Spokeshave learning curve

[Bob Jones 5443]

My technique is getting better as I take on the advice from the community from last week. (LN Boggs curved bottom) The iron is newly sharp. My stroke is more confident, and I occasionally draw off a 4 or 5-inch shaving as I move along the concave curve on my cabinet rails.

Still, after every few good shavings I get a buildup in the throat that will not come out with the brush. I try a pencil. Works one time out of five. Then I take out the iron, brush everything off, and start over. See photo. (I hope it comes through; this is my first attempt at including a photo. I guess that has a learning curve, too.)

[Bob Jones 5443]

I took the photo with my phone. Can't seem to make the file size small enough to post here. Oh well.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Then I found this comment on another forum site:

"The lie spokeshave is nice but probably not the best one all around. That spoke shave has a very narrow throat and makes fine cuts very well. The reason I do not care for that much is you really can not take band saw blade marks of with that spoke shave because of the fine cut it takes. I prefer the ones from veritas that look like the old stanleys. They have adjustment screws at the top that holds the blade in places can take a heavier cut. Also, if I remember correctly they include shims so you can move the blade out and make the opening in the throat small, like the boggs, to make fine cuts. You could open the the throat on the boggs but the way the blade is held in place does not allow you to take a heavier cut the blade just slides."

Did I buy a tool meant for extremely fine work?

[Derek Cohen]

Bob, I have the Bogg shaves. They have tight mouths and are preferred for finishing/fine shavings. I have other shaves for the heavier work. One of the best is a vintage Stanley #53. This has an adjustable mouth, which may be opened/closed with the turn of a knob. Or I would use a Stanley #51, which is similar to the #53 insofar as it does not have a mechanical adjuster. (My preference is a spokeshave without an adjuster as they just feel less top heavy). The #51 has a wide mouth, and can take thick shavings without getting jammed up.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I don’t have a Boggs shave, but I do have a Stanley #53 and #54 and agree with Derek. The only difference is the 53 has gullwing handles while the 54 has straight handles. I tend to use the 54 more because I find it’s better balanced (probably what Derek refers to as top heavy), but there are a lot more 53s in the wild than 54s. I have a 151 and like the adjusting system, but I’m sure the Veritas is a big improvement. I also have a number of Woodjoy wooden shaves which are my favorites but no longer available new. The owner of Woodjoy recently retired so they will be hard to come by on the used market. The good news is that if you’re really dissatisfied with the Boggs, you can sell it and get most, if not all your money back.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Stephen, when I bought my first plane in 2008 I was hopeless with it. "The plane didn't work!" It's a L-N 4-1/2. Needless to say, it works. The problem was the idiot behind the wheel.

Well, those days are gone, and I suspect I might be entering one of those phases with spokeshaves. True to form, my first one ever was the Boggs curved bottom. I bought it from Anne of All Trades at a L-N hands tool event near me in California after seeing it work wonders easing edges and rounding square sticks. But back at home, trying to smooth out band saw marks on long concave edges on 4/4 cherry has tested my mettle.

It's getting better, and today I declared my curved face edges acceptable. After all, they are on the bottom of the bottom rails, so who's going to get on the floor and feel them?

So, I suppose the Boggs spokeshave really "does work," and I'll just have to to through the learning curve.

Still, I've got the spokeshave bug and I'm intrigued by an adjustable mouth. The trouble is, I wanted this one for a concave edge. Are there curved-bottom shaves with adjustable mouths?

[ken hatch]

Bob,

Broken record here but take another look at Dave's Shaves. His shaves are a copy of a classic chair makers shave. Anyway take a look and read about how they were developed.

ken

[lowell holmes]

These are what I like.

http://www.veritastools.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?cat=51

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/search?query=spoke+shave

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Bob,

My wooden spokeshaves are not as new or nice as yours, but they do their job. Here is the story including how one of them was 'adjusted' do not clog:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?269044

My wooden spoke shaves excell at light cuts. Not my choice for removing saw marks. For heavier work a Stanley #113 plane or a curved bottom metal shave is used.

