Stanley 151R Too Much Chatter

[J_SAMa]

A while back I bought a Sweetheart 151R (that means it shouldn't be low quality) on eBay. For literally a month I'd been practicing with it every now an then, but it never seemed to stop chattering no matter shaving w/ or not w/ the grain, on push strokes or pull strokes. When pulling/pushing I try to press as hard as I can on the front part of the sole with my thumb/index. Anything wrong with this technique?

I thought it might also be the tool's problem (although I don't want to believe it as it's a Sweetheart). The bed is flat, but painted and pretty rough (little high spots all over the place, and those spots account for about 1/4 of the total area). The cap iron isn't painted, but isn't too smooth either.



Should I try and file it? I'm afraid I'll file it out of flat...

And also I don't have a flat spokeshave yet, any clue to what types of Stanley spokeshaves have unpainted (just machined) beds?

Sam

 

[Jacob]

The round bottom ones are much harder to use but you only need one for tight radii as the flat will do shallow curves OK.
I wouldn't try to modify it - modify your technique first - practice on the edge of a thin board until you can get a nice shaving, and take it from there. But you need a flat one for most purposes.

 

[J_SAMa]

The round bottom ones are much harder to use but you only need one for tight radii as the flat will do shallow curves OK.
I wouldn't try to modify it - modify your technique first - practice on the edge of a thin board until you can get a nice shaving, and take it from there. But you need a flat one for most purposes.

On thin edges (say under 10 mm) it works OK. Chatters a bit but takes shavings and leaves acceptable surfaces. But on anything wider than 15 mm it vibrates like a tractor...

Sam

 

[Mar_mite]

It looks the same as my spoke shave, I get chatter too. I find it helps if i back the blade off and hold it on a slight angle. So it's taking thin shaves off. And I find it has to be razor sharp.

 

[AndyT]

Chatter on a steel spokeshave is a commonly reported problem but not one I've had so these suggestions are just what I've read, mostly on here.

Filing the cast metal flat should help but if you don't want to do that try putting some thin card behind the blade.
Smooth the rear surface of the cap iron -the side that touches the blade - so it makes good snug contact.

Look closely at the relationship between the thumbscrew and the central anchoring screw - you want the pinching action to be at the front of the blade, just behind the cutting edge.

Make sure the blade is razor sharp. Only try and take a fine shaving.

And (sorry if this is too obvious) make sure you are cutting down the grain - you don't want it to be like stroking a cat the wrong way.

 

[bugbear]

Round soled spokeshaves are really hard to use, and chatter is THE problem.

Get your technique right with a flat soled one first, which will ease the learning curve,

BugBear

 

[Mike Wingate]

File flat, if still chattering away you could buy a thicker shave blade. I am going to buy a pair of stainless Quangsheng spokeshaves to solve the problems.

 

[JohnPW]

I find with a round sole spokeshave, the angle and the pressure of it on the wood has to be just right otherwise it won't take a good shaving.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

If you do not want to file the bed flat, I fear it may never behave. If there is some collector value in the sweetheart, sell the blighter and buy a tool that works with the proceeds. I bet a QS could be purchased for what you'll get for the Sweetheart.

Radiused shaves are seldom used except for very radical curves. Flat soled shaves will do most of the work usually encountered. I would get a flat first and get used to the process and then add a radiused one if the work demands it. The round ones are not the easiest, but a poorly fettled one will confound even an experienced user.

Mike.

 

[J_SAMa]

Hello,

If you do not want to file the bed flat, I fear it may never behave. If there is some collector value in the sweetheart, sell the blighter and buy a tool that works with the proceeds. I bet a QS could be purchased for what you'll get for the Sweetheart.

Radiused shaves are seldom used except for very radical curves. Flat soled shaves will do most of the work usually encountered. I would get a flat first and get used to the process and then add a radiused one if the work demands it. The round ones are not the easiest, but a poorly fettled one will confound even an experienced user.

Mike.

How radical are "very radical curves" in terms of diameter of a circle?

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

It depends on the curvature of the shave, and the length of the sole of a flat shave. An arc of a true circle can be done with a flat shave even when it is quite small, as it is easier to do it even if the shaves sole only contacts at points at the front and back, blade slightly over projected. When the arc is more elliptical, and tight, the curved shave is the only option, but the change of grain direction is rapid here, and acceptable results are hard to achieve. Resorting to sandpaper wrapped around a dowel, or stuck to the off cut from the curve itself, will likely be used at some point, possibly to the extent that the curved shave might not be needed. I have done concave shapes as small as a dinner plate with a small flat bottomed shave. If you want to use cutting tools rather than sandpaper and I commend you for wanting to, then a good curved shave is worth mastering, but it needs to be a good one. And you may have to use othe tools, such as knives and gouges to remove chatter marks/tear out. That will give a really satisfying, faceted, hand made look, which is lovely. If you really don't want to fettle your sweetheart, I fear you will never do your best work. Fettle it or sell it, persisting as it is is just wasting your time.

