I wanted to check that spokeshave shape since long ago. Why so squarish? There must be a reason. I also liked the cherry wood, so I finally gave it the go and cut it by half. I really like the pattern but it's too small a piece to use into something.
I was also doing some of the stair handrail earlier, and wanted a flat spokeshave for the top and bottom of the rail. Maybe I need to put a twist on the sole of the spokeshave, will see that later.
Oh, cherry sucks as a dai wood btw. Get hammer marks too fast, it's not spongy enough, and takes lots of force to unwedge the blade. Anyway, doesn't matter, put something soft on the bed, some inserts on the sole, and wood to go. Good I mean.
So, look at those curves man, and tell me is not sexy.
There are still places that need doing, and I need to check with the other arm of the rail.
And yet another one. A ball on the top should follow the middle line of the rail. There you go, you understood the steepest decent method.
And the shave next to his friend
Planes are female, but shaves are male, maybe it's the orientation of the grain.
it looks cool but shatters when it cuts. It's real nice to make chamfers btw, I think the square cross section tells your hands at what angle it is, better than with the curvy shaves. As you can see, I didn't follow to closely my lines nor measured anything as usual. I'm getting too much of a friend of "that will do", maybe it's the jobless thing. Btw, you maybe can see, but it's also a high angle spoke shave, closer to the 45 degrees than the normal 38. I can change that planing the sole later, but maybe it's supposed to be so.
Here one on ebay that gave me the idea
You remember it, a dusty plane on a shelf, mouth opening on that one a bit sloppy from the outset, a piece of hard pinkish unnamable wood set in to close things up but an epoxy mixture not wanting to cooperate. It was also this Sunday, something telling me to take that one in hand and see if the epoxy ever did do its thing and it looked like maybe it had. Some trimming down, some careful filing, and after conditioning the sole of that plane, as they say, it begins to produce some very decent shavings and is surely a pleasure to put to wood, this time some fine douglas fir giving it a glass like finish. Humm, these Japanese planes, maybe there is something to it after all.
ReplyDeleteof course I remember, beautiful blade that one. Good to hear it's been put to use.
DeleteFor "that will do" you seem to be doing pretty well. Are there any other carpenters within 300 miles that can make curved handrail or layout for spiral staircase? Its easy to be the best if you're the only one, haha.
ReplyDeleteYou're not jobless if you hire yourself.
I forgot to add "layout the joint before cutting the curves on the rail." The joint was impossible to mark accurately, or I could not do it, once it was cut. I wanted a dovetailed half lap but the gap on the lapped part is gigantic. I tell myself it doesn't matter since it's not a structural joint and my mother is not using again that rail any time soon, so it's mostly for the looks.
DeleteThere was an exposition in the national museum of beaux arts, and the guys there showed some mortice and tenon. They even want to have a book about that. Totally lame. I guess then yeah, I'm the only one around... but that's too easy here.
And if I'm hiring myself I'm a really permissive boss, almost noon and still in bed :P tome to get my ass off to work something.