Official Luthiers Forum!

If you use spokeshave to shape necks, do you have a favorite make and model and/or a recommendation for particular features and configuration?

I have the Veritas flat bottom. Now it’s the only one I own:) but I have no complaints


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I have the Veritas flat sole one, and love it. The thumbwheel blade adjustment is very precise, and it is just the right size and weight. I also use various rasps and microplanes.

I have the Quangsheng bronze one. Bought it for carving necks.
Bit like a LN Bloggs one but half the price.
Adjustment is by tapping with a small brass hammer, like a wooden plane, and I use them as well, from 1 1/2" miniatures to try planes.
It's maybe not for everyone, but I just love it.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Looks nice. eBay???


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I use the LN Boggs flat sole and love it. I do not really adjust so much as lay the sole on a flat and loosen and then tighten the blade holder.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I bought in UK from https://www.workshopheaven.com/quangsheng-bronze-spokeshave.html
Afraid you're on your own your side of the pond.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I have these and they have worked well for me. They were discussed a few years ago on the OLF and got good comments, so I tried them. Haven't felt the need to get something else. ...maybe at some point. Unfortunately, they are no longer available.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.a ... 6321&cat=1

I think Japan Woodworker sells something similar...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Dave’s Shaves. Windsor chair makers, who live and die by their spokeshaves, swear by them.

Get the small compass shave with the brassed front. Perfect for getting into the curve of the heel.

Not inexpensive, but worth every penny.

I have 13 spokeshaves currently ,for very fast stock removal I use a large chinese spokeshave that looks like an upside down drawknife , sharpened and honed it is extremely adept for fast stock removal.The chinese ebony or rosewood smaller shaves are also very good. These shaves can be bought on e bay

Thanks, everyone, for the good tips!

David forgot , the wooden shaves were $5 for the larger one and abou t18$ for the small ebony one . they look hand forged, but will need some honing. Another excellent tool is from woodcraft it is a low angle metal spokeshave by wood river on sale for $50 more or less . This spokeshave is also a great buy it/s flat , has a vy sharp blade and cuts cleanly. The 3 L/N shaves are great but a lot of $$$. Hope this helps. You can also modify e vil bay , yard sale, and used , stanleys and KUNZ

I've been using the same Kunz #51 flat bottom spoke shave for 25 years. Cheap and effective. At some point I got a Veritas spoke shave thinking I would upgrade but immediately went back to the Kunz because the base is more narrow and as such lets me get closer to the heal and the peghead.

On Ebay are some inexpensive spokeshaves sold out of Hong Kong, iron located by a wooden wedge. Do these work, or can they be persuaded to work? It's easy to get a really nice spokeshave, bring money. But what limitations do inexpensive ones have besides offering nothing to one's trophy-tool cabinet?

Thanks!

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Peter Havriluk

The two different kinds are the Stanley 151 and clones, which are like planes with an angled blade and short bed, and the wooden style ones with a blade that rides flat on the work. I have made a half dozen of the wooden ones - simple to do - with blades from either:

http://www.ncworkshops.com/parts_service.html

or

http://www.hocktools.com/products/kits.html

I find them very easy to use, and a round bottomed one works great on concave curves that are pretty tight. Older ones that are adjusted by tapping the blade are a little finicky. The modern version of this tool has threaded tangs on the blade and large thumbscrews to make it easy to remove for honing. I adjust the blade so it cuts deeper on the left side than on the right so you can do course and finer work without switching tools. Here is a purpleheart one I made with a Hock blade, with a boxwood one in the background that a friend made for me with a Dave's Shave blade. The neck is Ash:

Thanks for the pictures and links. Nice stuff but way off my budget.

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Peter Havriluk

Simple but really good, just need to get the blade extremely sharp. I have both sizes. Can't remember where I bought mine but it may have been direct from China or Taiwan via the auction site. As with all wooden shaves with the tang you can adjust the blade so that it cuts fine at one end of the blade and deeper at the other. It's been years since I used my metal shaves.

Here is the "contour" plane in action. The blade definitetly takes some work, but once you get it sharp it works well. Japan Woodworker has something similar. As with anything you can spend as much as you want, but often simple inexpensive things can work fine.
https://www.japanwoodworker.com/product ... spokeshave

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

BTW - I like both sizes, but I really like the smaller one. It works well around the heel...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

i only have one spokeshave, a cheap kunz (number 64?) and it serves me well, but i lust over the small HNT gordon one: https://www.hntgordon.com.au/gidgee-spo ... blade.html

one day...

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

That. Is. G e o r g e o u s.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I hear ya. Sometimes they sell discounted ones at eBay, with very slight blemishes. Worth looking for.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I paid a dollar for the last spokeshave I bought. It was a Stanley 51 flea market find. That is about what they go for there. I also have a Record similar to the Stanley 151. Spokeshaves are simple tools, many people made their own.The metal Stanley's were once the "fancy" ones.
I also have a cobbler's sole shave I found at the flea market - similar to this one :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snell-Atherton- ... SwhQhYyZv3

It's kind of cute. So if anyone needs their soul shaved let me know .

Kunz NO, Stanley made in England YES.

Karl

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

At least this *edited* is bringing some interesting threads out of the woodwork.