Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Sure, sure...
Scott in Douglassville, PA
>Yeah, whatever... ;^)
Ok, here's the one I made - cherry, mesquite clamping block. The throat's not quite deep enough - clogs up about half the time. And the radius is a little big for spindles. I'm fixin' to start another, like the gull-wing eBay one, with a 1/2" radius.
Lemme know if I can help at all, Skip.
Scott, badpenny in Douglassville, PA
SWEET!
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>Is that the same "hard as my head" Mesquite you sent me? It’s going to make real nice shaves, thanks dude. Put some BLO on a scrap piece it finishes beautifully!
Hmmm, if we got some wood from down under we could make Tasmanian chair devils :^)
Glad your back.
Input! Need Input!
Bob Hutchins in central Texas
>Howdy Scott!
Could you post a pic with the pieces disassembled? I can't see a throat. Where's the throat? Is that a piece of handsaw blade for the cutter? How did you cut it?
I want to make one for shaping walking sticks. I've got the old saw blades (no name non savers) but don't have a clue how to go about making the circular cut. I don't have a large enough diameter bit. What bit should I buy? Or, should I just take it to a machine shop? I was thinking about using some small threaded inserts set into the handle to lock the blade securely. Is that overkill?
Thanks for posting the pic.
BobH
Re: Sure, sure...
Skip in Falls Church
>Hi Scott,
I second Bob's questions - especially the throat The rest of the project looks fairly straight forward after making a few spokeshaves. However, it seems to me that the size and shape of the throat would be important to the devil working well.
I was thinking along the same lines Bob was too - threaded inserts for holding the whole thing together. Is that overkill? Anything you'd do different if you make another one?
Thanks,
Skip
OH! BTW
Skip in Falls Church
>Your devil looks great! You'll have to forgive me not mentioning that - I just woke up.
Skip (working his last night of the shift rotation)
WAY too much detail...
Scott in Douglassville, PA
>Hi, guys -
I took some pictures for you. FWIW, Greg Betit and John Jesseph have much more experience with these than do I, and I relied heavily upon Greg when making mine (thanks, Greg!), but here you are:
The escapement, or throat, is cut into the back of the clamping block. On the one I made, it's about 3/32" deep, which isn't quite enough, because it still chokes. The old one I picked up on eBay (the gull-winged one in the picture) has an extremely fine throat which works very well on very fine shavings. Anything more than light stokes, and it, too, clogs. Also, on both devils that I have, the clamping block has some cracks near the screws. I think both are too thin for the stress they see. On the next iteration, I'll be using a thicker block, which will stand proud of the surface of the body, and will cut the escapement more like 1/8" to 5/32" deep. Also, I cut the escapement so that it's a little narrower than the radius at the bottom, and opens up toward the top. I think Greg has one (or more) that has a much wider mouth; I'll likely go wider on the next one.
The gull wing devil has a brass wear; my cherry one doesn't. Probably going against the grain here, but I don't really think the wear is that necessary, and I'll tell you why: When I use these, the scraper is sitting proud of the bottom of the body. By adjusting how far beyond the body it extends, I can control how aggressive a shaving it takes, and the angle at which I have to hold the body. Set just so, the only thing touching the work is the scraper, or at most, the front edge of the clamping block. Since the body isn't riding on the work, the wear isn't really doing anything. Works for me, anyway.
The cutter on my cherry devil is made from an old scraper. Cut it with some tin snips, filed the edges smooth, and rounded the corners with emory cloth. I set up the radius by first drilling the profile into the body and completing all the woodwork. Once the scraper's ready, I insert it into the body so it sits flush to the bottom edge, and trace the radius with an awl. I then remove the scraper and get busy with a Dremel. Work slowly, keep some water on hand for cooling (though, if memory serves, it really never heated up much) and grind away to the line. Goes surprisingly quick.
BTW, a Dremel's your friend with this. I cut the escapement with a Dremel and router attachment. You could use a backsaw and chisels, too, though.
Threaded inserts would work, provided you could find itty bitty teeny ones. Langsner's plan actually calls for insetting some nuts in the back of the body and attaching the clamping block with machine bolts. I used little machine screws, and generally torque them down too tight. Since the block's thin and unsupported at the edges, it's starting to crack a bit. Doesn't affect it's performance any, but I wish it didn't happen. Ideally, you could make the scraper full-width and cut little elongated holes for the screws so it could be adjusted up and down, and then the block would be supported across its entire width.
Think that's about it. If there's anything I'm skipping over, let me know.
Scott
Bottom view...
Scott in Douglassville, PA
>
Disassembled...
Scott in Douglassville, PA
>
Thanks Scott...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>I saved the article for when I make mine.
I also save your pics for future acts of plagiarism...;^)
Re: WAY too much detail...
Skip in Falls Church
>Hi Scott,
*EXACTLY" the information I was looking for! I have some Jatoba and apple that I think will be just great for one or two. *THANKS!*
Skip
Perfect !!! Just What I Wanted to Know
Bob Hutchins in central Texas
>Thanks, Scott!!
Re: WAY too much detail...
john jesseph
>Looks great! I'll try to make one tomorrow and post pix of my success or failure...
Re: WAY too much detail...
William Duffield, on the Cohansey
>If you are having problems with the strength of the block, you might consider replacing it with a piece of brass. It's not a whole lot more difficult to work than wood.
Actually...
Dan Donaldson
>Brass is probably much easier to work than some of the woods they have in Australia ;-)