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New Spokeshaves! Yay!


j. pierce

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After fighting with junky spokeshaves forever, I finally splurged and bought some nice ones - I got these - I have to say, I'm thrilled. Nice tools make such a difference. I know that a lot of the jobs I use shaves for can be accomplished just as fast or faster with other tools, but I like working with hand tools, and using something quiet that makes shavings, and not dust, allows me to work on jobs in my limited space more easily. (One of these days I'll get a shop, for now, anything I can't do on my apartment porch means a trip out of town to my father's place.)

For giggles, I tried them out, free handing the headstock shape with the round-sole (not concave) spokeshave, figuring I'd stop shy of my actual shape far enough ahead that I could still set up a router template.

Well, the flamed maple is butter smooth and the headstock looks great, they were such a joy to work with compared to the junk that I was used to before. (5 dollar import jobs from a tool sale.)

I guess this is a pointless thread, I'm just so excited. I can't wait to carve the necks.

I had tried to fix up those old junker shaves, but they were in such bad shape it wasn't happening. The blades were warped, and the soles and beds where painted (one blade was actually stuck to the bed of the shave) and the adjusting screws where out of whack. This is so much nicer. I guess you get what you pay for. (Although, I do have a concave sole Kunz shave that's fairly decent.)

There was an article in Fine Woodworking a while back about tuning up spokeshaves, but it involved machining a new chipbreaker, laying epoxy down to make a new flat bed for the blade, and a whole bunch of other work - a little more than I wanted to do.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I saw this thread passing thru. Veritas makes beautiful stuff. I hope to someday get something from Lie Nielsen. I do like the low angle concave/convex spokeshave. Looks good for guitar work.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...,50230&ap=1

good luck with your purcahse. Nothing like getting quality tools to show what you've been missing.

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Definitely not a pointless thread. I love discussing great tools. I bought a cheap spokeshave, and now I love using it so much, I think I should get a better one. I want one with micro-adjusters like yours, as it is a bit hard to set mine up. Once setup however, it's a joy to use.

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I use the ~$25 spokeshave from Woodcraft. It's made by Stanley, I think. Wasn't great, out of the package, as I expected, but I took a half hour to tune it up and it's great now.

I did splurge for some nice high-quality handmade rasps, and they're just a completely different tool than the cheap ones.

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I use the ~$25 spokeshave from Woodcraft. It's made by Stanley, I think. Wasn't great, out of the package, as I expected, but I took a half hour to tune it up and it's great now.

I did splurge for some nice high-quality handmade rasps, and they're just a completely different tool than the cheap ones.

I bought one of those Stanley spokeshaves as well. I have no idea how to set it up. Know a website or tut that'll clue me in (and maybe a few tips)?

By the way, nice acquisition Mr. Pierce. Feed the TAD!

CMA

Edited by CrazyManAndy
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I use the ~$25 spokeshave from Woodcraft. It's made by Stanley, I think. Wasn't great, out of the package, as I expected, but I took a half hour to tune it up and it's great now.

I did splurge for some nice high-quality handmade rasps, and they're just a completely different tool than the cheap ones.

I bought one of those Stanley spokeshaves as well. I have no idea how to set it up. Know a website or tut that'll clue me in (and maybe a few tips)?

By the way, nice acquisition Mr. Pierce. Feed the TAD!

CMA

I found a website about making them useable one of the things was to get rid of the adjusters and use a hammer like an old school wooden one. Not tried that myself but there you go. I'll see if i can find that site but it was on my other computer.

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It is made that way. There are a few different types of spokeshaves, such as flat, round, and concave. Yours would be a round or some may called it convex spokeshave. I've heard numerous people using that type for neck profiling with no problems at all. I grabbed a flat stanley from rockler a while back and it worked out very well for me, took only minutes to get my blank close to shape and with only minimal effort. It did take a bit though to get it setup nicely. I flattened the sole out nice and flat, then got the blade sharp as I could, going along the same lines as the scary sharp system, using paper. I have stones, I just prefer paper now. Once they are tuned they are fun to use. I would love a nice one though, but I need some nice rasps first. J

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