Any general advice on using a spokeshave?

[RogerS]

I've searched the forums but not uncovered much and a similar search on Google yielded little.

Just bought the Veritas flat and rounded ones and so any advice on using them gratefully received.

Softwood and hardwood....any differences ?

Just had a little go...not as easy as it looks.

 

[Alf]

Roger,

Get to grips with the flat soled one first; round soled one's are notoriously difficult to use. Erm... gosh, this is difficult, haven't really given it much thought for years... Start with a fairly light cut and play about taking the corners off an edge or too. Go with the grain, and on a curved piece that'll always mean going downhill. I won't say "push" or "pull"; try both and see what you find comfortable. The instructions have a few suggestions for grips, and my review has a couple more. Ooo, hang on, I'd forgotten I had this on my site. Hmmm... not wildly helpful, but fwiw. And of course consider customisation of the handles... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[bugbear]

Thin shavings.

In general, since the spokeshave has a lot less sole in contact with the workpiece (compared to a plane) much more of the control has to come from the user.

In the case of a round soled spokeshave, unless the curvature exactly matches the work (which is MOST unlikely) there is (effectively) zero sole lenth in contact with the work, and what you have is a depth of cut limited drawknife. Alf has already mentioned the difficulty of using these ;-)

BugBear

 

[RogerS]

Thanks, Alf and bugbear...and there I was thinking that it looked so.o.o.o.o easy.

 

[Chris Knight]

Roger,
When you have got to grips with your present shaves, you will definitely want
a few more

 

[RogerS]

Ah Chris....just the man...I've got a little job for you