Lie Nielsen small spokeshave

[shed9]

Thinking of getting the Lie Nielsen spokeshave (the bronze one). Any current users on here with any advice before pushing the 'buy' button?

I already have the Boggs one and am looking for something a little finer, hence the interest in the bronze version.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[ED65]

Finer, as in able to take finer shavings?

 

[shed9]

Finer, as in able to take finer shavings?

Yes, sorry should have defined this better shouldn't I. Basically I can't fault the Boggs shave but sometimes need a finer cut or find I need a smaller tool for finer edges. If that makes sense?

 

[custard]

It's a lovely little tool, cute as a button and works beautifully, but if they're both flat bottomed shaves then it won't extend your capabilities all that much. It will handle a slightly tighter inside radius than the Boggs, but a round bottomed shave will go much tighter still. Being bronze some makers say it can leave marks on pale timbers, never experienced that personally but I've heard it more than once from knowledgeable craftsmen. If you want to work end grain you'll find a good low angle shave will be much less chatter prone, if you want to precisely set the blade for wider cuts (i.e. you don't want to "****" the blade so it's deeper on one side than the other) then a good adjustable shave is useful.

A couple of decent spokeshaves are absolutely core tools for virtually all woodworkers, and it's true that some of the worst tools ever made were the cheap shaves from the "shoddy 70's", but unless you're going to become a spokeshave collector it probably makes more sense to get the widest range of capabilities from the fewest number of tools, and a flat bottomed Boggs plus a flat bottomed bronze LN doesn't really achieve that.

Good luck!

 

[AJB Temple]

Good advice from custard. I used to use spokeshaves a lot for shaping guitar necks, and sometime with tight radius at the ends. In your shoes I don't think I would get another flay bottomed spokeshave: I would get a round bottomed one (very useful) and put some work into the Boggs to make it shave finer.

 

[shed9]

Thanks custard and AJB Temple, the advice makes sense.

I will have a look at the round soled shaves and rethink my requirements.

I have the Veritas LA shave for end grain and to be honest I just can't get along with it.

I know what you mean about some shoddy spokeshaves custard, I've accumulated a few in the past and I can't quite figure out how they were able to sell some of them - they were simply not fit for purpose. The Boggs LN I have is just superb and in a different league for me.

Thanks again.

 

[custard]

The Veritas LA shave requires an awful lot of playing around with to get it to sing, but once it's set up right then it's a really excellent tool, but I agree it's not one of those "straight out of the box" items. I've seen some really good versions of the 53 shaves and that can be a very impressive tool, unfortunately for every good one there's dozens that have worn out blades, duff springs, or loads of other failings.

The workshop where I trained put a lot of emphasis on spokeshave work, one of their standard apprentice pieces were these desk lamps which are chiefly made with a spokeshave.

Each of the faces of the the octagonal profile needs to conform precisely to a template, at each cross sectional point all the eight faces need to be the identical width, and the octagon needs to fade imperceptibly into a square base. It's a tricky exercise because the curves (especially the ones at the top) are very tight, and as you track along you can go from long grain to end grain, on the final few strokes it's critical you don't dig in or start to chatter. As we progressed we all tried every spokeshave under the sun in a desperate attempt to alleviate our aching thumbs! But finally the penny drops and you realise you don't need that many different shaves, you just need to achieve a degree of competence with a select few of them. Personally I like to have a low angle shave like the Veritas, a tightly radiused round bottom shave like the small LN, a bigger flat shave for fast work like the Boggs, and a bigger flat adjustable shave for more precise work like the 53 or the Veritas. But having said that one of the best spokeshave craftsmen I've ever met was a boat builder who did everything with a round bottomed 53. I think I'm reasonably competent with a shave but he was in a different league altogether, and just having the one tool didn't stop him producing remarkably accurate and well finished work in double quick time.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Very interesting, would the little scallops on the edge of this box have been done with a (curved-bottomed) spokeshave too?

http://barnsley-furniture.co.uk/image/c ... 50x350.jpg

The Veritas LA spokeshave is my favourite - it's now available at a much lower price than I paid for it, but I don't mind! - it can of course be set up for concave curves (I'm tempted to buy a second, so I can have a pair permanently set up - one flat, one curved). I also have a very nice QS bronze flat-bottomed spokeshave, which I guess is not too different from the LN Boggs equivalent.

Cheers, W2S

 

[custard]

Very interesting, would the little scallops on the edge of this box have been done with a (curved-bottomed) spokeshave too?

You generally would do scalloping with a spokeshave, but there are alternatives such as with a jigged transversely operated hollowing plane, or on some designs a powered router with a bearing mounting chamfer bit riding on a template is also an option.

 

[yetloh]

Some years ago I bought a set of the Woodjoy shaves from Classic Hand Tools. I hardly use the highly compassed metal bodied one but the flat and mildly compassed wooden ones (with brass soles) are wonderful. They use four little recessed Allen screws, two each side, to adjust the blade in a push pull fashion which enables very fine positive adjustment in either direction. Even better, the Allen screw adjustment means there are no threaded tangs on the thick blades so it is a piece of cake to sharpen them. They aren't cheap but I have used them extensively and are worth every penny in my opinion.

Jim

 

[shed9]

Quick update on this one, seems Mrs Shed knew I was looking at the LN bronze flat shave and one turned up in my Birthday gifts this morning. I should have pointed out my change of plan but had no idea she was putting aside as a gift idea.

I've had a play with it today alongside my other shaves including the LN Boggs flat shave and whilst very similar in performance and function I'm still a happy camper having a smaller shave. As it's a gift, it's obviously a keeper so will stick to the original comment up there and get a LN bronze curved base to keep it company.

Custard, have to agree with the description, very cute tool, even my wife was taken by it.

One thing I did notice is the mouth clogs up quite easily. Plenty of users on the web seem to be filing theirs down a tad so need to look into this a bit more if this continues to be an issue. Other than that, a well balanced and well made tool as you would expect form LN I suppose.

 

[custard]

One thing I did notice is the mouth clogs up quite easily. Plenty of users on the web seem to be filing theirs down a tad so need to look into this a bit more

I wouldn't, it's a delicate tool for delicate shavings, your Boggs shave is perfect for heavier work. It's a lovely tool, enjoy it!