In the market for?

[stringstretcher]

I am in the market for a good draw knife.  What would be your best recommendations, straight or curved, short or long, and which brand.

[artcher1]

Check the flea markets or net for the old draw knifes Charles. Better all the way around than the new ones. I like an 8-10" curved myself.

[stringstretcher]

Thanks Art.  Yeah I am looking.  Got some osage to  get cleaned up, you know

[artcher1]

Just checked out Fleabay and there's some nice'n there Charles.

[JW_Halverson]

Ditto, 8-10 inches of lightly curved blade.  Preferably with a lot of blade left.  I find a little more weight in the tool makes it work smoother. 

[Eric Krewson]

Everyone has a different preference. I like a straight blade ,no curve and do most of my work on osage with a large debarking draw knife, pretty massive but really gets the job done.

One thing I have found,  be sure to get a knife with the handles on the same plane as the blade. I was given one with the handles bent up at about a 30 degree angle from the blade, it was impossible to control while chasing a ring on an osage stave.

[seabass]

i use a 10" curved keencutter brand.it works really well on osage.i find mine in antique shops.Art is right,flea markets can be a great place to get them.good luck,Steve

[mullet]

I'm with Eric, I like a straight blade.

 Charles, PM Chris Cade. When I was up there last week , we went to Jockey Lot Flea Market and there was quite a few of them. Straight and curved blade, cheap.

[osage outlaw]

I picked up my best drawknife from our local antique store for $20.  It was old, but in perfect condition.  It looked like it was barely used.  He had several left, but that was a couple of years ago.  I can stop in and see if he has any. 

[Bevan R.]

I use a heavy 8" straight blade for the bark and sapwood removal. It really hogs it off.
I then switch to a small 4" blade (again straight) for getting to the desired ring. Got them both off the auction site.

[Eric Krewson]

Another thing about draw knives, get one and use the same one over and over and over until you can make it work the way you want it to, this take a bunch of practice. No one gets the hang of proper draw knife usage right away, it takes time.

I was teaching a friend how to chase a ring last year, he spent 2 hours sweating and cursing to do half the stave.  I gave him a break and finished the rest of the stave in less than 5 minutes. After working on hundreds of staves and billets with the same draw knife it has become an extension of my arms. I can get the exact cut I want without thinking about it, like I said, practice, practice, practice.

[bolsjedyr]

Yup - Like the smart people said - You should recycle the good old tools you can find on a flea market ;-)
I for one found mine like that - It needed a good sharpening and one of the handles was a bit hampered, but still quite useable. Price was 60 DKkr (about 9 US $) 

Good luck hunting one down.

[JW_Halverson]

I was teaching a friend how to chase a ring last year, he spent 2 hours sweating and cursing to do half the stave.  I gave him a break and finished the rest of the stave in less than 5 minutes. After working on hundreds of staves and billets with the same draw knife it has become an extension of my arms. I can get the exact cut I want without thinking about it, like I said, practice, practice, practice.

Sounds like my first time taking off the bark and sapwood of an osage stave!  Now I know to tell new people it takes two hours to do the first half of the stave and 5 minutes to finish the rest.