Mike.

 

[J_SAMa]

What do you all think about wooden spokeshaves? Is it worth sacrificing the adjustment and mass for a low angle and a tight mouth?

 

[Racers]

Wooden spoke shaves are very nice.
Ron Hock does a low angle spokeshave blade you can make into an adjustable shave, it's in David Charlesworth's first book, mine is my go-to spokeshave.
Preston are good metal spokeshaves they work better than the Record/Stanley ones.

Pete

 

[AndyT]

What do you all think about wooden spokeshaves? Is it worth sacrificing the adjustment and mass for a low angle and a tight mouth?

I think they are excellent and are generally underrated. They can still be bought cheaply enough that you can buy several and not worry too much if some are better than others.

Their lightness is no disadvantage and they are adjustable in much the same way as a wooden plane is adjustable, by light taps with a small hammer.

Commercially they were made in a wide variety of sizes so you should be able to find something delicate for tight curves.

 

[xy mosian]

I recently came across this at:- http://www.windsorchairresources.com/tips

"Reshaping a Round Bottom Spokeshave

I have a Record Stanley Round Bottom Spokeshaves. One thing which has been frustrating me with these tools is that the round bottom spokeshave just doesn't produce a nice smooth cut like my other tools. The round bottom shave is, however, a necessary tool in my opinion for shaping the inside of bows among other things. By trial and error, I stumbled upon a simple reshaping of the plane which produced startling good results. By rubbing the bottom on sandpaper on glass, I shaped a flat area on both sides of the mouth, about 3/16 inch wide on both sides. Just enough to provide a little support on both sides of the blade. Worked great! BG 6/11/00"

I hope I'm not upsetting anyone with the quote. It does sound like a useful modification, to make a flat bottomed shave with a very short length.

xy

 

[bugbear]

What do you all think about wooden spokeshaves? Is it worth sacrificing the adjustment and mass for a low angle and a tight mouth?

I think they are excellent and are generally underrated. They can still be bought cheaply enough that you can buy several and not worry too much if some are better than others.

Their lightness is no disadvantage and they are adjustable in much the same way as a wooden plane is adjustable, by light taps with a small hammer.

Commercially they were made in a wide variety of sizes so you should be able to find something delicate for tight curves.

The Veritas low angle shave has a similarly sweet cutting action. But...

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.a ... 50230&ap=1

Since the blade in this tool is quite long, it is (effectively) unusuable on concave surfaces, where the original woodies
handle shallow concave quite well.

I do like the Veritas LA shave a great deal though.

The Aluminium "Rapier" low angle curved shave doesn't work worth a d*mn.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61395683@N02/5643385770/

Despite appearances, the depth of cut is not adjustable (except with shims)

BugBear

 

[J_SAMa]

Just won a spokeshave on eBay for 1.38 pound...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310751887489
Whaddya think? It doesn't have a brass mouth like many other shaves do, but the mouth is still quite tight...

Sam

 

[AndyT]

Just won a spokeshave on eBay for 1.38 pound...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310751887489
Whaddya think? It doesn't have a brass mouth like many other shaves do, but the mouth is still quite tight...

Sam

That looks like it's in excellent condition. And for less than the price of a pint, it's a tremendous bargain.

 

[J_SAMa]

Just won a spokeshave on eBay for 1.38 pound...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310751887489
Whaddya think? It doesn't have a brass mouth like many other shaves do, but the mouth is still quite tight...

Sam

That looks like it's in excellent condition. And for less than the price of a pint, it's a tremendous bargain.

It looks like the blade is quite ragged. Chips everywhere. Is this gonna take a lot of time to fix (considering its width)?

 

[Shrubby]

Sam
With a sharpen that wooden shave will outperform the 151 easily
I had a pair of frustrating Stanleys . Working for someone who was machine-mad I went through his father's neglected hand tool chest and found a wooden spokeshave which had a Tufnol wear piece added to the sole to tighten the mouth. It was excellent !
I asked about the shave and his father had been a Patternmaker at Bristol Aero working on things like Concorde
Matt