I got my first spokeshave, and I can't get it to cut...

[John Serna]

I would suggest you make sure the sole is flat. Lay a piece of 220 sandpaper on a dead flat surface and rub the sole on it to flatten it. Move up to 320 and 400 to finish the surface. The edge of the blade should be straight across and preferably at a 90* angle to the sides, though that isn’t as critical as it being straight across - level. You shouldn’t ever need to round over anything if it is properly tuned and handled correctly. It may be that the bed is not flat and tightening the cap iron is bowing the blade. You may want to start from scratch and retune the shave. Paul Sellers has a good article on it - https://paulsellers.com/2014/07/fina...-series-maybe/

The sole is flat, but I will recheck the blade itself.

Paul Sellers has a video where he says to round the sides of the blade so they don't catch on material "greater than 2 inches", and since that's where mine was catching I rounded them.
I wonder if part of the issues as well is that the piece of maple I'm trying to shave is wide. Should the material being cut be smaller in width than the spokeshave's blade?

I'm actually pretty new to woodworking, having just started the hobby during the pandemic. So I apologize if that's a stupid question.

[Scott Winners]

The sole is flat, but I will recheck the blade itself.

I'm actually pretty new to woodworking, having just started the hobby during the pandemic. So I apologize if that's a stupid question.

There are no stupid questions. Paying members can see that you just joined this month and only have 15 posts here so far. And sometimes folks with 20 years experience making cabinets decide to build a guitar. Maple is tricky. I repeat my suggestion you get the thing dialed in on something easy to work, like soft pine, before going back to the maple.

[Prashun Patel]

I would post some pictures. I suspect your problem is something to non intuitive.

Sharp doesn’t sound like your problem. I suspect the blade geometry is compromised.


It could also just be that your technique needs work. It gets easy eventually, but the sole should not rock through the stroke. That’s hard to do starting out.

[John Keeton]

John, although I have been woodworking for over 50 years, my use of spokeshaves was sporadic until I recently embarked on building Windsor chairs. I am now on number 5 and feel like I have used my drawknives and spokeshaves on miles and miles of white oak as well as some minimal work on poplar and maple. I am sure it wasn't that much, but the massive pile of shavings I removed from my shop on multiple occasions would seem to disagree!

Paul Sellers is a consummate woodworker and I would never question his methods. However, for the work I do there are other tools that I prefer on flat wide material - planes, etc. The spokeshave is a wonderful tool. It cannot be surpassed, in my opinion, for the type of work I do on the chairs. All of the oak parts require the use of it, as well as portions of the seat. However, even on the crest rails of the comb backs, which exceed 2 inches, one is working on a profiled surface and rarely is taking a full width shaving with the spokeshave. A well tuned spokeshave can literally fly through finishing up the spindles and other oak parts.

I have too many, but seem to acquire more when I find them worth the money. But, like a hand plane and most other handtools, one will never get good performance from them unless they are meticulously tuned. It really doesn't take more than an hour to fully tune a spokeshave and the results will pay dividends.

I am sure most all of us have our favorites. Aside from the Boggs shaves I have (the best in my experience for fine finishing), I prefer the No. 52 shaves. The straight handles are more in line with the body, a design feature shared by the Boggs and probably not by accident. I find them easier to control. I have used 151s, a lot actually, in the beginning of my chair venture. They are probably the favored Stanley shave, but I find them a little more touchy to use than the 52 - both because of the added weight and the gull wing handles. The 51 is a nice shave, as well, but again it has the gull wing handles. On the 151, while it is adjustable, I actually prefer having 2-3 shaves all set to a different depth of cut than adjusting them. Of course, one can adjust the 51 and 52, as well as some of the others, by tapping the handles to extend or retract the blade.

You will get the hang of this, and I am confident you will enjoy the experience - once you get the shave properly functioning and practice your technique. It requires a relatively light touch and you must "feel" how the shave is working. If you are putting a lot of force into your cuts, then either the blade is dull, your hold is wrong, or you are cutting uphill on the wood.

