Who needs a lathe when you have a spokeshave

[Zahid Naqvi]

I had the parts glued up for a carvers mallet for a while, curly maple and purple heart. But not having a lathe of my own I have to drive down to Dennis or Mark to get spinny work done. So this weekend I have nothing else going on and have some free time so I pull out the spokeshave a couple of microplanes (flat and half round) and a rasp, and get to working on the mallet. This is what came out after 2 days of shaving and rasping and sanding.
Only sanded upto 220 and one coat of witches brew. No need to fine tune something that's gonna get beat up on the head all its life:eek:
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So it's not perfectly round, but considering the intended use it probably doesn't matter.
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[Steve Clardy]

Yes. whatever works. Looks good!

[Maurice Metzger]

Uh-oh, I don't have either...

Looks good Zahid, now you've got a nice mallet. Time for some mortises.

No wait, it's for carving. Actually it's great that you basically carved it.

- Maurice

[Vaughn McMillan]

Man, had you completed it a little earlier, you could have entered it the Bonker contest over on the spinny forum. Those guys would be impressed that you got something that round without a lathe. Nice work Zahid, and I'll bet you fnd the out-of-round handle ends up being more comfortable.

- Vaughn

[George Sanders]

Nice work. I was cleaning up last night and sharpened up my spokeshave. Indians didn't have lathes to make arrows, just a flat blade. Some Japanese woodworkers make spindles without a lathe and turn out delicate looking yet sturdy work. I know shaving and forming a round object by hand is slower than a lathe but it teaches patience and is probably more satisfying.

[David Fried]

Would have been a great Bonker contest entry! I think it has more personality being hand done. I need to put this on my to-do list. Great Job!! Nice contrast in the woods.


Dave Fried

[Mark Singer]

Zahid,
Very nice work! That is a great project to get familiar with spokeshaves and rasps....

[Jim Dunn]

Very nice Zahid, very nice indeed.

[Mark Cothren]

Great work, Zahid! Next time make the drive and save you a day or two...;)

[Kristian Wild]

I had a similar situation in a course I took. The instructor wouldn't let me near the lathe with the hunk of ironwood I wanted to use for the head. So I shaped it entirely on the bandsaw and edge sander before attaching the ash handle which I turned previously.
The deadcentre mark on the head is from chucking it up afterwards to sand it and polish it with carnuba.
It's certainly not perfectly round but I love it since it's the first tool I made myself.
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Kris