Draw knife questions for the seasoned users

[stringstretcher]

First question is do you use your draw knife bevel up or down?

Second question is how sharp do you get your kinfe's egde?

[wildcat hunter]

I use my draw knife bevel up. I use a very sharp one to debark and another ( never sharpened ) for chasing the grain.

[red hill]

Bevel up to de-bark and/or remove wood. Bevel down to chase a ring.  I usually keep the blade sharp but you have to be careful when chasing a ring.

[razorback]

Use it bevel up, if you use it bevel down you risk diggig in too deep.    Some sharpen their knives others never touch them. i am in between. For hogging wood of of a stave sharp is real good and saves a lot of effort. I like to cook and use hand tools and am yet to find an edged tool that works bette dull than sharp. I don't have my draw knife shaving sharp but I like to keep it touched up.

[scrub-buster]

Bevel up at all times for me.  I've never sharpened either one of mine.  I have one for debarking and sapwood removal and another one for chasing rings.

[Nim-rod]

Bevel DOWN does not dig in as you can control the depth by rocking the blade ON the bevel. At least this is my personal experience.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Down for me, always is. If I flip it over it digs in two rings deep fast.

[Art B]

What Nim-rod, red hill and Pearly said Charles.

[John Scifres]

Up for hoggin', down for chasin'.  My drawknife is always sharp.

[razorback]

Well I have learnt something here, as always. I will have to try it bevel down for fine work. I chased a ring today with it up maybe I should have had it down. Ithink I still have a ring or two to go so may try it then.

[Nim-rod]

My buddy got a drawknife with the angle a bit too steep and it was almost imposible to use bevel down. I took it to my belt sander and worked it to less steep of an angle and now it works great. With this in mind I can see why maybe some drawknives work better bevel up.

[stringstretcher]

The one that I have now, is almost impossible to use bevel up, it will catch and dig in with the slightest of pressure and movement, but with bevel down, it does great.  An mine is sharp.

[Eric Krewson]

Bevel down all the time and sharp as a razor. After hundreds of staves and billets I am a wizard with a draw knife and can make it do what I want it to.

[Living_waters]

Different styles of draw knifes will make their use or how they are used differ.
Like all my tools I seem to gravitate to one I like and learn to use it in a multitude of situations.
I have an old fulton tools knife that has both slightly curved 10.5" blade and is very slightly convexed with torqued down handles. I keep it just like my pocket knife, shave sharp. Its design tends to lend only a bevel up draw, But for fine work I use it on its edge drawn away from bevel as a scrapper.
Of course I am meticulousness chasing a ring and the concept of doing a whole stave in mere minutes as posted on here usually takes me a couple of hours at best.

[Pat B]

When hogging off bark and sapwood I use the bevel up. The rest of the time bevel down. I have better control with the bevel down. I have never sharpened a draw knife.

[mwirwicki]

Originally posted by Eric Krewson:
Bevel down all the time and sharp as a razor. After hundreds of staves and billets I am a wizard with a draw knife and can make it do what I want it to.

Exactly what Eric said, only I use it with the bevel up.  Interesting...

Maybe its a just matter of what you're used to or comfortable with.  I can't say that I've ever tried it bevel-down.  Some drawknives' handle angles are different which I would also imagine makes a difference.

[gringol]

I'm no expert, but I find bevel down provides the most control.  It sounds like you have to experiment a little and do what works best for you.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I watched Matt chase 6 feet of thin rings in a few minutes. Im not going to argue about what way the bevel sits with him!

[Sal]

Bevel down for me, I have ten different drawknives, in different sizes and configurations, they always go bevel down.  The other way just feels "off".

[Diamondback59]

beval up to hog wood  down for chasin ring fine work i never have shapend any of mine and i never will brock