Clifton #500 Convex Sole Spokeshave

[Jim Koepke]

Recently a Clifton #500 convex sole spokeshave was purchased from another member via the SMC Classifieds. Upon arrival and inspection it looked like it had not been used. It may have taken a few shavings, cleaned and returned to its box.

Today a little time was spent on some tuning. First here it is:

Clifton #500 Shave.jpg

And disassembled:

Clifton #500 Disassembled.jpg

The threads on the cap screw are 1/4-20. Not sure if this was changed after England went metric in the late 1960s.

The shave chattered a bit. Holding the shave up to the light showed light under the center of the blade almost all the way to the edges. The high points along the sides of the bed were worked on with auger files:

Clifton #500 Body and Auger Files.jpg

The blade was a little off. The left side would cut deeper than the center and right side. The design having the blade adjuster mounted in to the lever cap allows for very little lateral adjustment.

For working on spokeshave blades a holder makes life a lot easier:

Short Blade Holder.jpg

After working the high side of the blade a bit on a recently acquired Norton Washita stone then a hard Arkansas followed by a translucent Arkansas the shave is working much better:

Making Shavings.jpg

There is still a little more fettling to be done. Maybe next time there is a little free time in the shop.

jtk

[John Keeton]

The Clifton 500 shaves are pretty things! I had a convex one like you bought and sold it without spending much time with it. I often wish I had played with it more and tuned it to see what it was capable of.

[Kevin Adams]

The Clifton 500 shaves are pretty things! I had a convex one like you bought and sold it without spending much time with it. I often wish I had played with it more and tuned it to see what it was capable of.

Indeed they are nice looking. I’ve been tempted myself, but instead have been looking for a nice Preston shave...not easy to find over here. Keep us posted on the Clifton, Jim.

Kevin

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Jim,

I don’t build chairs, so really have no need for one, but I’m curious. What made you choose the Clifton over a travisher?

Kevin,

Patrick Leach usually has a few Preston spokeshaves every month.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim,

I don’t build chairs, so really have no need for one, but I’m curious. What made you choose the Clifton over a travisher?
[edited]

It was listed for sale in my price range and a travisher wasn't. This may be useful for chair making and some of my other carving interests.

Also having purchased one of these:

Spoon Plane.png

Gave me a feel for how it could be useful. At a little over twenty bucks plus shipping it was hard to resist.

There is a video at > https://youtu.be/VVxQpnikII8 < Charles Neil is kind of fun to watch. His video on making a Five Board Bench inspired me to make and sell some sitting benches at the local farmers market.

jtk