Drawknife Comparison-Old/New

[Doug Mason]

Having little experience w/drawknifes, I was glad when I came across a cabriole leg project where I could put them to use. I have 2 of them--an old 10 inch Whitherby from ebay ($20/30??) and a Barr ($120/130??) I picked up last year, per below:

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Each of them has a slightly covex backside--they are not straight (although the Whiterby is nearly straight). Thus, when honing the backside, I went with a short stone that would follow the convex exterior. I know that there are many flavors of drawknifes--so I assume there just as many w/straightbacks as w/convex backs, etc. I sharpened both of them on a belt grinder, followed by honing on a medium and fine stone.

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Per below, I tested each on cabriole legs by wating away the waste:

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And hands down the Barr cuts much better--in fact there was no comparison! This isn't a plug for Barr tools or to say that Whitherby drawknifes are bad--just an observation.

One other observation, too, is that in using these drawknifes, I find I would be better off with a small and large version--as opposed to a medium--which is what I have here. But I find this extends to other tools as well, such as shoulder planes or a bandsaw; with the latter, I have found that having a Delta 14 inch bandsaw and a MM24 bandsaw would be much better than a medium sized MM16 (which is what I have and have found it to be a bitt undersized). But that is in a perfect world!

Finally, those fairly new to drawknifes like myself have to be carefull in sharpening them--as it is easy (especially w/big hands like mine) to lose your grip with those small slipstones and cut yourself (don't ask!!!). Below is the result of my trying to use my translucent (my favorite/most used stone)for honing the drawknifes (I'm embarrased to say how much it cost me).

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[James Baker SD]

I have 4 drawknives. The most recent (and likely the last) addition is a Barr. I don't even remember where I store the other 3 any more.

James

[George Clark]

Doug,

"Having little experience w/draw knifes"

Your first words sort of negate the rest of your conclusions, in my opinion. Having taken classes from two chairmakers who are absolute experts with a drawknife, Brian Boggs and Curtis Buchanan I can assure you your problems lie in the preparation of the knife and the skill of the user far more than old vs new knife. Brian used only an old knife that he has tuned and sharpened. Curtis used well tuned old knives as well as the Barr chairmakers knife. Barr knives come sharp from Barr. I have purchased many quality old knives on Ebay and none were anything close to sharp. They all needed a lot of work. Based on the condition of your stone and your injury it sounds like you have not yet mastered sharpening a drawknife. There is also the issue of bevel up or bevel down. Some knives are designed to be used bevel up , some designed to be used bevel down. Some chairmakers prefer one, some the other, but you certainly need to know the difference.

It is absolutely amazing to me to see what can be done with a drawknife in the hands of an expert. It is a tool that definitely has a learning curve.

George

[John Keeton]

Below is the result of my trying to use my translucent (my favorite/most used stone)for honing the drawknifes (I'm embarrased to say how much it cost me).4.jpg

The good news Doug - now you have two - maybe three, of them!!

[Doug Mason]

Hey George,

I got both drawknifes razor sharp (both can trim endgrain cleanly)--and I used the identical sharpening process on both--so sharpenness for the most part was eliminated as a possible cause in the difference of cutting; yet the Barr cuts much nicer. And the stone was broken as I lost my grip with it while honing the drawknife (I should have been using slip stones--which is what I ended up doing).

However, this is just "one" old drawknife--as I am sure there are thousands out there that are just as good if not better than the Barr. My post is just about these two particular drawnifes that I have. And yes, it is a fun tool--and is much faster than a chisel in doing what I was to the Cabriole legs.

[James Scheffler]

Having little experience w/drawknifes, I was glad when I came across a cabriole leg project where I could put them to use. I have 2 of them--an old 10 inch Whitherby from ebay ($20/30??) and a Barr ($120/130??) I picked up last year, per below:

Each of them has a slightly covex backside--they are not straight (although the Whiterby is nearly straight). Thus, when honing the backside, I went with a short stone that would follow the convex exterior. I know that there are many flavors of drawknifes--so I assume there just as many w/straightbacks as w/convex backs, etc. I sharpened both of them on a belt grinder, followed by honing on a medium and fine stone.

When you say the backside is convex, does that mean along the length or width? If the bottom is convex front to back instead of flat, that will affect how it cuts. I'm no expert, but I've heard it should be reasonably flat in order to work right.

Jim

[David Keller NC]

"I got both drawknifes razor sharp (both can trim endgrain cleanly)--and I used the identical sharpening process on both--so sharpenness for the most part was eliminated as a possible cause in the difference of cutting; yet the Barr cuts much nicer."

One observation here is that an identical sharpening procedure doesn't necessarily equate to identical results. There's much to honing blades besides getting a sharp arris on the edge. In particular, the performance of free-hand tools like carving gouges, drawknives, hatchets and other "unregulated" cutting items (meaning the cut depth is not regulated by a sole) sensitively depends on the bevel shape, bevel angle, and the interaction between these two and the width of the blade.

However, one other pertinent observation is that you may well have gotten a "clunker" in the old drawknife. Many times, the antique tools in "Wow" or even "good" condition aren't very useable - it's the only reason they survived in that condition.