Thread: Need a good quality spokeshave recommendation

Dengy, both HNT Gordon and Lie Nielsen make wonderful spokeshaves. Not sure about cheaper, however

The alternative is a vintage Stanley #53 (or #54), which has an adjustable mouth. Fantastic.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Forgot to mention that he uses a standard and convex type.

I use spokeshaves to make kayak paddles all the time. A good spokeshave is worth its weight in gold. A poor one is one of the most frustrating things in life.

I use a veritas convex spokeshave. It’s worth every cent I paid. I’ve not tried the alternatives Derek mentioned but know I’ve forgotten what he veritas cost now, probably 10 years on from purchase - and I love it.


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I've had both flat & convex Veritas shaves for more than 20 years & also forgotten what I paid for them, but I imagine it was a bit less than they cost now.

At first, I hated those dinky round handles & resolved to replace them asap. I got as far as buying some connectors (because I happened to be in Canada at the time, & they cost about 50 cents apiece at the store in Ottawa) but there the project languished. I got used to the factory handles and might never have changed them but one day a bee got in my bonnet & I finally dunnit.

I also have my dad's old Stanley 150 (flat bottom) and a newer convex Record shave I bought years before the Veritas pair came into my life. If you keep an eye open, you can often pick these up for not very much. There's little to go wrong with them other than the adjuster thumb screws like to go AWOL, so if the bits are all present & correct & it hasn't been used to drive nails or received some other form of abuse that some imaginative person inflicted on it, it should be good to go with just a little fettling.

If you research the topic, you'll find lots of folks have a poor opinion of these tools, but they have their virtues; they are easy to hold for both pulling & pushing, for one. A thicker blade (available from LV, & I think Hock also do one), improves their performance to an amazing degree. I still use mine in preference to the Veritas's, for some jobs, they are better at taking coarse cuts thanks to their extra weight & larger handles..

Cheers,