Which Spokeshave?

[Red Dwarf]

I am looking at getting myself a spokeshave (late Xmas present!) and was wondering which makes & models you experienced bowyers use and would recommend?

Thanks and all the best for the New Year


Red Dwarf

[Dano]

The Bowyers edge is a good investment.
 http://www.bowyersedge.com/pdfs/BEInstr.pdf

[AkDan]

I'll second that!  Much easier to sharpen to boot!

[Sneakypete]

How much does the BE cost? I popped $18 for a spoke shave from another well-known and respected distributor, and got what I paid for: a rough-cut handle with a screwed-on, non-adjustable piece of angle steel that's impossible to sharpen and doesn't work for beans. So for now I'm back to scraping with old hunting knives.

[Jeremy]

The Bowyer's Edge is from Dean Torges.  It's a nice tool, but it's not a finished tool.  He leaves it to the buyer to shape the handles. For the same $$ you can get the Scrapershave from Veritas Tools and get a more refined tool.  I have them both, as well as one I made.  Though I just got the Veritas tool a few days ago.

As for spokeshaves, you really do get what you pay for.  The flat and round spokeshaves from Veritas are top notch, but @ $70 each you may want to consider a different brand (I wouldn't).  The Stanley tools are pretty inexpensive (and usually need LOTS of work to get cutting nicely).  The Record models are slightly better than Stanley's.

[Red Dwarf]

Jeremy

Is there a particular model from Veritas that you would choose above others?
Do you use the Veritas Scrapershave instead of a spokeshave?

RD

[Tom Leemans]

I couldn't tell though...Does the Veritas have a brass sole in front and behind the blade that is in constant contact with the wood, or is it just the piece you can see in the pic?  scraper shave

[Jeremy]

Tom,  the scraper shave has a brass toe in front of the blade.  Behind the blade is the machined steel.  The surfaces are all in the same plane (ie dead flat).  Similar to the Bowyer's edge in that regard.  The BE has the solid brass toe and then a brass plate inlet into the wood behind the blade.

RD, I think most of the bowyerin' I've done has been with a scraper shave.  I'll rough things out with a drawknife or spokeshave and then switch to a patternmaker's rasp and the scrapershave.  The scraper shaves are great for bringing a bow into tiller.

Spokeshaves can remove much more material and you have greater control than with a drawknife, especially if you're not used to using a drawknife.  I nearly cut a bow limb in half roughing out a bow with a sharp drawknife!

If I were to get only one spokeshave for bowyering it'd be a low angle spokeshave.  These do great on wood that doesn't have a lot of figure.  Quality wooden-bodied shaves range from $90-250 depending on the make and features.  Or you can buy the blade kit from   Hock Tools   and make your own.  They have instructions on the site.  Veritas makes a   low-angle spokeshave   that looks great, but I don't have one - it's next on my list to purchase.

[tradbower]

Has anyone tried the Kunz  spokeshaves?

[Shaun]

You are talking about two different tools.

A spokeshave cuts with a plane blade. Useful for shaping and rounding.

The Bowyers Edge and the Veritas scraper shaver are both scrapers. They cut a very fine shaving with a burnished curl of steel on the corner of a scraper steel. Scrapers are for very fine thinning, smoothing and shaping - perfect for final tillering.

The two tools look simular because of having handles on each side of the working blade, but they are completely different in function and use.

If you are making selfbows get a Bowyers Edge.

[Jeremy]

Thanks for clearing that up Shaun; my post got a little muddy there at the end.

I'd definitely get the scraper shave for bow building, but if you don't like using a drawknife to rough things out, I'd get a low angle spokeshave (rather than the standard pattern) as well.

Pete, I'd advise against the Kunz stuff.  On all that I've seen the castings have been shoddy and the iron bed far from flat.  They'll work, but require lots of work to get cutting well and not chattering.  If you decide to go that way I can mail you an article on doing the fixes to it.

You really can't go wrong with either the BE or the Veritas scraper shaves.  Having used both, I'd give the edge to the Veritas.  But if you'd like to shape the tool yourself, go with the BE.  Or spend the $10 to get enough materials to make half a dozen of the things.  They're not hard to make.

[tradbower]

Thanks Jeremy I was thinking that a spoke shave and a scraper shave to be the same . Ill have to decided between a BE or Veritas.
                      Thanks Pete

[Tom Leemans]

I'll second the bowyer's edge. Set correctly, you can really remove frog hair thin shavings. I would imagine the Veritas will do the same. It'd be nice if it were all brass though. The knurled nuts on the Veritas are probably more convenient than using a screwdriver on the BE. I guess you trade this for that though. I may just get a Veritas some day, just because... You can never have too many woodworking tools.