MIMF

Believe it or not there are actually a few people who want (feel obligated) to give me a gift for Christmas. I am usually struggling to figure out something that I want that is not expensive and not so esoteric that I need to pick it out myself.

I don't own a spokeshave, I have never even used a spokeshave. But, I have occasionally thought it might be a good idea to have for neck carving. I'm happy with my current neck carving processes but another weapon in the arsenal can't be a bad thing. Is there an inexpensive easily located and purchased spokeshave that works well for necks particularly interested in something that can handle the curves of the heel and volute area. I have seen some nice looking straight bladed curved soled shaves on the internet but I'm not really wanting to ask for a high end tool especially since I'm not even sure I will like using one. Is there an off the shelf shave that can do what I want on a lower (not quite entry level but certainly not boutique) budget?

Is this like handplanes where any new tool is either going to require a lot of work/modification or a high price tag?

Bryan - I made my spokeshave from a kit offered by Lee Valley. I haven't yet used it on the guitar neck I'm currently working on, but based on the other projects on which I've used it, it's a very sweet little tool, and building it was fun. Made mine out of some scrap cherry.

I kicked around the kit idea and frankly, I'd prefer to have a hand made tool. But I know my limitations. I am in a phase in my life when I get very, very little shop time and getting a kit would only cut further into my instrument making time or more likely get pushed aside for a long time because it isn't an immediate need.

I did a search and found one at Home Depot for $17.99. I happen to have six of many styles, all cheep, including this one. I have made a lot of Windsor chairs from green wood, so I got cheep ones. I have not tuned up any of mine. Did not find it necessary. They are very simple tools.

I have the basic issue Stanley, and with some time spent leveling the sole, cleaning up the throat and cap, and sharpening it (Scary Sharp!), it works well. Depending on how much folks are looking to spend on you, I'm sure you can find some steps up in quality and cost that will reduce your time spent truing the tool. I really enjoy using the spoke shave for carving necks.

Keep in mind that I have no spokeshave experience so I may be asking dumb questions. . .

With the standard Stanley or even the inexpensive Home Depot shave, are you having to file a curved sole in order to do the inner surfaces of the neck heel or is the sole so narrow that it is not an issue? That HD shave sure is cheap, how is the steel of the iron? I'd worry that it would be low quality at that price.

What about the low angle designs? Any advantage or disadvantage there? The wood river one looks interesting. It looks like the flat sole before the iron is screwed on. I had a thought that one could fashion a hardwood shoe with a curve to replace it when doing concave surfaces. That may be a terrible idea born out of inexperience.

Most spokeshaves have a flat sole, so doing a concave surface will be a bit awkward.

I too have a classic Stanley, and though the mouth is a little wider than I like, it still works well. What I would tend to do is use a spokeshave for the convex surfaces, then one of these Japanese milled-tooth files for the concave sections. I have two 10"x3/4", a flat and a half-round, and I love them. They're extremely sharp so that if you try to use them on a narrow surface they are too "grabby" but for shaping curves, mortises, tenons etc. they're great.

I used the inexpensive Stanley (flat) spokeshave for years. It works. When I dropped it and it broke, I replaced it with the Veritas spokeshave ($100) from Lee Valley. I love it. For me, it was worth the money. I haven't tried any curved bottom spokeshaves.

Yes, flat-bottom sole. It allows you to cut facets, and like any plane, depending on your depth of cut, you can hog off a lot of material quickly, or pull off narrow peaks and bring a shape near to final dimensions. I got a curved sole spoke shave (curved front to back), as well, but haven't found it particularly useful. On tight concaved areas near the headstock and heel (electric necks), I just use a chisel. Some folks might like the concave-sole spoke shaves, and you can get them in different radii, but the simplicity of the flat blade for quick touchups and setup is less mucking around for me.

My technique is to bring everything to within less that 1/16" of final shape, then refine with 150 on one of those typical D-shaped rubber blocks. I have some Nicholson rasps, but I don't like using them on necks. They probably work great on a wood like mahogany, but I don't like the way they grab and pull grain on maple.

I've used an old Stanley #51 for years and love it. Easy to fettle, just needing a good sharpening, easy to adjust. They're all over ebay for $20-$30. Yes, I would recommend one to a friend.

Pat

I have both round and flat bottom style, and some without adjustment screws. These adjustment screws are what I found important. Old used ones often lack them.

The size of the throat clearance determines how much you can remove without a jam. I bought a Hauk(?) aftermarket blade for fine work. It fits in all my models, but has a different throat clearance in each. So I move it around between models to get the desired results. I got a "Record" curved bottom on sale somewhere with a nice thick blade also. The Stanley has an open throat which is great for removing a lot of material fast. But with a thick blade it is perfect for fine work. Used them on dulcimers to remove the excess material from tops and bottoms hanging over. I would start with open setting removing a lot, but switch to one set for cut as I got close to the body.

I think the aftermarket blade you were thinking of is Hock and they are very good.
I'm a big fan of spokeshave and have maybe thirty, ten get used regularly each set a bit different and of course that and round soles.
Jim

Bob Howell wrote:The size of the throat clearance determines how much you can remove without a jam.

The Lee Valley kit I mentioned - the throat can be dialled-in by knurled adjusters. . Makes it a bargain if you go to the trouble to build it.

"I kicked around the kit idea and frankly, I'd prefer to have a hand made tool. But I know my limitations."

The Stanley or Record shaves are good tools and can often be found at flea markets for under $5. After you have used one for a while you may want to try your hand at making a wood bodied shave like a lot of the old timers did. You don't need a kit, just a piece of wood and an understanding of how they work.
With spoke shaves it is less about the tool and more about the tool user.

Thanks for all the advice. I put the low angle shave from wood river on the list. I had a look at it at Woodcraft and it felt good I the hand. I'll keep an eye out for a second hand Stanley or similar too. I think I'll need to just get some experience with them.

Hey Bryan,

Did you ever get the spokeshave?

I have a spare mujingfang spokeshave (decent stanley copy) that I bought from Japan woodworker years ago.
It still works great, but I use my lee valley shaves instead.

I'd be happy to just give it to you, if you'd like.
PM your mailing address.

-Matt

I read this thread and dug out a couple of my spokeshaves and tuned them up. I chose a Stanley 151 and a 151R, both metal bodied with the two adjusting screws. I have other wooden bodied ones with staked blades, and ones with simple clamp adjusters, but I thought these two would be fun - one is flat bottomed and one is round bottomed. I found the flat bottom one worked well for rough shaping the field of the neck, and the round bottomed one worked well for the transition from neck to headstock, but could quite get into the radius of the heel. Once I adjusted them they pulled shavings of curly maple quite well.

Brian

I did indeed get the spokeshave but have not had a chance to use it. I shaved a bit of scrap maple with it jsut to try it out but have not sharpened the blade or done any set up to it. I think I will like it for carving necks but probably not in the way I had hoped. I wanted to use it for heel and volute transitions but I don't thing the bevel up design will allow me to do inside curves as well as I had hoped. I do think using it on the shaft will be more pleasing than using the rasp as I had been. At some point I'll pick up a round bottom shave second hand and try that too. I'm sure that now that I have one, I will find several uses for it and wonder how I got by without it. . .

A curved sole shave is needed for tighter turns in the heel if insistent on use of a shave. The Lee Valley Low Angle Shave is convertible to either flat sole or moderate radius, while the Lie-Nielsen Preston-style curved sole shave or the Lee Valley knock-off of that shave will handle a little tighter paths. I have both in the shop, plus a couple others and prefer a good cabinet raspy cabinet file, and scraper for the job.