Thread: One down ...

What I was attempting to explain - and please keep in mind that my actual use of the travisher is only minutes longer than yours - is that this is a tool with a single setting but multiple use. For those familiar with wooden spokeshaves, they will recognise that you can take a deep shaving simply by rolling the wrists back, and a fine shaving by rolling the wrists forward. The mouth rocks open and closed. The travisher is the same. Unlike a plane or a metal spokeshave - where one extends or closes down the blade - the adjustment for the cut lies in the wrists (well, actually it lies with the positioning of the mouth and blade, which it can do as the sole is curved). This enables one to take a heavy cut (hogging) and immediately follow it with a light cut (smoothing) ... without altering a setting. The difficulty one has with this tool is that it works counter to one's experience.

Pete Gelbert explains all this much better ...




Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by IanW

If I built chairs all day every day, I think I'd burn a few electrons to hog out the bulk of the waste, then clean it up with hand tools.

agree,
but I thought we were discussing hand (and body) powered tools

Originally Posted by IanW

As I understand it, you can use travishers for the whole process - a coarse-set one for for rapid waste removal and a less aggressive one for tidying up. Because the version we're discussing here is only 'adjustable' over a limited range, you'd probably keep two or three on the go, set up for the different tasks.

true.
my point was as that in a hand tool only production environment there are a number of tools that are much more efficient at hollowing a chair seat than a travisher. Of course, this comment assumes the maker has the appropriate skills. If you have ever seen a skilled carpenter scribe a cabinet to a wall using a hatchet you will know what I mean.