[Jim Koepke]

John, your profile doesn't indicate your location. You may live near another member who would be willing to spend some time with you to get your spokeshave skills off to a good start.

jtk

[John Serna]

John, your profile doesn't indicate your location. You may live near another member who would be willing to spend some time with you to get your spokeshave skills off to a good start.

jtk

Ah, good point! I live in Colorado. Anyone? : D

[John Keeton]

Ah, good point! I live in Colorado. Anyone? : D

While not the biggest, CO is a relatively large state. Might be more helpful if you could narrow it down a bit - and, add it to your profile so you won't be asked anymore. Really, the $6 a year it takes to be a contributor is cheap for the privileges afforded. You should consider it.

[Jim Koepke]

My feeling on this is if someone in Colorado was willing to offer help it would be on John to pay at least the first visit.

One of my friends met because he saw my posts here on SMC. He lives across the river from me in Oregon. Funny he couldn't log in so he found my number and called me on the phone. Haven't seen him since before the pandemic. He is in St Helens where there are also some of my favorite antique shops for tool hunting. We went rust hunting in a store he didn't know about. He handed me a Stanley #60-1/2 with a SW Hart blade and asked my opinion:

Stanley #60-1:2.jpg

My opinion was at $25 it was a good deal. He wasn't interested so it came home with me. Funny how it would have likely been purchased by someone else if it weren't for paying him a visit that day and going on a rust hunt.

jtk

[Jim Matthews]

I find it difficult to hold small blades at a consistent angle. For spokeshave blades, I use a hardwood "ring clamp" made for jeweler's.

https://www.riogrande.com/Product/Ha...g-Clamp/113105

*****

I was taught to set the blade at a skew : with one side beneath the sole, the other higher (proud) so that a range of shavings could be taken.

The more the blade sticks out, the thicker the cut.

Some shaves have a narrow range of "attack angle" where the blade will engage the surface.

If you roll your wrists while drawing it toward you, you should feel the blade "catch".

[John Keeton]

I have the LN honing guide/jig and the long jaws. Works very well for spokeshave blades.

[Rob Luter]

I have the LN honing guide/jig and the long jaws. Works very well for spokeshave blades.

Agreed. I was never able to sharpen a shave properly until I got mine.

[Robert Engel]

Sorry I don't have (no ever will own) a Tormek. :-(

John, when you mentioned 2" wide material, I immediately said "aha". Spokeshaving material wider than the blade is challenging and the spokeshave has to be set up perfectly and very, very sharp.

Practice on something like 1/2 -3/4" wide material I'm sure you're going to see a difference.

It sounded to me like the blade wasn't flat since it wasn't cutting in the middle?

[anne watson]

Remember spokeshaves are mostly used on small stock.. Try cutting on a corner to create a bevel on soft wood like a 2 by 4. that will get you started or taking the bark off a tree.

[John Serna]

Sorry I don't have (no ever will own) a Tormek. :-(

John, when you mentioned 2" wide material, I immediately said "aha". Spokeshaving material wider than the blade is challenging and the spokeshave has to be set up perfectly and very, very sharp.

Practice on something like 1/2 -3/4" wide material I'm sure you're going to see a difference.

It sounded to me like the blade wasn't flat since it wasn't cutting in the middle?

It's been too cold in the garage to practice the past few days, so I've made no progress, but later this week I will try narrower material like you suggest.
I was cutting into 4 inch wide maple, so that could definitely be the problem. Does the material generally have to be narrower than the blade? I will try that - maybe just turn this piece of maple on its side (1/2 inch) and see how it cuts. Thanks!

I think I'll go through the entire tuning process again, too, to make sure the blade is flat. It's strange it was cutting on the sides only.

[John Keeton]

Interestingly, they are called "spokeshaves" and not "boardshaves." Perhaps because their original use was to shape wagon spokes and other round spindle stock. They certainly can be used for narrow flat work, but quite often that is to produce a curve in the edge as opposed to getting it flat and straight.