Is $60 to much for a drawknife?

[AndrewArcher]

I'm really frustrated and need some help.

Do you think this drawknife is worth $60?

Its on "Fleabay" and if you search for "Draw Knife, 8-1/4" Long Blade Woodworkers Vintage Hand Tool" you'll find it.


Thank you.

[AndrewArcher]

[AndrewArcher]

[AndrewArcher]

[AndrewArcher]

And if you're wondering why there are blank posts by me, its because I tried adding a link, and it didn't work. So I explained what happened in the other posts.

Then I realized I can edit posts. So that's what I did. Lol.

[snakebit40]

I've read here that guys have picked up a draw knife at an antique store for $20. Not saying the exact one your talking about. If it were me I'd keep looking, but I'm a cheap. Good luck!

[Jason Kendall]

I picked mine up for $20

[ProArcher]

one on e  bay  ending in 4hrs at 23.00

[Art B]

That one is in excellent shape and would last you a life time. Mine has 'bout 1/2 as much blade left and still works great. It's worth whatever you're willing to pay.

[AndrewArcher]

Originally posted by Art B:
That one is in excellent shape and would last you a life time. Mine has 'bout 1/2 as much blade left and still works great. It's worth whatever you're willing to pay.

Well, I bought it    


Thank you VERY much everyone. I appreciate it.

I now have a draw knife!    

[razorback]

Congratulations Andrew, I hope it is a real good tool. As Art said it is worth it if you are willing to pay for it and it works for you. I just spent half the day making shavings with my draw knife and it is alot of work but a very useful tool. If you need a farriers rasp send me a PM.

[mullet]

I just bought one at the Flea Market this morning for $10.

[Art B]

Ah, the land of year round flea markets! Gotta love that Eddie! Going to be spring before they get going good around these parts. Last decent draw knife I saw this past summer sold for 60 bucks. That's pretty much the going rate here.

[Grey Taylor]

I buy drawknives at a local series of old tool swaps. I look for the ones with solid handles (or at least not too loose), not too many hammer marks on the spine, no deep nicks in the blade, and cheap enough that I can resell it for $20 and make a couple bucks.
I did pretty good for a couple years and got lots of people using a good quality drawknife. But my last couple swaps have seen somewhat higher prices and I'm afraid I may have artifically driven up prices on the tools by buying them so frequently.  
   

Guy

[AndrewArcher]

Thanks razorback. I can't wait for it to get here.

Well now that I have a draw knife, I'm looking for a osage orange stave. I'm looking on e bay, but shipping is kind of a lot.

Where do you get your staves?

[Renacs]

Ohio is full of osage.  Most farmers wont mind giving you permission to harvest some.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I would suggest not buying a stave off of evilbay, lots of guys have gotten ripped from doing that. Pick out someone who is either a TG member or a friend suggested by someone here. It's a touchy subject around here unless they are a sponsor and we can get in trouble for even speaking of such things so I won't say any more than don't get in a big hurry on the stave. Do a little homework first and someone will point you toward a reputable osage dealer, but by all means avoid evilbay at all cost.
Better yet, find someone close by you that will let you cut some on their property. It's very rewarding to harvest your own.

That's my best advice and good luck.

[Eric Krewson]

I have a enough osage to last me a long time. I have though if I ever need to cut again(doubtful), I would put an ad in the  paper "want to buy, standing osage, bodock, hedge trees". If you had your pick and offered the owner $50 a tree I bet you would have a lifetime worth of wood short order.

[JamesV]

$20 is too much for a draw-knife. Big flea markets and yard sales in my area have lots for sale and can be bought sometimes for $10 or less. I have perosnally given away a few I bought cheap. If I had an extra one I would send it to you FREE.

[Walt Francis]

$60    

To answer your question, it depends on the draw-knife.  

When younger(30 years back), between projects, I hand peeled trees/logs for log homes (you can't call them cabins) and once paid over $100 for a new one made in Europe; didn't like it and traded it for a Labrador retriever.  As with bows, what one person likes often varies from one person to the next.  If possible, you should try to use a few different styles before investing that much in a draw-knife.   After using one for a while you can tell if it will be a good one for you by the balance the first time you lift it.  I went through a couple dozen draw knifes, both new and old ones, over a ten year period before narrowing the stable down to half a dozen that worked best, for me.  I try keep at least that many on hand for my winter bow building classes.  The price paid for those I still have was between $2 and $35, as you probably guessed, the $2 one works best and is used the most.  As mentioned before, get one with good handles, which is hard to determine on the auction site.  In addition, get one without any pits on the first 1/4-1/2 inch of the blades leading edge, also hard to determine on the auction site.  The shape and angle of the handles will determine the effectiveness of a draw-knife along with the type of logs/stave it is best suited for.  You will have more control with handles that come back at 90 degrees from the blade but take the skin off your knuckles when used on large logs/staves.  For hogging the bark off large logs draw-knifes with handles close to 45 degrees will save the knuckles, but the trade-off is less control.
 
I would pay $60 for another draw-knife like my $2 beauty but wouldn’t pay $10 for the one I traded for the dog, unless it was to resale at a profit.

Oh ya, if you want to shoot heavy bows, from both the right and left side, peeling logs will get you into the 80-90# range after 4-6 months, if you work at it.

One last note, I am a sucker for ones with the folding handles because when folded they protect the blade from nicks, the handles spread apart thus saving my knuckles on the larger logs,..... and they just look coooooool.