Spokeshave Resource Website?

Re: Spokeshave Resource Website? *LINK*

Eric Hedberg

>Scott,

I don't know of any definitive sites. The amazon link to the Thomas Lamond book below is the most comprehensive around if you can find a copy. They are covered in some detail in Hack's book on Hand Planes. You can also glean bits from Rae's book on hand tools as well as other sources. There isn't tremendous difference in the early mainstream designs of Bailey/Stanley a few exceptions being those by Millers Falls and Cincinnati Tool. I've found the best way to get familiar is to keep an eye on ebay as they come up for sale. It doesn't take long to get to know the numbers and styles. Eric


http://www,amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0965540103/qid%3D1080232927/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-5728068-4395950

Some B&G...very long

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>The following was posted on rec.woodworking by Patrick Leach in 1995.

The #51 and #52 were two of the most popular designs offered by Stanley. These spokeshaves are of the basic design (as described above), with a

2 1/8"W iron. The two models only differ from each other in the shapes of their handles the #51 has curved, semi-gullwing handles, whereas the

#52 has straight handles. The #52 seems to be the weaker designs of the two it's often found with one of its handles repaired, right where it joins the bed. In all metallic spokeshaves, the portion of the casting just in front of the iron should be inspected for cracks or repairs. This part of the casting is very delicate in relation to the rest of the tool, and can be often found broken.

An improved design to these two spokeshaves was invented by Stanley. This new design called for two thumb screws, which engage slots at the heel of the iron, to permit some mechanical means of adjusting the iron. The screws ride on separate threaded rods directly behind the iron. These threaded rods can become bent, making adjustment difficult. The two models were designated #151 and #152, and they follow the identical handle designs as the #51 and #52.

Stanley also made two variations of the #151, one of which is made of malleable iron, and the other made with a round (convex) sole. The one made of malleable iron is #151M, and it was made to withstand slamming it on concrete. The round sole model, the #151R, is one of Stanley's rarest

shaves. It was only offered for a few short years, but the English seemed to prefer it more that us Americans. The English-made model is far more

common and nowhere near as valuable as the American-made one. If you collect this stuff, be careful that you're buying an American one. "Made in England" on the iron or cast into the tool ought to offer a clue here. If you're a user, the English-made model is juat as good as the American.

The #53 and #54 are similar to the #51 and #52 (#53 has the curved handles and the #54 the straight), but they have an adjustable throat. A pivotable, cast iron (some are made with gun metal) yoke is pinned to the main casting. The lower portion of this yoke acts as the front of the sole, and it is moved nearer or farther to the iron by means of a thumb screw at the yoke's top. Beneath the yoke, to the right and left of it, are two small springs that push the yoke away from the iron as pressure on the yoke is relieved via the thumb screw. These springs also offer some tension on the yoke as it's adjusted. Make sure that the springs are present otherwise the yoke will move freely and not stay in place.

The iron is held to the tool with a slotted screw. The iron itself is slotted for roughly two-thirds its length, with the slot running all the way through the top end of the iron. The iron must be designed this way to allow the yoke's thumb screw to place pressure on the main casting and not on the iron. If the thumb screw made contact with the iron, the iron would be near impossible to set. Once you learn the quirks of this tool, you'll find it nice to use.

The #55 has a concave sole (arcoss the with of the iron) making it useful for rounding. The tool has a different means of securing its iron in place. This tool has a flat, slotted cap through which a slotted screw passes. The cap fits over the iron, also slotted, and together they are screwed to the main casting. The handles are curved. The heel of the iron has a pronounced

curvature to it, following the curvature of the cutting end.

The #60 is actually two spokeshaves in one. A straight iron and a concave iron are fitted into the tool side-by-side. Each of the irons is 1 1/2"

wide, which is far narrower than the normal width of 2 1/8" used on most of the other spokeshaves. Still, the tool is nice for general purpose work

within its range. There is a flaw that this spokeshave tends to suffer. The casting that's used to secure the two blades in place often is cracked near one of the three screws. Stanley made an attempt to correct this problem by replacing this piece with a flat bar of steel.

The #63 is a lightweight convex sole spokeshave. It's very common, and is the cheapest spokeshave for doing concave work. The iron is 1 3/4" wide. It has a nearly identical brother, the #64, which has a flat sole.

The #65 is a rather funky looking tool. Its purpose is to cut chamfers. There are two adjustable fences that move along the spokeshave's cutting edge. These two fences are moved manually and are secured by thumb screws. The fence regulates the width of the chamfer by exposing a portion of the cutting edge. It's a clever little tool, and if you're into chamfering, it's a much cheaper alternative to the costly #72 plane.

The #67 is Stanley's most complex spokeshave. The company which gave us so many gadgets in their plane line found it necessary to provide us with

at least one in their spokeshave line. This spokeshave was called the "Universal Spoke Shave", not because it was favored everywhere but because

it could be adjusted to particular applications.

