Millers Falls No. 1
A recent addition to the shop, the MF "Cigar Shave" is a unique tool with a mixed reputation when it comes to performing well. This forum is for future reference; a place to index sites, sources and methodologiea that help owners of the tool get the most out of it. Here is an extract of text from a now-defunct site regarding sharpening the No. 1:
"The Millers Falls 'cigar' shave is probably one of my favorite tools but it used to drive me bonkers! Sharpened and set right, it's one of the most versatile tools ever and can do things absolutely no other can. It shaves very tight radius internal curves…yet runs true on the flat… turning to external curves with ease.
But, and it's a huge BUT, most are left on the shelf unused because they are either not razor sharp or the user can't get the setting right or both. [It's important to] sharpen the strange cutter, then when that variable is removed, set it to cut efficiently and with ease. Once these two simple tips are followed you will have a tool you simply won't want to put down.
[T]he first thing which MUST be done is to have a razor sharp cutter. The shave relies on this but it's not immediately apparent how to do this. It really is quite simple and you will normally only need a range of sharpening "stones" but I highly recommend diamond plates because of the flatness. That is a key to the sharpening.
The cutter looks complicated but in actual fact..it's just a plane iron. Laid next to a standard iron, you can see it is just curled back on itself. It has a very tiny "primary" bevel you can just see. If this has not been touched before LEAVE IT that way!
The cutter also has two wide bevels on either end of the "tube"...these rest under and between the large countersunk head screws you see in this picture. Tightening these screws wedges the cutter tight…it's as simple as that. You can loosen these off a bit and rotate the cutter by pushing the blunt end…and this is how you set the edge to the mouth.
Be sure you have the cutter the right way around… Many are not!
Following the idea that this is just a curled plane iron, flip it over and you will find a wide area. THIS IS NOT A BEVEL!! It is a face - as the face on the ordinary iron next to it. They are both the same and should be treated as such."
Jeff52Pickup did a great sharpening video here:
Then, an introductory artictle posted by Lee Valley with patent details:
http://www.leevalley.com/newsletters/Woodworking/2/2/patents.htm
A robust discussion on the old tools archive:
http://swingleydev.com/ot/get/117460/thread/
A blog post with pics and a slight discussion of sharpening:
https://workingbyhand.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/the-millers-falls-no-1-spokeshave/
Boatman53 (Jim) created a jig for use with the venerable Eclipse:
http://lumberjocks.com/replies/2842250
Michael Brady described such a jig in 2011 on Wood Central:
http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/archives_handtools.pl/bid/3001/md/read/id/155924/sbj/cigar-spokeshave/
Kelly Tool Works produced a cigar shave in the 1990s (?) and offered the following sharpening instructions with their tool (thanks to the Wayback Machine for this):
Have a cigar shave? How's it working? How did you tune it? Share pics and stories below!
A recent addition to the shop, the MF "Cigar Shave" is a unique tool with a mixed reputation when it comes to performing well. This forum is for future reference; a place to index sites, sources and methodologiea that help owners of the tool get the most out of it. Here is an extract of text from a now-defunct site regarding sharpening the No. 1:
"The Millers Falls 'cigar' shave is probably one of my favorite tools but it used to drive me bonkers! Sharpened and set right, it's one of the most versatile tools ever and can do things absolutely no other can. It shaves very tight radius internal curves…yet runs true on the flat… turning to external curves with ease.
But, and it's a huge BUT, most are left on the shelf unused because they are either not razor sharp or the user can't get the setting right or both. [It's important to] sharpen the strange cutter, then when that variable is removed, set it to cut efficiently and with ease. Once these two simple tips are followed you will have a tool you simply won't want to put down.
[T]he first thing which MUST be done is to have a razor sharp cutter. The shave relies on this but it's not immediately apparent how to do this. It really is quite simple and you will normally only need a range of sharpening "stones" but I highly recommend diamond plates because of the flatness. That is a key to the sharpening.
The cutter looks complicated but in actual fact..it's just a plane iron. Laid next to a standard iron, you can see it is just curled back on itself. It has a very tiny "primary" bevel you can just see. If this has not been touched before LEAVE IT that way!
The cutter also has two wide bevels on either end of the "tube"...these rest under and between the large countersunk head screws you see in this picture. Tightening these screws wedges the cutter tight…it's as simple as that. You can loosen these off a bit and rotate the cutter by pushing the blunt end…and this is how you set the edge to the mouth.
Be sure you have the cutter the right way around… Many are not!
Following the idea that this is just a curled plane iron, flip it over and you will find a wide area. THIS IS NOT A BEVEL!! It is a face - as the face on the ordinary iron next to it. They are both the same and should be treated as such."
Jeff52Pickup did a great sharpening video here:
Then, an introductory artictle posted by Lee Valley with patent details:
http://www.leevalley.com/newsletters/Woodworking/2/2/patents.htm
A robust discussion on the old tools archive:
http://swingleydev.com/ot/get/117460/thread/
A blog post with pics and a slight discussion of sharpening:
https://workingbyhand.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/the-millers-falls-no-1-spokeshave/
Boatman53 (Jim) created a jig for use with the venerable Eclipse:
http://lumberjocks.com/replies/2842250
Michael Brady described such a jig in 2011 on Wood Central:
Here's a discussion on WoodCentral where David Charlesworth cautions against entirely removing the interior bevel:
http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/archives_handtools.pl/bid/3001/md/read/id/155924/sbj/cigar-spokeshave/
Kelly Tool Works produced a cigar shave in the 1990s (?) and offered the following sharpening instructions with their tool (thanks to the Wayback Machine for this):
Have a cigar shave? How's it working? How did you tune it? Share pics and stories below!