be a very light tap. A light tap on the handle on either side will withdraw the blade. The Lee Valley reproduction of the Preston shave is a little sensitive to this and has disciplined me toward lighter adjustment tapping. This has helped perfect the adjusting of my other shaves.

jtk

[David Flynn]

Daniel,
A couple of years back, I bought a newer Stanley spokeshave (before I read these forums.) I spent a lot of time trying to get it to work. Filed the bed, etc. etc. The blade was arguably the worst part - warped. I spent forever flattening the back so that I could get it sharp. I even put in a new Veritas blade because the Stanley blade chipped. After all that, it will cut well, but the adjuster screws weren't installed properly (not perfectly aligned), so it is hard to adjust and always will be. While I'm sure I learned something fettling the new tool, if I could do it again I would get an old one - I think you will have better luck. (Or save up and buy a LN or Veritas now because you will do it later anyways - spokeshaves are great fun.)

P.S. the Veritas low angle kit isn't hard to make. There are good explanations on the web that will help you. I made one blank with a cheap off cut of maple as practice, then made it with rosewood. That is my favourite spokeshave now.

[Hilton Ralphs]

The reason I like the #151 style spokeshave is the adjuster. (I'm told) It's pretty easy to make fine incremental adjustments and it's also easy to set the blade askew so that one side takes a wider shaving and one takes a thin shaving.

and the downside to having the adjuster is that there is more metal sticking up which limits you to how tight a curve you can attack. Trade-offs everywhere.

[Robert G Brown]

I bought two hf spokeshaves (round & flat) before I knew how to fettle them properly. I could not get them to work right until I read an article similar to this one (it may have been this one): "http://www.timberframe-tools.com/tools/tuning-up-a-cheap-spokeshave/". The article helped me understand how a spokeshave works. Since then I have bought more expensive spokeshaves. I now use the hf ones for roughing and the others for the finer work.

[Sam Stephens]

Really? I picked up a used 151 some time ago and it's my go to shave. I find it odd some find these challenging to use. it's really one of the simplest tools out there. I let my kids use it over most tools b/c the results are so quick and satisfying. not hard to push and steer like a plane (my kids are young). I really like the adjustability of the 151, so I wouldn't bother w/ a 51 if given a choice. Not particularly difficult to set the blade either way but they usually go for similar prices on ebay. Personally I like old/vintage vs. new/cheap. A well used shave/plane was used for a reason -it worked! If you want new, get an LV or LN, not a green one. Or as Dave suggested make one (on my list as well). As far as fettling, clean off the dirt and grim, sharpen the blade, make some shavings and then, only then, make some minor changes if needed at all. Unless you know what you're doing, I'd guess most people do more harm than good w/ all this fettling business the magazine gurus purport. Knowing what needs to be addressed vs is just part of the learning curve of using the tool takes experience and practice. Please don't take a file to it, you'll likely overdo it. Sandpaper is slow, but far more forgiving unless the casting is really bad and you've got to knock down some serious burrs.

[Jim Koepke]

As far as fettling, clean off the dirt and grim, sharpen the blade, make some shavings and then, only then, make some minor changes if needed at all. Unless you know what you're doing, I'd guess most people do more harm than good w/ all this fettling business the magazine gurus purport.

Well said and good advice.

All tools should be given a "test drive" before any attempts at fettling. Maybe a clean up and sharpening is all it needs. Many used tools have likely been fettled by folks who used them to make a living.

jtk

[Robert G Brown]

"As far as fettling, clean off the dirt and grim, sharpen the blade" That has been my experience with most vintage spoke shaves. The LV and LN ones came sharp and ready. I just gave their blades a final honing. Now as for the Chinese ones that I paid $1.99 each for brand new, those needed a major overhaul. But they taught me what to look for in the 30 plus spoke shaves I acquired after them.

[Daniel Rode]

I was able to find a No 151 the appears to be in very good shape. It has a red/orange cap and the No. 151 cast on the back is plain, so it's a type 5 or type 6. I might have preferred an earlier model but it cost me $13.50, so I'm out less than a new Stanley that I know is roughly cast and poorly machined.

The label on the plane body reads made in England which is encouraging but it's still possible the body was cast in China or India and may not be machined as well. Maybe it'll be nice right off or maybe I'll need to do some work. I'll find out next week when it arrives.

Thanks for all the tips and advice.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

Stanley makes a flat bottom spokeshave (IIRC model 12-951). It's inexpensive and resembles the #151 but I'm told the bed casting is typically painted and rough making the tool perform poorly. Is this a tool I could tune up without too much trouble? File the bed flat, lap the sole, sharpen the blade and put it to work?

I have a cheap spokeshave, Truper brand (the ubiquitous cheap tools in Mexico) that seems identical to the 12-951, and after doing exactly the kind of fettling you mentioned, it worked much better than out of the box. I'm happy with it.