The tool has a nickel plated frame, which carries the blade. Into this frame are screwed two turned rosewood handles. Each of the handles is marked, either L or R, to designate into which side of the tool the handles are screwed (in case it ain't obvious, L means left and R means right). The

handles are normally position so that they oppose each other and the tool is configured like a normal spokeshave is. But, there are also two other holes (again, marked L and R) in the frame into which the handles can be screwed. These holes are positioned above the mouth of the tool, allowing it to be configured so that the handles are at a right angle to each other. This permits the tool to take advantage of its rabbet mouth and work into corners. If that isn't enough already, this tool also comes equipped with two interchangable soles - one flat and one curved (convex). But wait, there's even more! There is also a small fence that slips over the face of the

tool to control the width of the cut. A lot of parts for what should be a simple tool. As might be expected, the parts can easily be misplaced,

and they usually are. The tool is most often found missing one of its soles and its fence. If you're hunting for replacement parts, start by looking in your clothes dryer. After that, get in line.

Millers Falls made two very nice spokeshaves, the No. 1 and the No. 2. Both of these spokeshaves are characterized by nicely turned rosewood or cocobolo handles, either of which may be removed (unscrewed) when working tight areas. They are also nickel plated, making for a rather striking

tool when in mint condition.

The No. 1 is a circular spokeshave, about the diameter of a bread stick. The tool is used for doing curved work and is capable of working tight

radii. A curved iron sits outside the tool and is secured in place by two conical headed screws. The tool can be rather difficult to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's the one you go to when doing curved work. Its small size makes it ideal to work tight radii, which no Stanley shave can work satisfactorily.

The No. 2 is a rather wierd little beast. It has an iron, with two slots in it, which rests on an inclined bed, like the common Stanley models.

Through each of the slots a screw passes to secure the iron to the bed. Forward of the iron is a removable sole section, which is held in place on

the tool with two small thumb screws. The sole section has four different shapes to it, and can be positioned for curved or straight work as the

case may be. As a side benefit of this sole piece, the mouth of the tool can easily be opened or closed simply by sliding the sole piece either

farther or nearer the iron. It's one nice tool, given to us by a fellow from Erving, MA, which today is only famous for the manufacture of toilet

paper.

One of the most ingenious spokeshaves ever to appear on the market was invented by a dude from the Arizona Territories, back in 1900. He had to

go all the way to Syracuse, NY to find someone, E.C.Stearns, to make his product. The design gets an A for effort, but an F for longevity.

The shave has all the bells and whistles one could ever hope to include on such a simple tool - there is a cap iron that can be positioned as near

or as far on the cutting edge as the worker deems appropriate, the mouth can be open or closed using the exact same yoke assembly as found on the

Stanley #53 and #54, and the real 'benefit' that this tool offered is an adjustable sole. This wasn't any common adjustment mechanism. This one was a full-blown flexible sole that used a securing mechanism right off the Stanley #13.

A steel sole is bent to fit over the lowermost portion of the bed, on the main casting. The sole extends backward some 2 1/4" where it rolls around

a pin, which in turn is fastened to a curved bar. This bar loops back toward the front of the tool, and passes through a slotted and raised projection of the main casting, where a thumb screw secures the curved bar in position. Thus, it's possible to lock the sole into an infinite number of positions throughout the sole's range, be it concave or convex. Nice idea, and nice try, but there's one fundamental problem - the sole can't withstand repeated adjustment, and often tears, rendering the tool useless.

Mother lode!

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>Thanks, Scott - gonna print this out and try to absorb it. Great info!

the Other Scott

Re: Spokeshave Resource Website?

Dennis Mcdonaugh

>Here's some more info.

http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id16.html

Re: Some B&G...one more thing

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>I would just one comment to Patrick's comments on the 67 spokeshave.

Unlike most other metal spokeshaves, the blade is presented to the surface at a much lower angle similar to a wooden spokeshave, though not quite as low. I struggled with the other metal spokeshaves for years until I stumbled on one of these at an old tool sale for $20. Obviously not minty for that price but a good user.

Still, the wooden shaves still eat almost any metal shave for breakfast! :-) The LV perhaps notwithstanding, but then, it really is the same design as the wooden shaves just with a cast body.

Unfortunately I can't find a picture on the net of a Stanley 67 at the moment but Patrick's description is accurate.

Same text (I think) but with links to pics  *LINK*

Alice Frampton, UK

>


http://home.att.net/~the_tinker/oldtools/spokeshaves/leach-spoke.htm

Re: Spokeshave Resource Website?

John in West TN

>Dennis, what a great site! Thanks for the post.

Cheers,

John

Thanks for the link Alice!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>