From: walt@eng.clemson.edu (Walter B. Ligon III)
Subject: Re: drawknife use
Reply-To: walt@eng.clemson.edu
Organization: College of Engineering, Clemson Univ.
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 17:21:38 GMT

In article 7732@dove.nist.gov, wack@ariel.ncsl.nist.gov (John Wack) writes:
>
>I'm making a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired sofa table and, for a more
>contemporary look, am going to scallop the stiles that adorn the
>ends and mid-point of the table.  In other words, the stiles are
>about 1 x 2 x 18 and I'm going to make them concave along one 1 x 18
>dimension.  To do this, my brother, who's an accomplished woodcarver
>but who's just moved to CA far from here, recommends using a drawknife.
>(I should mention that I don't have a bandsaw, but could use a 
>friend's).
>
>John Wack
>


John, I can't say I've ever used a draw knife to do this, but it seems reasonable.
My first advice is work with the thing for a while before you butcher an expensive
piece of wood.  Start with whatever you can find and then a scrap of the species you
intend to use in the piece.  You might want to borrow your Bro's to be sure it's
the way you want to go first!  It is NOT the easy way to go - that'd be a jigsaw or
bandsaw, but if you only have 4 18" stiles to do - what the hell, go for it!

You use a draw knife by sitting with the piece perpendicular to your chest, and then
"draw" the knife to you with both hands, cutting off material as you go.  They are
usually used on a special bench called a "shaving horse" which is a bit much to
describe here, but I'm sure your Bro can clue you in.  Anyway, I don't think that
is mandatory, you should be able to improvise some other bench types or even a
Workmate or some such.

What I'd do is start by drawing the line you want to achieve, and then work slowly to
that line.  The problem with a drawknife is it is hard to get close to the line
without crossing it, because it is just a bare knife.  A better tool is a spokeshave,
which is kindof like a cross between a drawknife and a plane.  You use it like a
drawknife, but the edge is set into a sole to control the depth of cut.  They make
a special one with a rounded sole for use on a project like yours.  They also come
in flat, and curved.  You want the one whose sole is curved around an axis parallel
to the axis of the handle, as opposed to one curved around an exis perpendicular
to the handle, which is used for making dowels, or spokes (where the name
undoubtedly came from).  Anyway, you should be able to get into a spokeshave for
under $20.  BTW, one idea is to prowl around in some antique shops - I see drawknives
and spokeshaves for sale cheap all the time around here.  who knows, you might even
find an old shaving horse - I found a cool old leg vice that will soon grace my
(under construction) bench. If you want to buy a new drawknife or spokeshave, a
good source is Highland Hardware.  The address and phone number are in the FAQ.  They
have a free catalog which shows all of them, so get a copy and give it a look over.

Anyway, usually, the drawknife is used first (assuming you need to remove a good
bit of material) and then you come close to the line with the spokeshave.  Then,
if you want you can sand it all smooth, if you want it to look less "hand-made".
Anyway, a drawknife and spokeshave can be nice tools to have in your chest if you
are into hand-tooling it, and they ARE cheap! BTW, the spokeshave can be useful
even if you use the jigsaw or bandsaw, for final shaping.

Finally, you will want to pay considerable attention to sharpness of the edges.  This
reduces the force needed to do the work, which increases your ability to be
accurate.  If'n you're into hand tools, I'll assume you know all about sharpening -
and if not - just ask the net- there's alot of wisdom on that subject out there.

Walt