Thread: Spokeshaves - Low Angle or not low angle, that is the question

I've got the two normal spokies on my wish list, God knows how long they'll be there because there's lots ahead of them. I've never seen any feedback on the LA spokeshave but I am curious.

Popular Woodworking did a review in April '04 and is found here. They rate the Veritas LA as a good spokie but give the LN Boggs and Veritas normal the big thumbs up. (the LN is twice the price of the Veritas).

This is the only review I have found at the moment

I heard a rumour there might be a couple of HNT Gordon spoke shaves coming out this year. I've had a LV low angle shave for a few years now and have no complaints but then I don't have any normal spoke shaves to compare it to either.

Slavo,

I have both LV (flat and round) and I use them pretty much on a daily basis (boatbuilding). Excellent on end grain with a skewed cut and a bit of wax. I used to use older Stanleys (and I thought that they were good) but the LV leave them for dead.

regards,

AD

Thanks Bloggs, looks like I will go for the flat and round spokies
Slavo

Slavo
Here is discussion from over 'ome on the LV spokeshaves. The author also has reviews on most of the LV planes on the UK forumn
Paul

LV Spokeshaves

I have a Veritas low-angle, Record A151 (flat), Stanley #152 (round), Stanley #51 (haven't tried this yet). Both the Record and Stanley (#151) chatter. However, I've tuned them and have worked on my technique, and am happy with the performance.

The low-angle:

- nice cut when used as a flat
- adjustable mouth so no chattering, but need to take care when adjusting the depth of cut to avoid cutting out small chunks even with a closed mouth
- the cut is ok when used as a round, but the curve of the shave is very limiting. This spokeshave definately won't replace the round, I'll be keeping my Stanley round
- more difficult to adjust the depth of cut than it is with the Stanley and Record (need to ajust with screwdriver, which is silly as they could have used a screw that can be adjusted by hand), which can be a pain

If I knew the above prior to buying the low-angle, I wouldn't have bought it. If you need a round, depending on the angles/radius you cut, then I'd say buy a normal round.

Regards,

Michael

I used a few different types of spokeshaves when building a bowsaw recently.

My favourite remains a vintage Stanley #53, which has a variable mouth, and can quickly go from a coarse to a fine cut. It is a bevel down design and great with difficult grain.

I also used a Stanley #55 for rounding edges. This is a non-adjustable type, which I much prefer to the adjustable ones.

The other spokeshave I used was a new Veritas low angle. This was my first experience with it, and it felt very different to the #53. I must admit that I have not mastered it, and found it a little unusual. It was, as expected, cleaner on end grain, which is its area of speciality.

I do have a few recent model Stanleys. They generally remain on the shelf unused since I find them unpredictable and very cumbersome. I have not tried the other LV or LNs, so all I can recommend is that you try out a #53.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I've used the 'standard' Stanley/Record flat and round bottoms for many years (30 plus). They have issues, such as chatter on heavy cross-grain cuts, but can do a good job if coaxed along. I recently (couple of months ago) got myself a LV but have used it only for an hour or so, so my impressions are very preliminary. First, I'm still getting used to the round handles - the Stanleys are crude, but the design resists turning in your hands. I find myself holding the LV very tightly, and wishing they'd put more definite thumb rests on it to help with the grip. This is probably just me, and I will get used to it in time. The fat blade helps keep things solid, so it has less tendency to chatter, but you can certainly make it do so if you really try. I'm wondering if I would be just as well off if I'd done what I had been planning for some years, which was to get some after-market fat blades for the old things?
I agree with Derek that the adjusters are hardly worth having - You tend to set a spokeshave up for its optimum cut and leave it there. I have a very basic old no-name that works reasonably well, and I never notice that it doesn't have screw adjustors.
Cheers,

I have the LN Boggs spokeshaves. They work very nicely for me.

Prior to that I tried many times using my modern Record spokeshave. I estimate it chatters more than I would if I was naked on the South Pole eating an icecream.