# Record A151 Spokeshave - a couple of questions



## mmcc73 (Sep 6, 2016)

I acquired a Record A151 spokeshave somewhere along the way, and I'm finally getting around to setting it up for use. It is made in England, but I think of relatively recent manufacture. I found Paul Sellers' blog postings on the topic, which were very helpful. I'm getting good shavings with mine, but there are a few things that seem odd…

#1 - the bedding area is painted. 


http://imgur.com/aqweUOH

In the old ones in Sellers' blog posts, the bedding area is paint free, and he goes about flattening it to ensure good contact between the cutting iron and the body, which seems to make sense.

Would stripping that paint off be advisable?

#2 - the cap iron is rather rounded over in profile where it meets the cutting iron


http://imgur.com/L0ygKGf

Is this normal? On the old ones in pictures, it seems like the cap iron has a much sharper profile

#3 - If the cap iron is put all the way on the center screw, it clogs the mouth


http://imgur.com/9QBdGtH

In the picture, you can see a gap between the top of the keyhole in the cap iron and the center screw. If I push the cap iron down so that gap is removed, the edge of the cap iron goes into the mouth of the body and prevents the cutting iron from cutting.

Is that the way it is supposed to be? In pictures of old ones it looks like the cap iron is pushed all the way down


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

I think you'll get more responses if you put your images directly in your post. I don't have a Record A151. I have only a cheap Chinese copy - about $5 shipped from china.

I sanded the sole of mine to remove the paint.


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## mmcc73 (Sep 6, 2016)

OK, thanks for the suggestion. - here are the pictures referenced above…


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

> I'm getting good shavings with mine, but there are a few things that seem odd…
> 
> #1 - the bedding area is painted.
> Would stripping that paint off be advisable?
> ...


#1 - This is akin to the age-old question, "Should I lap the sole of my jack plane, even though it's working fine?" Because if you're getting good results, clearing the paint isn't necessary. Good contact between iron and plane is needed to reduce / mitigate chatter. If that's not a problem, it's up to you aesthetically whether to remove the paint and lap the frog or not.

#2/3 - These are cause-effect. The rounded cap iron is catching shavings when all the way to the center screw. Refining that cap iron edge on the grinder should address the problem.

My .02, and worth half what you paid to hear it.  Nice shave!


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## OleGrump (Jun 16, 2017)

HMMM…. Haven't heard of the cap iron clogging the mouth issue before. I have a Record I got back in 1999 (Part of my Y2K traditional tool kit) and mine works just fine.
Silly question, I know, but I hope you're not trying to take too much off with it? While it's fine by itself for some applications, I was always taught for larger work, one had to start by roughing in with a draw knife first, then refine the work with a spoke shave. (Kind of like using a Jack plane before using a Smoothing plane, but on curved work)
The other possibility is that maybe the blade is set too rank and will need to be backed up a bit.


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

I notice on Paul Seller's blog he also has the cap iron backed up a tad.

Also, the iron should be bedded bevel down I believe.

Have you seen this one/

https://paulsellers.com/2012/10/spokeshave-bevels-on-bevel-down-spokeshaves/


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## mmcc73 (Sep 6, 2016)

As an update… as I was messing around with it more, I was getting some chatter on somewhat challenging cuts (harder wood, less than agreeable grain, etc.). I went ahead and stripped the paint off the bedding area.

Under the paint, the casting was very rough and not terribly flat. I got it somewhat flatter - not 100%, but good enough for now.

Next I'll have a go at the cap iron.


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## WAPY (Jul 4, 2017)

mmmh…. the bedding should be dead flat in my opinion if you're expecting no chattering at all and a good smothness in the cut. As the pictures show the bedding area is not that flat.
The issue with the cup iron, for the spokeshaves it is intended as a blade holder and not as a chip braker like in the planes, so enough you keep it back up enough to have free passage through the mouth.


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