jtk

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Bob,

I meant to mention about the learning curve with spokeshaves. Definitely takes some practice, especially with a curved bottom shave. I’m sure you’ll grow to really appreciate your Boggs shave - they’re universally praised. Because I have so many Stanley shaves, I decided to branch out and buy a wooden shave, the aforementioned Woodjoy. After using it for awhile I bought a few more because I feel they do a much better job. You won’t hog off a lot of wood with them, but in my opinion the control and surface finish cannot be matched with a metal shave. As Ken says, a good alternative may be Dave’s Shaves now that Woodjoy is no longer available. I’m not aware of any adjustable mouth curved bottom shaves. For really tight curves I use a Millers Falls #1 round spokeshave, but talk about a learning curve, oh my! As Jim notes, a #113 Stanley plane (or #20, which is what I have) can be used for heavier work. Btw, I usually go to the LN tool event in Oakland that you went to, but was out of town and missed it this year.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Stephen, the latest LN hand tool event in Oakland featured LN and no one else. No guest presenters, and no other vendors. I bought the Boggs at the earlier event this year in Santa Rosa. That event had Ron Hock and his partner, several young reps from the Krenov School, Anne as mentioned earlier, and the maker of those nice little marking gauges with the cutting wheels (the name escapes me). compared with that event, you didn’t miss anything in Oakland.

[Jim Koepke]

maker of those nice little marking gauges with the cutting wheels (the name escapes me). compared with that event, you didn’t miss anything in Oakland.

Is there a chance you mean Tite-Mark®?

jtk

[Ira Matheny]

I, too, attended the LN event in Oakland recently. I, too, purchased a Bogg flat spoke shave, after have viewed a demonstration by LN staff.
I LOVE IT!
Yes, you must frequently clean the mouth [a soft, natural fiber 1" paint brush does wonders]. After a few hours of use, I have become reasonably adept at using it in making my fly-fishing nets.
I also have the Veritas, but am not comfortable or as successful in using it as I am with the LN/Boggs.
Ira, in Modesto

[ken hatch]

Is there a chance you mean Tite-Mark®?

jtk

Jim,

I expect he is, Glen Drake is normally a fixture at LN Tool Events. I bought a totally unnecessary feeler gauge set from him at the last one I went to. It's no better than the gauge set from the local Auto Zone but it sure was pretty.

ken

[Jack Frederick]

I have the LN spoke shaves and the concave Boggs I bought from Brian prior to LN getting involved with him. I love the tools and find that my pleasure and success in using them is directly proportional to the amount of time I use them. If I have been away from them for a while it is frustrating and takes me a while to get my hand back.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Jim and Ken,

Yes, that's it: Glen Drake of Tite-Mark! And Ken, yes, his things are aesthetically superb. I didn't feel worthy of his stuff when I saw it in the spring. But a few more months of the kind of breakthroughs I've been having lately and I might just treat myself.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Jack,

I do concur that the Boggs is a top-quality tool that is capable of extremely fine work. However, I'm coming to think that the rough task I wanted to put it to is not its core strength –– cleaning up band saw marks. It's probably a better tool to go to after the initial marks have been eased out. The Boggs would probably act as a final smoother. Analogous (but not identical) to using a No. 4-1/2 to edge-joint a rough 40" board.

It's all about "right tool for the job." I can see that I jumped into the deep end with the Boggs as my very first spokeshave! Rookie mistake #2,385 in a continuing series. I just ordered a No. 151 because of its wider throat, although it's flat. I was hoping to find a 151MR, but no luck on Day 1. I'll keep looking. If I get those two Stanleys in house, maybe they can serve as the preliminary shavers, and then I can see if the Boggs indeed does take the surface to a smoother state.

Also, I want to try draw boring on my NEXT project (not this one; I'm not going to try something new on the parts I've already gotten nearly ready for glue-up). For the pins, I think I'll try to round off some square stock, and I know the Boggs will make this fun.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Ira, I think I was standing next to you at the table in Oakland. Did you buy a few other things besides the Boggs?

[Jack Frederick]

I bought the LN draw-bore pins a couple years ago planning to jump right into it. I'd walk by them and give a side-long glance. Nah, and I'd do it the way I always had. I ended up using them on a small door I built and it came out pretty well, me being a masher. On the topic of Boggs, I carried the 12/99 copy of FWW around for years. It has the plans for his shaving horse. I finally built it two years ago and now I am not fighting the material every time I put a blade to it. I know that is not the application you are looking at here, but having a good hold on the material is pretty nice.