# The Official LJ Spoke Shave Thread Redux:



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Or… Everything you wanted to know about spoke shaves…** But was afraid to ask.
These handy tools always get left out of the discussion, so here it is!
Tell us your stories about spoke shaves, which ones work for you, which ones truly should be avoided, etc.










Here's my menagerie! Yeah, a couple of #80 scrapers there, too.
There's really a whole different science behind these little tools. Some with adjustable throats, flat soles or curved soles, dual profile shaves, all kinds of permutations. I'm not even sure just what's available today on the dealer's shelf, mine are all flea market finds.

My own earliest experience with them was at the age of about 8 yrs old, my elderly neighbor from Montreal was making a new ladder out of Maple, primarily a tree that was cut down in his yard. I watched him painstakingly hew the rungs with a draw knife, then smooth them with a rusty old spoke shave. The project was to replace the ladder he made in 1939, from a downed tree from the 1938 hurricane in New England, probably built the same way. Then, in 1965, my shop teacher roughed out a steering wheel for his Model T in mahogany ( while us students had to use scrub pine for our projects, ahem) using a spoke shave.

Got a spoke shave story? A question? Know any good links for honing cutters, or videos on techniques? Please post it here!! thx!


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

Hopefully you'll get some replies. I have seen these many times in antique shops but I have never really known how they are used or for what applications…...................


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

I have a similar collection, not as much Kunz green though ;-)
One of my treasures is a wooden one handed down through my wife's side of the family. 
Her grand dad had babysitting figured, he'd hand my mother in law a piece of wood and the shave and set her off in a corner to make shavings, quietly..she tuirned 90 last fall.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Great post Poopie,

Here is my contribution. I havent tried it yet but it seems like a great way to sharpen a spokeshave blade (by Paul Sellers)









http://paulsellers.com/2012/11/grinding-and-honing-spokeshave-blades/

I've had good success doing it freehand though.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

And here is mine, works pretty good…









I also have an old wooden one I need to rehab.


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## Nugs (Apr 5, 2013)

I have a new Stanley spokeshave I picked up off amazon a few months ago. Works pretty good, I've used it to carve a couple canoe paddles, a paper towel holder and I'm currently using it to halpe shape a gun stock.

It's a flat spokeshave and I haven't had any problems turning a block of wood to a round piece, I'd like to get a concave spokeshave in the future to see how it operates.

The one modification I had to do was to grind back the chipbreaker, no matter how low I put the blade out the thing would jam up right away and I'd have to take it apart to remove the chips. Once I grinded back the chipbreaker I haven't had it jam once, works great overall.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

*Glen:* I'm wondering what make and model it is. I've seen some of those wood-bodied ones, i'm not really familiar with how they work, and how to disassemble them for sharpening. I've seen a few at antique shows, and must admit I'm daunted by the design which is unfamiliar to me. I'll get there! *Mauricio:* Great sharpening jig! Looks like it might work for spoke shave cutters, is that a #151? *Nugs*: great idea, canoe paddles! Nice modification, you have a good eye and knack for solving problems! 
I'm really drawn to rectilinear projects, though my best spoke shave experiences were from bandsawn 4X4 Queen Anne legs, taking them from rough four-sided cuts to final smoothing.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

I am working on a set of chairs and was having difficulty getting the curves fair (gentle waves) with a ROS. I mentioned this to a woodworking buddy and he suggested using a spokeshave. As it happened I have a Veritas flat SS that I had never used. I bought it because I had recently been greatly impressed with the Veritas medium shoulder plane and thought that one can never have too many tools, so…

Anyhow, I tried the SS and it worked great right out of the box. The curves were faired quickly and I know my chairs will be better looking because of it. I am a happy camper.


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## TechRedneck (Jul 30, 2010)

So how well to those Kunz spokeshaves work?

I almost bought some on sale a while ago but was not sure of the quality. Instead I purchased a WoodRiver #80 and to be honest was pretty rough. Took a lot of work to get it in shape and the iron was crap. I gave up trying to flatten it on a course DMT and went to the belt sander to get the machine grooves out of it.

Hopefully the Kunz are better, the price seems right, otherwise I may try the Veritas.


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

Did you guys see these spokeshaves that were just posted in the forums:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/49503

Pretty sweet!


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

I'm not sure what number my Kutz is, its the flat bottom knock off of the stanly. The colors are ugly, but that goes without saying.

The Kuntz works fine, the iron holds an edge well, it could use a little more fettling that I havent done yet. 
-I need to grind the lever cap down in the front so it meets the iron flat to avoid clogging (its rounded) . 
-File the japaning off of the iron bedding
-I want to try a trick I read about where you put a hard wood shim under the blade, this gives more firm bedding and closes up the mouth.

Here is the FWW article by Brian Boggs http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/soup-up-your-spokeshave.aspx
However he makes a new lever cap out of brass and flattens the bed with epoxy.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Brandon, that shave is awesome, I love the bone inlay.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

*Tech: * The Kunz tools, not just the spoke shaves, are typically pretty badly finished, the castings really should be ground smoother at mold lines, etc. They work okay, and if you can find good deals on used ones, go for it! I'm just more attracted to the Hemi-Cuda Gang-green color more than anything.
I wonder if Stanley still markets a spoke shave? I haven't seen a new one in a long time. I can't even think of a power tool that would have displaced a spoke shave on today's market!


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## DylanC (Jan 29, 2011)

Wow…all those spokeshaves. I don't suppose you have any spare parts around? I recently picked up a 151M that's missing the thumb screw on the lever cap. It's an oddball thread. I have two Stanley 53s…the thumb screw used to adjust the throat from one off them is a nice fit, the other won't even start.


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