Breaking the edge (Arris) on curved pieces

[Max Mancino]

Will a spokeshave create a 1.5mm precise/accurate/clean arris/chamfer on a curved workpiece? If it can, and I'll learn something from it, then I'm more than happy to give it a go. That's what it's all about at the end of the day, BUT I have (obvious) doubts a spokeshave can achieve this without a huge learning curve to achieve acceptable results, and even then I'm doubtful on the accuracy of the cut.

Learning curve of a spokeshave is not as steep as I imagined. Give it a go and I am sure you will realise you didn't waist your money/time. In addition, there is a lot of fun and sense of accomplishment after you realise that it was not that difficult. Of course you will not get surgically precise results... but, at the end of the day, even thought I am a perfectionist myself, I found out that it is by far good enough. Cheers,
Max.

 

[JSW]

Learning curve of a spokeshave is not as steep as I imagined. Give it a go and I am sure you will realise you didn't waist your money/time.

We'll find out soon enough, just won an Ebay auction for a 0151 flat, ETA next Thurs, a tenner plus pennies

I await @Jacob response of "You paid too much"

 

[Jacob]

We'll find out soon enough, just won an Ebay auction for a 0151 flat, ETA next Thurs, a tenner plus pennies

I await @Jacob response of "You paid too much"

No, sounds good! I get the impression that the Record are slightly superior to the Stanley. Except a pair I got needed the countersinks in the cap irons deepening a fraction - they tended to move with the adjuster. Couple of minutes work.

 

[Orraloon]

I consider the spokeshave to be one of the basic hand tools for woodworking if you ever step outside of everything being strait. My old stanley 51 flat sole I have had for about 50 years. Great for outside curves and I even forced it to do some inside curve work but you really need a curved sole one as well to cover all the jobs. To that end I got a record curved sole one about 25 years ago. To start with it chattered something orrible. Reason being it looked like it had just been dipped in paint so after I had cleaned up the bed for the blade it worked just fine. They are after all a plane so a bit of fettle is still required especially on the later ones. Anyhow when you start pulling those shavings off with it I am sure you will be as hooked as the rest of us. Its one of those very hands on things.
Regards
John

 

[Jacob]

Forgot to say - when you start practicing with it start with a thin lath say 6mm thick, in the vice. Planing/shaving a thin edge helps to get the feel of it. You won't be doing wide shavings much of the time, if ever, and never the full width of the blade.
Actually for beginners this applies to all planes more or less.

 

[JSW]

Forgot to say - when you start practicing with it start with a thin lath say 6mm thick, in the vice. Planing/shaving a thin edge helps to get the feel of it. You won't be doing wide shavings much of the time, if ever, and never the full width of the blade.
Actually for beginners this applies to all planes more or less.

Yep, like I said, been doing this awhile now Captain Obvious, but let's cut to the chase, because I just KNOW you're aching for this one.

What's the best way to sharpen the blade?

 

[Cabinetman]

Yep, like I said, been doing this awhile now Captain Obvious, but let's cut to the chase, because I just KNOW you're aching for this one.

What's the best way to sharpen the blade?

You forget that it’s not just you, a highly qualified woodworker without a spokeshave. Jacob is speaking to all the novices out there as well.

 

[Jacob]

......

What's the best way to sharpen the blade?

A little and often. Rather like keeping a kitchen knife sharp (forever) by steeling it very frequently.

 

[JSW]

You forget that it’s not just you, a highly qualified woodworker without a spokeshave. Jacob is speaking to all the novices out there as well.

I never said that I was a highly qualified woodworker, I spent most of my working life as a Joiner/Shopfitter and associated works, bar fitting etc etc, not much use for a spokeshave in those environments. Now that I'm almost retired, I have the time to indulge in the path I always wanted to take, one that doesn't command that a certain amount of work has to be done in X amount of time.

But you're right, and I appreciate the help that @Jacob yourself and others have offered in this thread, and I'm sure others have benefited from the advice given also.

 

[Max Mancino]

We'll find out soon enough, just won an Ebay auction for a 0151 flat, ETA next Thurs, a tenner plus pennies

I await @Jacob response of "You paid too much"

You need to learn how to sharpen it up. That too is not so difficult too and after some experience I realised it is easy enough even freehand. Also, in my esperience, I foud out that I need to sharpen it up far less frequently than say my planes. My Stanley 151 just keeps cutting well iven if it is slightly dull... Have fun...

 

[Adam W.]

My friend wants to know how to go about sharpening it?

 

[Max Mancino]

My friend wants to know how to go about sharpening it?

In the beginning I didn't trust myself sharpening freehand and I used the Veritas Short-Blade Honing Guide.

Eventually my confidence grew up and now I sharp it up freehand with diamond stones.

Every stone will work, some are faster some are slower.

Paul Sellers privided a nice clip on youtube on sharpening the iron freehand. You can find it here:



He also made a video on a spokeshave iron sharpening holder, you can watch it here:



As I wrote, with time you'll and up sharpening frehand, it's faster and easy enough.

Have fun,

Max.

 

[Jacob]

My friend wants to know how to go about sharpening it?

Oh all right.
They are fiddly to hold so you need a little holder for the blade - say a 10" length of 2"x3/4" scrap.
Saw kerf widthwise in one end to hold the blade - doesn't need to be a perfect fit as pressure keeps it in place while you use it.
Undercut a bevel in the holder so that the blade can be lowered below 30º.
Put blade in slot, rub up and down a fine oil stone at 30º until you have a burr. You can dip as you go as this makes it easier to apply max effort and hence faster.
Take blade out and remove burr on the flat side.
That's it. A minute or less every now and then. If you do it often enough i.e. keep it sharp, then you only need the fine stone.
As with all edge tools - see it as "keeping it sharp" rather than letting it go blunt and spending longer re-sharpening. That's the main difference between trad and tedious "modern" sharpening

 

[Max Mancino]

Removing the corner, as Paul explains, is marginally useful because you generally never use the whole blade of your spokeshave as you normally do with your bench planes.

In my experience I generally set the spokeshave iron slightly slanted, meaning that on one side the iron protrudes slightly more than the other. This way you can use the more aggressive cut to start your job and revert to the other side where the iron is less aggressive, once you are closer to the wanted result of your cut.

Cheers,

Max.