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spokeshave question

learning_towalk

learning_towalk

Supporting Member
Mar 15, 2004
1,012
229
40
Chattanooga, TN
#1
Anyone ever use a "central forge" brand spokeshave...I found a set pretty cheap online(steel construction with carbon steel blades) and was just wondering if they were junk or not....I did a search and didn't see anything so I thought I would ask...

oh and I took a trip to Lowes today looking for a spokeshave (they are impossible to find in this town), and left with a new 6 1/2" Stanley plane and a stanley microplane....just thought I'd share
 
#4
I haven't used a spokeshave since my first bass. I went to microplanes after that and never had problems with tearouts or needing to read the grain to know which direction to shave. I now use the belt sander with 120 grit and it's much better and I find I have more control than both of those other methods. I put up my Veritas low angle shave on ebay because I haven't used it in 2 years.
 
#5
The newer stanley spokeshaves are not very good at all. You need to tune them for reasonable performance. The issue is not the blade, but the blade receiver, the gaping mouth and the sole. After working on one of these myself, I did get better performance but ended up ditching it after finding a good cheap old shave and doing some minor tuning on it. This old shave is cheap and really nice to use.

However, I'm going to give my belt sander a go on the next neck I make after reading about Wilser's success with his. Good stuff Wilser, thanks for sharing.
 
#8
learning_towalk said:
wilser....

are you using a stationary belt sander or a hand held?
Click to expand...

Yeap. Stationary. I wouldn't dare bring a handheld to a neck. The key is to use a medium fine grit belt so it doesn't take too much in a pass. I use a 120 belt. First try was with an 80 grit, but I found it took too much too soon for my taste. When I get some cash I'm gonna get a pneumatic drum sander and try that. It should work even better.

Also, the sander doesn't leave an even surface. What I do is take one of the 80 grit 3x24 belts from my old handheld belt sander (they're good for SOMETHING!) and shoeshine sand to get a good arch and even out high spots.
 
#10
#include <MK> said:
The newer stanley spokeshaves are not very good at all. You need to tune them for reasonable performance. The issue is not the blade, but the blade receiver, the gaping mouth and the sole. After working on one of these myself, I did get better performance but ended up ditching it after finding a good cheap old shave and doing some minor tuning on it. This old shave is cheap and really nice to use.

However, I'm going to give my belt sander a go on the next neck I make after reading about Wilser's success with his. Good stuff Wilser, thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

You are right new Stanleys are crap to begin with, I regrind the base and rehone the blade but now it is good.

I am trying Wilsers methode but the results are not quite there yet I cannot get the technique right yet.

Wilser said:
I put up my Veritas low angle shave on ebay because I haven't used it in 2 years..
Click to expand...

Did you sell it yet, if not I might be interested.
 
#11
Yellow said:
Did you sell it yet, if not I might be interested.
Click to expand...

I have a few different spokeshaves, the Veritas included. Although this is a good spokeshave, I got the similar results from an old Stanley that I tuned. I found the benefits of the LV is the lower angle, tight mouth, it's slim, solid (minimal or no chatter) and the improved blade. But for the money, I prefer the cheap old shave.
 
#12
Yellow said:
...
I am trying Wilsers methode but the results are not quite there yet I cannot get the technique right yet.



Did you sell it yet, if not I might be interested.
Click to expand...

For some reason the belt sander method worked great for me from the first try. I got the idea after reading the book "Clapton's Guitar" about Wayne Henderson and his long wait list. He uses this method and I thought it was a great idea.

The spokeshave is on ebay and has a couple of bids, so I'm pretty sure it'll sell.
 
#13
I used to use the micro planes a lot but they don't work well for me on the harder woods. Possibly they get dull? Have you had to replace yours? I am just starting on a Wenge and Bubinga neck and I know the microplane will be useless on that. What do you think?
 
#15
Maybe it would be better to start with rasps or spokeshaves to get a rough shape (a really rough one) and then move to microplanes. In that way most of the hard work would be done with rasps and then more finer work with mp before moving to sand paper or whatever. Microplanes wouldn't suffer too much using them like this.
 
#16
rasps are a bad idea on wenge. they can take big chunks out without even trying. tear out is a big problem with rasps on wenge, too.

That rosewood topped bass with a wenge neck was carved using coarse half round and flat microplanes (it was carved about a year ago, before I started using the belt sander). From what I remember it wasn't that troublesome.
 

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