Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: bluegill on July 01, 2007, 04:28:37 pm
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I have a Stanley drawknife that i'm using to remove wood from a red oak board. It skips along the wood surface, creating an uneven surface and unevenly removong wood. Is it this drawknife which is the problem or is it my technique? I've tried holding the drawknife tightly and cutting close to the vice to reduce vibrations with no improvement. What gives?
This is what the drawknife looks like: http://www.woodcraft.com/images/Family/web5130.jpg
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Try usin the drawknife upside down. It needs ta be very sharp ifn ya gonna use it on a board. I think ya would be better off with a good rasp or a very sharp scraper..............bob
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I have had dull knifes do that ,or you may be holding it at to high of an angle.
Ralph
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Oh, Bob, flipping that one won't really help. ;) ummm.....I would call that a spokeshave........
Sean
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Yes it will Sean ,I do that a lot . I flip a drawknife upside down for finner work like tillering or chasing rings. I let the bevel lay against the wood and take my time. It works very well.
Ralph
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Ralph check out the link in bluegill's post it is showing a spokeshave. I think a quality rasp, scraper and block with sandpaper will remove wood the best from a board. A ferriers rasp will remove wood very quickly maybe to quickly for what you are doing.I usually use a drawknife for hoggin aff massive amounts of wood on staves once I get close to deminsions the rasp is my next choice. Although while chasing a ring I do turn my drawknife upsidedown like Bob said.
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Good pick up, Jell. That is a spokeshave. bluegill, you may be going against the grain. Flip either yourself or the board around. Jawge
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You spokeshave wants to be extra sharp, and set to take a very fine cut. I prefer to angle the blade, one end being slightly proud of the other which doesn't contact the work. There's a touch to a spokeshave that doesn't require a death grip. Follow the lenght of the grain as well. Very difficult tool for me to master and one I rarely use. But it will take a lot of wood quickly. I advise a rasp and scraper for a beginner.
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Yup didnt look at picture. Its a spokeshave, Stanley not a drawknife like Sean and Jawge said. Neither is best on boards imo ;D.....bob
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Make sure the blade is the right way round. The side that you sharpen should be facing down towards the wood. Don't try to shave wide flat surfaces, it's best doing curved sufaces (like spokes!).
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Problem solved. I just got back from Home Depot with a Stanley surform rasp. Thanks for all the help. I'll post updates as I progress on my first attempt at making a bow.
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Oops , my bad huh. Bluegill said drawknife ,so I didn't look at the picture.I figgered I knew what one looked like. ::)
I never had much luck with the stanleys myself .I got a few antique wooden spokeshaves and a bowyers edge ,that for some reason work for me.
Ralph
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I may be the odd guy but a spoke shave is my favorite tool. It needs to be vary sharp and the blade set for the thinnest cut you can possibly get. shavings from my spoke shave are so thin you could read through them. Like tissue paper.
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I've got a spokeshave I used a couple of times and haven't used in two years.I went back to my rasp and small meat cleaver.I use my draw knife to chase rings with the blade 90 dgs to the wood.
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I use a spokeshave exclusively, like said above make sure it's very sharp and don't set it with too much blade sticking out, if you get chatter (the rough surface) then raise the blade up, don't force it either, pull it towards you letting the tool cut, I often times start on the corner not on the flat surface in the center of the stave or board, angle the spokeshave to shave the corner pulling towards you, then move a little more towards the center and pull towards you, then move a little more until you've worked yourself across the wood, spoke shaves aren't really designed for really flat surfaces, remember they were used to carve spokes. Take your time and learn to use it and you'll reach for it every time, I do.
VB
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I have never liked a spokeshave. It only worked well for me on ERC. I use a draw knife, bevel down, for removing bark and sapwood, getting to a back ring and some shaping. Then comes rasps and finally a scraper...none of which are very sharp. ::) Pat
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I've been using a drawknife for all kinds of woodworking since I was a kid. I own probably six or seven of them.
I love drawknives.
They take a lot of practice. I'm still practicing.
:D
I've never used a spokeshave.
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Major reduction...a hatchet!
Medium reduction...a ferriers rasp!
Fine reduction/tillering...acabinet scrape!
Those are my favorites! Its a nice Viking designed one that works great for throwing too! When I get frustrated with a bow I'm working on I toss it at one of the trees nearby!
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Any good tips on sharpening for draw knife?
