Curves

[Garno]

Sorry for yet another question :shock:

Am I right in thinking that the tool needed for making a curve (or dip) on a short piece of wood would be a spokeshave? I am looking to do concave's and Conex's for decorative purposes on the next lot of trays I do (once finger has healed) and don't really know how to do them so thought if I purchased the right tool for the job that will be a good place to start from

Gary

 

[Deadeye]

Or a router

 

[thick_mike]

Or a chisel.

Spokeshaves are great for curves (especially cylindrical curves e.g. baseball bat), but you will struggle to produce a tight concave radius. Chisels (bevel Down) are easier to control.

 

[Garno]

Or a router

Because my skills are a gnats b****ck above zero I am hoping to do it all by hand, other than that router sounds good

 

[Garno]

Or a chisel.

Spokeshaves are great for curves (especially cylindrical curves e.g. baseball bat), but you will struggle to produce a tight concave radius. Chisels (bevel Down) are easier to control.

So would it be best if I did a series of vertical saw cuts along the radius and chisel out that way or just attack with the chisels?

Sorry just reread I understand now, ignore my 2nd question.

 

[Droogs]

Garno have a look here at 12.06 on the video Paul shows the technique:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4LohjmskEk

 

[thetyreman]

definitely a spokeshave, you should be able to make very accurate curves with practise, it's not a hard tool to use.

 

[El Barto]

What tyreman said, plus they are one of the most wonderful tools to use.

I’ve got an old but very useable Stanley 151 not in use if you want to give it a go.

 

[bridger]

Depending on the situation a coping saw or bow saw might be pretty useful.

 

[Garno]

What tyreman said, plus they are one of the most wonderful tools to use.

I’ve got an old but very useable Stanley 151 not in use if you want to give it a go.

PM sent Thank you

 

[Just4Fun]

I asked a similar question on here a year or so back and I was advised to get a spokeshave, which I did. It was excellent advice. When sharpened nicely the spokeshave was easy to use and produced a result I was very pleased with. It doesn't take a lot of practise to use a spokeshave.

 

[thick_mike]

I love using a spokeshave and I’m totally cack handed.

 

[mbartlett99]

I take it you mean in the edge of a board rather than a dip in the middle of a board? If so a spkeshave is great and dead easy to use as others said. If its a deep curve you can roughly bandsaw it, make vertical cuts & chisel, use a coping saw and then smooth it out with the spokeshave.

No one mentioned that you get them with different bases; flat, convex and concave. You can pick used ones up for pennies on ebay and give it a shot.

 

[thick_mike]

I take it you mean in the edge of a board rather than a dip in the middle of a board? If so a spkeshave is great and dead easy to use as others said. If its a deep curve you can roughly bandsaw it, make vertical cuts & chisel, use a coping saw and then smooth it out with the spokeshave.

No one mentioned that you get them with different bases; flat, convex and concave. You can pick used ones up for pennies on ebay and give it a shot.

I’d recommend a flat bottomed one to start with as the round bottomed ones are harder to control. You can make concave curves with them despite the flat bottom.

 

[thomashenry]

Spokeshave. About a million times more enjoyable to use than a router.

 

[Jacob]

Spokeshave for finishing off a curved shape formed by other means such as band saw etc, but not for forming one to start with. They don't remove a lot of material.

 

[Sideways]

There's a whole group of planes designed to work on hollow boards from the adjustable type with a spring steel sole - compass planes I think they're called - to wooden planes made with fixed curves for different jobs. Not something I've used myself. but I image some members here will have experience of them.

 

[Garno]

I take it you mean in the edge of a board rather than a dip in the middle of a board? If so a spkeshave is great and dead easy to use as others said. If its a deep curve you can roughly bandsaw it, make vertical cuts & chisel, use a coping saw and then smooth it out with the spokeshave.

No one mentioned that you get them with different bases; flat, convex and concave. You can pick used ones up for pennies on ebay and give it a shot.

Sorry you're right it is for the edge of the tray I am making. I am aiming to concave the front and back fences sitting on the tray, not sure if I should go all the way and do the side fences as well. I am thinking that the lowest point will be about half the height of the fence.

Gary

 

[mbartlett99]

Well as Jacob said a spokeshave doesn't remove a great deal of material so maybe saw down to the line every inch, chisel out the better part of the material and then shape it by eye with the spokesahve. Unless you have a bandsaw in which case bandsaw it out and then clean up with the spokeshave.

 

[thetyreman]

Spokeshave for finishing off a curved shape formed by other means such as band saw etc, but not for forming one to start with. They don't remove a lot of material.

agree but I have an old wooden one for that it hogs off much thicker shavings, depends how deep or how much material needs to be removed, I like the saw cut + chisel method that sellers uses when there's a lot to remove, then finish it off with a stanley 151.