Spokeshave Chatter

[John15]

I'm doing something wrong with my rounded spokeshave. I'm shaping a concave curve in Oak and can't get a clean shaving. The tool makes a series of jumps - chatter? The blade is razor sharp. Any ideas? My flat spokeshave is fine for convex curves - nice clean shavings.

John

 

[custard]

Your flat spokeshave is fine for shallow concave curves too, and a lot easier to use.

Spokeshaves are difficult tools to master, more difficult than is generally realised. To follow a curve with a round bottom spokeshave, cleanly entering and leaving the cut with no chatter or dubbing over, and producing an unbroken ribbon of shaving throughout, well it takes a lot of practise before you can do it reliably and consistently.

Keep at it, with shallow cuts and a sharp blade, and you'll get there eventually. Skewing the spokeshave is usually a help, but with curved work you're often limited in the amount of skew that's viable, but even a couple of degrees is better than nothing.

 

[Rob Platt]

As custard, skew can help in point of fact i think i skew it most of the time. check your grain direction(that's egg sucking i know) the other thing i.ve noticed is that with a rounded bottom angle of sharpening can be more critical and the amount it sticks out from base will affect the angle of attack and like everything else practice practice practice
all the best
rob

 

[Racers]

Sharpness and a good flat bed for the blade is essential, file the bed to remove any lumps, twists, poor machining and thick paint.
A fine cut and skewing will help as custard said, skew in different directions on each stroke to avoid chatter increasing.

I never had particularly good results with Record style shaves, Preston shaves are a step up and work better and the ultimate is the Millars Falls cigar shave.

Millars Falls No1 cigar shave by Racers, on Flickr

Pete

 

[John15]

Thanks Custard, Rob, and Pete for your constructive advice. I've tried the skew cut and it does help a bit. I'll try with the flat spokeshave but I've a feeling the curve is too much. I agree with you that the spokeshave is a difficult tool to use, especially for those like me who are inexperienced at using it. As you say Rob - practice, practice, practice.
I'm actually managing to complete the work with a scraper but would love to get the spokeshave singing!

John

 

[Racers]

The wooden spoke shaves are good if you can find one with a good blade the wear can be replaced with some hard wood or brass.
Or the buy a Hock blade or one of part made kits and make your own, David Charlesworth did an article on making them.

Pete

 

[thick_mike]

Flat bottomed spokeshaves are my favourite cutting tool. Round bottomed ones are a nightmare!

I think it’s because you can adjust the neglect of attack. The blade digs in, the shave twists in your grip and sticks cauing chatter. Fine cuts and concentrating on the angle of attack is the way to go, but they are very tricky to use.

 

[John15]

Thanks for that Mike. Actually I've just checked Custard's suggestion that flat 'shaves can be OK for shallow curves. My flat one works well. The curves are shallower than I thought!

John

 

[El Barto]

I find that different flat bottomed spokeshaves work for different jobs and different woods. I generally switch between a Boggs style shave or a small wooden one made by James Mursell. Often if one is causing a lot of chatter, the other will have none (most of the time the improved cut is with the wooden one).

 

[custard]

El Barto makes an interesting point.

It's not surprising that he finds a difference between a Boggs style shave and his Mursell, because they're radically different tools. The Mursell is a classic wooden bodied, low angle spokeshave with the bevel on top. The Boggs has a bevel down iron that's bedded at about the standard 45 degrees.

In sweet working timber the Mursell will slice through with less resistance and give an ultra clean surface, but if the grain is wayward then it'll start tearing out.

There are plenty of used low angle, wooden bodied spokeshaves around. Unfortunately most of them are pretty much clapped out, with the body worn away in front of the cutting edge and well worn post holes that no longer hold the iron securely, pretty much guaranteeing chatter. But if you persevere you'll eventually find a good one for not much money and they are an absolute delight. You'll probably need slip stones to sharpen them, but it's well worth the effort.

An excellent used spokeshave is the Stanley 53 or the Record 053. Again you'll need to spend quite a bit of time to find a good one, the majority have irons that are just about finished, but the better examples are fine tools for not a huge outlay.

Your choice of spokeshave will also be dictated by the kind of work you do. For jobs like spindle shaping the Boggs style has the advantage that it's easy to cock the blade over on the fly by rapping a handle on the work bench, this makes it particularly efficient as you find yourself constantly adjusting the depth of cut to suit the work at any given moment. But for most uses you don't need to spend a fortune, a used Stanley 151 is all you'll need for the vast majority of jobs.

 

[Beau]

A cambered blade helps as does a quick wipe of candle wax on the sole

 

[thetyreman]

don't be afraid of rubbing a bit of oil on the sole, something like 3 in 1 oil or camelia.

 

[John15]

El Barto, Beau and Thetyreman - many thanks for your tips, much appreciated.

John

 

[johnnyb]

Ok here's the secret( don't think anyone's mentioned it. Dismantle your shave take a file and put two small flats across the slot you can take these towards the handles but there's no point. Don't skew on a concave keep it straightish. Sharp blade always. Ok wind the blade in so it's not cutting. And rest the 2 flats on the wood using feel. Power without feel won't help. Literally grip it firmly but always feeling for the flats. Do this for a spell then gradually advance the blade until you get a very light cut . If it narrow say half or less of the blade you can have roughing and finishing by angling the blade. Obviously if it's wider then you should try to keep the blade square with the sole. With Woodies the same technique applies but the front of the mouth is the rest. And the angle is dropped to apply the cut. Think of the adjustable diameter wooden plane only a bit at the front moved to change the diameter. Now make a load of Windsor chairs and you'll have it sussed!

 

[johnnyb]

This balancing across the slot is like imagining your round sole is just clearance your really working with a tiny flat sole shave with plenty of clearance. Remember feel the flats.