notched draw knife and chasing a growth ring

[jrmeza]

Hey there PA forum, quickly I'm running out of day light! I am trying to chase a single growth ring on an osage stave and i just can't get a smooth single ring. Ill get like 50% and then ill notice small violations in the ring i had running. I theorize this is because i have a cheap stainless china draw knife which already has some knotches in the blade. Any quick fix for finishing off a smooth growth ring? I already got 90%  of the work done but i cant do any fine tuning with this dinged up blade. Thanks guys as always!

[Drewster]

I never try to chase a final ring with a draw knife.  I'll rough down the back with a draw knife then switch to a straight or goose neck scraper to chase the final ring.  You'll have much better control with a scraper.  Unless the ring is very flat and uniform, a goose neck scraper is indispensable for me.  Others may use other tools, but my scrapers work great for me.

[RBLusthaus]

I use a spoke shave and scraper on the final ring. 

[bradsmith2010]

take a file or stone and take out the dings,,

[TimBo]

Yep, use a scraper.  You can probably get to the crumbly early growth ring with the drawknife, but resist the temptation to keep going!  (I have to have this conversation with myself regularly when chasing rings...)

[Springbuck]

  Also, just because you TOUCHED a ring barely enough to mark it doesn't mean it's ruined.  Obviously, you don't want to  cut deeply into it, esp across.  And if you can see the next ring down, , or knocked down a knot, you messed up.  But hovering reverently over the winter ring above the one you want and  rubbing laboriously down to it with 280 grit paper isn't necessary.

 A tiny, barely visible, longitudinal tool mark simply might not be a problem, where a transverse nick or gouge likely would.

[BowJunkie]

JR,,, are you sure you are using it properly?
Not trying to insult your intelligence here.
I use a draw knife with the taper of the blade up when roughing out a stave.
When you chase a ring, flip the knife so the taper is on the back side and you can use it as a scraper.
I have done this many times to remove a winter ring, and have not violated a ring yet.
Also get you a fairly large fine stone and get rid of those nicks in the blade.

[SLIMBOB]

+1 BowJunkie.  Bark to back with the drawknife, flipping it bevel side away from me to use as a scraper.  Lite sanding to remove the tool marks.

[Eric Krewson]

You guys do it differently than most of us. Bevel down on the drawknife all the time for the most control and no gouging works for me and all my bow making friends. If you you have to take the final grain off with a scraper all the time the you aren't using your draw knife properly.

I wouldn't attempt to follow a grain with a nicked up blade drawknife, I would straighten it out on a belt sander, or toss it and buy a good one off evilbay or at a flea market

[Badger]

  I agree with Eric here, bevel always down. I might turn it over now and then for something odd but for the most part bevel always down. I find the draw knife best for chasing the final ring but you obviously can't get into dips and valleys with a draw knife so you will need to switch to a goose neck scraper. I round the corners on my card scrapers for this job.

[Marc St Louis]

Draw knife all the way for me as well

[PatM]

I would never consider using a drawknife upside down as "normal". I've never had trouble chasing a ring using a drawknife  in the manner it was designed for.

[Joec123able]

I would never consider using a drawknife upside down as "normal". I've never had trouble chasing a ring using a drawknife  in the manner it was designed for.

Me neither works better that way too more controll

[SLIMBOB]

I don't know what upside down is with one.  What I do know, is that bevel up I can hog bark, sap wood and heart wood off in a hurry.  Bevel down for the finesse work, and bevel out with the blade at a right angle to the back as a scraper.  For me this is just using the tool in different ways to maximize it's effectiveness.  If it's a bit unusual, well I am left handed so most things are somewhat unorthodox to start with.

[missilemaster]

You can chase 1/16" rings with a drawknife just fine. The trick as said is using it bevel down. This is not true on all drawknives but most. use the scraper to cean up as you go on the final ring, sometimes its hard to tell wisps of early growth siting on to of the ring from a whole other ring.