What kind of drawknife do you recommend?

[Badger]

  For many years I used a Swedish drawknife with a double beveled edge. At some point I swithced to the more common single bevel and now when I go back to use my Swedish knife I can't use it anymore.

[huisme]

My reasoning for the one dull drawknife is it's easier to skim over the ring you're chasing and just cut/split through the early wood, same reason you don't sharpen wedges. This follow-along shows what I'm talking about reasonably well, what I really need to do is make a video for comparison now that I'm moving into a place with a workshop

http://imgur.com/a/wM26v

[JW_Halverson]

Now I am exactly the opposite of huisme!  I want the drawknife shaving sharp so that as I get closer to the actual final growthring, I can control the tool better and slice like a surgeon.  I tend to have to lean harder with a dull blade at the sacrifice of control. 

Your mileage may vary. 

[bubby]

Sharp here too, i was always taught a dull knife is a dangerous knife

[Fred Arnold]

Never dull for drawing although I know some prefer it. It's hard to convince an old meat cutter not to keep his knives, saw blades, and scrapers sharp.

[freke]

  For many years I used a Swedish drawknife with a double beveled edge. At some point I swithced to the more common single bevel and now when I go back to use my Swedish knife I can't use it anymore.

Do you know who mad the knif, currios:), S. Djärv ? 

[willie]

Plan B

Am I seeing the bevel in the photo? it looks either steeper than most, or perhaps the blade is quite thin?

willie

[PlanB]

Willie, the blade is 145 thou thick at the cutting edge. The top spine is .245" thick, .633" wide,and beveled at the top for clearance. The blade is 1.5" wide total. The cutting edge bevel is about .20" wide.

[willie]

quite different from my two, thanks for the detail shot

[willie]

Plan B

I was looking at some of the offerings on ebay,and there are some nice tools being sold reasonable there.

Do you think that the slight convex or concave or straight bladed matter much?

Do you feel that having a steeper bevel than most makes a difference?

and if you don't mind too many questions, do you always use it bevel up or bevel down or both?


willie

[jeffp51]

whether you go bevel up or down depends, I think on the drawknife, and the angle of the handles.  My draw knife only works well with the bevel down.  You have to experiment and see what works for you.

[PlanB]

Plan B

I was looking at some of the offerings on ebay,and there are some nice tools being sold reasonable there.

Do you think that the slight convex or concave or straight bladed matter much?

Do you feel that having a steeper bevel than most makes a difference?

and if you don't mind too many questions, do you always use it bevel up or bevel down or both?


willie

willie, I've only used one drawknife my whole life. It's straight bladed as far as the edge is concerned, but slightly curved on the flat. I have tried 2 other draw knives belonging to other people -- both were modern flat (all the way) and had wider blades, uncomfortable handles, were shorter, and did a really poor job of removing wood. I'm not a drawknife expert, I just lucked into a really good one. Not saying others or other types aren't good, too, but I bet older ones are likely better made for the purpose than newer ones because people had more experience using and making them when they were more commonly used in the trades.

I always use mine bevel down. It would never work the other way. It would just dig in. The bevel is at the right angle so by angling your grip just slightly you can take off either a big gob of wood or a paper thin shaving. It's like an instrument -- you get so you can play it by feel -- the grain tells you by feel too, and you stop when it reverses sometimes, and slice back the other way. Hard to describe how a good tool feels.

[bushboy]

I have a 10" ochsenkopf with a curved blade that I like for osage staves.but I work mainly with whitewood so i'm no expert in that sense,but Germans make good steel!

[Drewster]

My Worth draw knife has a flat back but a slight curve to the blade in plan view.  It works very well for me.   I use it bevel up for rougher work and bevel down for some fine work.  I've been a woodworker for nearly fifty years and I can't image how a dull draw knife would work better than a really sharp one.  The only cutting tool that works as well dull for me is a froe.......and my froe gets very limited use in bow building.