Joiner made shaves.

[Adam W.]

I found these shaves on ebay a while back and was wondering if anyone has any examples knocking around or knew where I could get some more irons from, so that I can make my own ?

The one at the front with the four reeds matches the reeding on the edge of a Georgian mahogany table top.

 

[johnnyb]

those look like they were made by a company. just the screws and the nature of the irons look manufacture( at least the middle 3.

 

[Tris]

Any use?

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/auktools-scratch-stock-blades/

 

[Adam W.]

@johnnyb Yes, you're right, but the holders are rough with a miss match of screws. I took a couple apart and compared them to a Gleve stair shave that I have. The screws are all early ones with wonky heads and clipped points so 1800's I guess.

@Tris Thanks, but I don't think it's the kind of thing I was after, as I'm researching raking circular mouldings which I think were planed rather than scraped.

 

[Inspector]

I've never even seen picture of any that looked like those. I wonder if they were user made with a local blacksmith making the blades? Making new ones could be done with oil hardening steel using a bench grinder, files, Foredom etc. Heat and quench using a one brick forge, kitchen oven temper and a final sharpen with stones and slips. A lot of work but perhaps worth it if they perform better than thin bladed scratch stocks.

Pete

 

[johnnyb]

I suggest they look very workmanlike. almost like they must work!































































































































I've never seen any like that tbh.































































































































can they be used both ways? as that would be a huge advantage hag identical profiles at either side to scrape with the gr



ain.































an issue with sash shaves have separate cutters(

 

[IWW]

Adam, I've not seen anything like those either. I've made & used scratch-stocks for decades & find them extremely useful, but now you've got me curious & wondering if the wider blades on your examples work differently? You called them "shaves" but as far as I can see, they wouldann have the same scraping action as a scratch stock.

If I were wanting to reproduce that style of cutter, I'd get some thickish (annealed) O1 and saw/file the shapes. If you don't intend using them a lot, you probably don't need to harden & temper the blades unless you want to use them on very tough woods.

My curiosity is definitely piqued - I'll have to put one on my "to do list for things to do when I've completed the things on the current to do list" ....

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Adam W.]

They cut both ways and the iron on all of them is a triangular section, like so and shaves more than scrapes, a bit like a spoke shave.

 

[Adam W.]

I re-made a handle for the one with a single bead and it works lovely, producing a nice shaving and a bead 1/8"Ø, which is about the same size as the bead on the fancy tool chest.

 

[Ozi]

I remember my Dad making something similar to repair / replace damaged trim on a coffee table, I think he ground the blade out of a cars leaf spring, probably from a Ford Anglia - very common fifty years ago, dam all use to you now - sorry

 

[IWW]

Really interesting! That bead looks near-perfect, free of the little blips and chatter marks my scratch-stock beaders leave:


A quick rub-over with some folded 180 grit paper cleans them up, and they look fine from a normal viewing distance (as with quite a lot of hand-work I've seen on old stuff).

I wonder how your shaves would handle the grain changes on the legs above? Just thinking the cutting action rather than scraping might cause tear-out over the abrupt reversals unless you are extremely careful? Even the scraper can tear out a bit on some woods.

And having an escapement for shavings is a good refinement. They tend to clog up under the beam & have to be constantly cleared or they stop the blade cutting with my scratch stocks.

Definitely something to have a play with some day.....

Cheers,

 

[Adam W.]

I'll let you know what it's like Ian, as I'll be making some for the moulding project I'm looking at and I'll be trying them out on a rib moulding soon to see how they cope.

I think the irons are made from cast steel, as they file very easily. I say cast steel, as I think they are from the 1800's, but I can't find any reference in any tool catalogues though.

 

[MikeinLA]

I think these might be what are called “stair shaves” but I could be mistaken

 

[Adam W.]

@MikeinLA The big one is for sure, but I think the smaller ones are for furniture.

 

[MikeinLA]

Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that it looks like a stair building tool, any more than a spokeshave is a carriage makers tool. I meant that there’s a specific tool called a stair shave, the ones I’ve seen were mostly from Fairclough if memory serves, and it looks like you have some of those. If you already knew that please forgive my misunderstanding your original question.

 

[Adam W.]

It's OK, the larger ones are for handrailing, so you were right.

I'm having to digest Ellis - Modern Practical Stairbuilding and Handrailing.

 

[Tris]

A quick dig for stair shaves online found some old manufacturers, Greaves and Fairclough being two. The blades looked to be of the same type as above but the holders rather more ornate. Perhaps the blades were available separately, like unhandled turning tools