Drawknife question

[Pat B]

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

[PepeLep]

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.


I've never used a spokeshave.

[D. Tiller]

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!

[Auggie]

Any good tips on sharpening for draw knife?

[PepeLep]

Any good tips on sharpening for draw knife?

That's why I have five or six of them.
 

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.

[DCM]

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.

[Pappy]

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
 

[SteveO]

 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

[brokennock]

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. 

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Do drawknifes and spokeshaves really work on porous wood board bows

[Auggie]

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!

[Dane]

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 

[George Tsoukalas]

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

[brokennock]

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.

[1/2primitive]

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