Spokeshave or not to spokeshave

[adams89]

one of the best tools especially for Ipe and Elm. If you know how to work with them they are just great! No rasp needed in some cases

[Holten101]

one of the best tools especially for Ipe and Elm. If you know how to work with them they are just great! No rasp needed in some cases

Im with Adam here....if you know how to set/adjust them, and sharpen them they become indispensable.

But there are spokeshaves and there are spokeshaves....I have 6 and of those only two sees regular use (I use em alot however), the remaining 4 have too little space between the blade and the frame and gets clogged up fast (which can only be cleared by removing the blade). I prefer those with flat plane btw.

If I had to chose (gun to my head) between a good ferriers rasp and my favorite spokeshave, I would probably chose the latter.

Cheers

[George Tsoukalas]

I have one and used it on one bow. I did not take to the spokeshave much. Jawge

[JW_Halverson]

one of the best tools especially for Ipe and Elm. If you know how to work with them they are just great! No rasp needed in some cases

Im with Adam here....if you know how to set/adjust them, and sharpen them they become indispensable.

But there are spokeshaves and there are spokeshaves....I have 6 and of those only two sees regular use (I use em alot however), the remaining 4 have too little space between the blade and the frame and gets clogged up fast (which can only be cleared by removing the blade). I prefer those with flat plane btw.

If I had to chose (gun to my head) between a good ferriers rasp and my favorite spokeshave, I would probably chose the latter.

Cheers

It's soft cast iron, take out the blade and use a small file to open up the mouth.  Stanley's are known for clogging badly.

[Del the cat]

Yeah there is some good stuff on the web about tuning up spokeshaves.
Mine's just a cheapo one which I've fiddled and fettled with.
Del

[Jodocus]

It depends a lot on the wood as well. Elderberry, maple and Hazel love the spokeshave. Yew and locust tend to tear out.

[Aaron H]

I have a vintage Stanley, never really took to it.  Although it was probably just me not taking the time to tune it properly and practice with it.

[JW_Halverson]

In the end, it is only just a tool.  Like any other tool, it has it's purposes and will operate for what it was designed to do, with the caveat that like other tools needs to be in condition to work. 

And so is a rasp, or a saw, or a hammer.  I use all of those, and more, for making bows.  It's when you try to use a hammer to fell a tree that a hammer appears useless in your hands.  If you were to throw that hammer away just because you couldn't fell the tree, what would you reach for when you needed to bang away on the wedges to split the tree?  Your rasp?  yeah, pound the wedge with a rasp....monumental waste of time, throw that away, too.  In the end, you have an empty tool box and a field littered with good tools turning to rust. 

Right tool for the right job.  And I happen to like a toolbox full of good tools.  That gives me more options to resolve more problems.

[JoJoDapyro]

I can't seem to find any wood that mine likes. Could be a user error. I really like my draw knife and farriers rasp.