The contact surfaces are so small (bed and sole) that it's easy to get them flat.

(And my 6yo daughter *LOVES* the spokeshave! It is a very easy tool for her. "Daddy, I want to make another sword...")

[Pete Hotard]

I have the new Stanley that you were asking about in your original post. Got it at first to try my hand at spoon carving....out of the box it worked ok, up to my expectations at the time, but now, maybe 6 months later I realize how poorly it was working. I read several of those articles listed and spent a morning fettling mine and am amazed at the difference in operation. I filed the bed flat, sanded all of the paint and imperfections off of the back of the cap. Honed a sharp bevel on the top of the cap just to open up the throat a little bit. Lapped the sole, lapped the back of the blade and honed a 30 deg bevel. Now it takes silky smooth shavings with very occasional tear out.

I probably put way too much effort into a cheap tool, but I somewhat enjoy tuning up tools that others may think are only good for paper weights. When I first started buying hand tools last year, I didn't have the money for nice planes or chisels. I bought a #4 smoother from my locally owned ACE hardware. Worked well out of the box but as my skills have improved I have been able to tune it up to meet my standards. The only thing I hate about it is the junky chrome blade it came with. Will definitely buy a new plane before I change the blade in this one, but I may have to order a Hock blade just to see how nice I can get this thing running...

[Jim Koepke]

I was able to find a No 151 the appears to be in very good shape. It has a red/orange cap and the No. 151 cast on the back is plain, so it's a type 5 or type 6. I might have preferred an earlier model but it cost me $13.50, so I'm out less than a new Stanley that I know is roughly cast and poorly machined.

The label on the plane body reads made in England which is encouraging but it's still possible the body was cast in China or India and may not be machined as well. Maybe it'll be nice right off or maybe I'll need to do some work. I'll find out next week when it arrives.

Thanks for all the tips and advice.

Are you able to post pictures?

Hope to be at least hearing from you soon.

jtk

[Tony Zaffuto]

Found it - it was the October 2002 issue, (#158) it's titled "Soup Up Your Spokeshave" and it's by Brian Boggs. It also shows up in a couple of Taunton handplane books - if you search "Soup Up Your Spokeshave" and "Brian Boggs" in Google, I'm getting a Google Books preview of the Taunton "Working With Handplanes" book, that lets me read most of the article. (Page 97 is telling me it's not part of the preview.)

I used this article on a Kunz chamfer shave (wings detach so the shave acts as a normal shave). Before the "tune up", the Kunz wasn't worth a crap. After wards as a regular shave, it was great: I made my own A2 blade and tightened the mouth with Bogg's epoxy method. I also made a new chip breaker, ala Boggs. I did give the shave away, because it was bought for use as a chamfer shave and nothing could be done to overcome the poor castings and mating surfaces of the chamfer wings.

I would highly recommend following the Boggs article.

[Daniel Rode]

I won't have pictures of my own until it arrives next week. The eBay listing had a number of pictures, though. It was eBay item 281257014767.

Are you able to post pictures?

Hope to be at least hearing from you soon.

jtk

[Michael Ray Smith]

and the downside to having the adjuster is that there is more metal sticking up which limits you to how tight a curve you can attack. Trade-offs everywhere.

In addition, the ones with an adjuster to feel out of balance to me, too top heavy. It's all a matter of finding out what works for you.

[Mike Holbrook]

Michael has a post on spokeshaves above that gets into some of the uses and value of spokeshaves vs other tools. A few books that cover not only spokeshaves but a wide range of green & dry woodworking tools and how to make and or sharpen them are Drew Lagsner's Green Woodworking and The Chairmakers Workshop, Michael Dunbar covers some of this information in his Windsor chair books, Peter Galbert is suppose to be coming out with a book very soon. Peter Galbert offers 25 free videos on his Chair Notes Blog, Curtis Buchanan offers over 50 free videos on his Windsor Chairmaker web site. The green wood guys tend to use tools they make themselves. Peter Galbert builds some innovative tools, including a travisher/spokeshave, that he sells but also provides information on making on his website and Blog. The green wood guys, particularly Galbert, tend to use cutting/scraping hand tools for finished surfaces and shy away from sandpaper.

Glenn Livingston at Woodjoy Tools makes some innovative spokeshaves and other tools at more than reasonable prices and is a good source of information. Jim at Crown Planes makes wood planes & tools, including a nice small compass plane and a travisher. There are a number of hand tools the green wood guys use for this work starting with carving axes and adzes, moving to drawknives and inshaves and finishing with spokeshaves, travishers, compass planes and various scraping devices. Watch a few of Cutis's videos on making the parts for his chair and I think you will be amazed at how much these guys can do with simple hand tools. These videos demonstrate the use of hand tools at a whole different level in my opinion. Curtis starts with a green log, some wedges an axe and a sledge...and ends up with chairs that are amazing.