Is there such a thing as a spoke shave with a razor for the blade? It would be a great addition to the regular steel blade that always needs replacing or sharpening! Anyone got one or fabricated one?
I haven’t seen one, though it’d be easy enough to make. I’ve seen some very nice home-made wooden spokeshaves, though I prefer my metal ones. The only problem is that a spokeshave or plane uses a blade sharpened on one edge and you’d have to make it awfully low angle to get something like a razor blade to work. Or use one of those little razor planes with a cross handle of some sort affixed and the body shortened, say with a grinder. You might have a look at http://shop.woodcraft.com/Woodcraft/product_family.asp?mscssid=0D175AAF0D8EB47E28916BCE2E8438A2&Gift=false&GiftID=&family_id=4800&Tree= which has something in there like what you’re looking for. There are also som really neat little planes that are used by luthiers for thinning out violin backs and such…you never know, might be what you’re looking for. doc…
foam-ez sells a nice little spoke shave, w/ cheap blades. it’s small, but it works great
Yes, but the spoke shave at Foam-EZ is rather dull. I gues I just need to get a pro to sharpen my old blades.
G. No hand plane comes from the factory with the blade sharpened the way it needs to be. They usually just grind them and call it good. If you want a hand plane to make you happy you bought it, you have to take out the blade, or “knife” as they are called, and fine tune it. Invest in a few sharpening stones and read a chapter on sharpening. The most important concept in sharpening plane knives, and chisels is that the backside, or flat side, has to be perfectly FLAT. You can accomplish that with a diamond sharpening stone, or any number of other good sharpening stones. Then you put the primary bevel on the front of the blade, and a micro bevel. The micro-bevel is where the cutting happens. I learned a trick from a well known wood carver when it comes to the micro bevel. He said he didn’t have time to always stop to re-hone that little edge. When his chisels got dull, he’d go over to his grinder and grind the primary bevel, then use red jeweler’s rouge on a cloth wheel (other side of the grinder) to create a mirror shined micro-bevel. I sharpen my block plane for cutting stringers that way, and you can’t beat it. Doug
I’ll agree, sharpening is a key skill, one The Old Man made sure I learned first. Now, while I still prefer my motley assortment of sharpening stones, both oilstones and water stones, some swear by the Scary Sharp system - http://www.woodshopdemos.com/sss-2.htm illustrates it better than I can describe it. hope that’s of use doc…
Doug nailed it on the head.As for tools most of the new ones are inferior unless you go to a comkpany like Lee Valley Tools or its equivalent.All of my chisels,planes,scrapers etc, were bought at flea markets,most pre WWII.You can also buy these ols jewels on Ebay. R,B.