Thread: Stanley 151 Spokeshave Light Pitting

What do you have in terms of stones or diamond plate, grinding wheel, etc?

Cheers,
Paul

I have a 300 diamond plate, 1000 and 6000 grit Japanese waterstones. Even with the 300 it will take a long time I think!

not exactly answering your question, but I bought a pair of old Stanley spokes flat and round, didn't touch them for a while, when tuning them up it was revealed that the the blades had schrunk from years of sharpening, to the point of useless,I purchased a LV blade,O1 or A2, works really well, have just received another PMV 11 blade,highly recommended,Rossco

If it seems like the blade isn't worth saving I'll go down that path. But hopefully I can make it cuttable!

I can see why the stanley spokeshaves aren't as revered as their planes. Some rough casting, the bed is enameled so it's hard to get the blade to sit flat. And behind that the bed itself isn't flat! Still think it will cut well once I get those sorted out though .

You could try a small back bevel to 'neutralize' the pitting. I've had success with back bevels on rotten plane irons.

Lee valley has that blade in o1 for a good price....

You could probably get your existing blade to work ok, by expending an awful lot of elbow grease, but I'll second windsurfer's suggestion of getting yourself a LV replacement blade. These are thicker than the originals, by just enough to make them feel substantially more solid - they are far less prone to chatter on heavy cuts. If you carefully touch-up the bed & get the blade sitting dead flat & the lever cap fitting evenly, so much the better. I put a LV replacement blade in the 150 I inherited from my father, and it made a very noticeable difference.

If you want something finer, you are probably better off getting hold of one of the newer breed of spokeshaves - I've got a LV pair which are an improvement on the 150, and you can spend many more $$s if you really want. Frankly, I don't think a spokeshave needs to be a high-precision instrument, for 95% of the jobs they are called on to do. Some people go to a lot of bother to tart them up, including shimming the blade to close the mouth. I found the new blade closes the mouth a bit, & adds to performance a little, perhaps, without making it too fine for rougher work. That's just one opinion, I'm sure the very dedicated spokeshavers will have others.....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by seanz

You could try a small back bevel to 'neutralize' the pitting. I've had success with back bevels on rotten plane irons.

+1 on this. Basically, the ruler trick. It's a spokeshave, not a panel plane.

Well, being a stinge, I'll have at it for a while with the stones and try the back bevel trick. If it doesn't come up cutting well I'll go for a new blade. I actually have a few things to order from LV so that might persuade me further

could save on having to flat tern the blade by putting say a 5 degree back bevel on it, to bypass the pitting.

If your using it on soft wood like say pine, the pittings not really a big deal. spokeshaves imo, are really good for ruff shaping. Just use it for ruff shaping.

these spokeshaves are everywhere. maybe could keep as is, and get a little collection of them together to make comparisons. With time it could help show just how much you need to sharpen.