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Any good tips on sharpening for draw knife?
That's why I have five or six of them.
;D
I think a file works ok on them. I've heard for chasing rings you don't want them too sharp. I have some that are real sharp and some that are pretty dull.
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Mill bastard will not cut most draw knifes. Hone with a stone being careful to maintain the bevel and keep the back flat pushing towards the blade. Reduce grit and pressure as the edge becomes finer as one would a broadhead or knife. I strop with leather was well to remove the final burr. My drawknife is the sharpest thing in my shop, including my broadheads and skinnin' knife. I've never understood how people use a dull drawknife to back down osage without pulling out the grain behind knots. It certainly is faster, going against the grain and pulling it up as you go, but every time I've tried it I pull splinters off the back of the knots. I go with the grain can cut fine shavings as I approach the soft ring. I reckon I've prolly backed down several hundred staves over the years. Wish I could figure out the dull draw knife secret. Some big names, credible people, have advocated that method.
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I keep all mine sharp,I have heard the same thing but I like mine sharp for chasing growth rings.
That is about all I use them for,debark or chasing a ring.Everything else is a rasp and scraper.
Major reduction a bandsaw.Not to primitive but I can live with that I don't guess a farriers rasp or cabnit scraper is to primitive either.By the way what you have in the picture is a spoke shave like the others said,I have never took the time to learn to use one well AL tho I have seen people that could and seem to work good. :)
Pappy
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I never understood the whole dull drawknife thing, either. I want mine shaving sharp, and I use it with the bevel up, too. I've finished several bow backs with that alone, except for final sanding. I have an antique spokeshave I use also. I had a newer one, might have been a Stanley, but it didn't work as well as the old one so I passed it on. Those two tools and a scraper are what I have in my hands for 80% of the time I'm making a bow.
Steve
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I'm for sharp edged tools, don't feel comfortable when a cuttin tool is dull. I like my spoke shaves. I didn't until i got a few. A new one like yours, then a few old ones of different designs, then a couple OLD ones. They each have things they do better than others, wich means sometimes I get to play with all of them and my draw knife too, as i wreck a stave.
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Do drawknifes and spokeshaves really work on porous wood board bows ???
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Ive made several board bows,but didnt have any luck with the draw knife.I reccomend a good nicholson 50 or a horse shoeing rasp and a couple of good scrapers. Pourous wood shouldnt be aprobablem or a draw knife,but dont think Ive tried anything other than redoak osage persimmon and locust, all pretty hard. Cut your boards and let the chips fly!
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I'm all for sharp tools, as well. I used to be an oboist, and you make your own reeds, so I learned early about how to sharpen knives. I generally use a black Arkansas stone, then an India stone after that. I bet a chef's knife steel might work, too...have to try that. It keeps my Henkels nice and sharp (and dull tools can be very very dangerous too).
I used to shave with a straight razor, and strops are great.
My draw knife is about 120 years old, and I love it - 50 bucks in a local antique store, with a wooden sheath. But, my favorite tools are a bearded axe for large wood removal, a farrier's rasp, a block plane (and bench plane too sometimes), then cabinate scrapers.\
Dane
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Yes I've used drawknives on boards but you have to keep a sharp (pun intended) eye on the grain. The tool often works better one way than the other because of the gain so you have to either turn the board or yourself around. I seldom use a spokeshave on bows. Jawge
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On boards I use my drawknife like a scraper with handles until final tillering then switch to a cabinet scraper. Spoke shave is good to take down to floor tiller if one uses the wood reduction method outlined in TBB, and elsewhere on this site, of taking wood off form either corner untill the edge is about the thickness you think you need and there is a peak down the center of the belly. Then remove the peak.
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As for the dull drawknife thing, I've found that it's got to be just slightly dulled, too dull, and it doesn't work. It gets to be perfect after using it on several bows. When using it to chase a ring on woods like osage, you should feel the difference when the drawknife cuts through the 'real' wood (the late wood, I think) and I think the other wood, which has to be the early wood. Chase it to the grainy early wood above the ring you choose and use a scraper for the rest.
Sean
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When using a drawknife , be careful not to slip.... that's what happened to my half-brother... ;D
we now use a "Coopers" shave ... sorta' a mix of drawknife and spokeshave ... Just a great big spokeshave really ...great for hogging' down wood, safer than a drawknife...