old stanley spokeshaves

[Steven Hsieh]

I don't know anything about old stanley spoke shaves. Can anyone help me which one is recommended for flat, concave, convex, concave, etc..?
Im also looking at new veritas and Lie-Nielsen. But Im leaning toward to used.

Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

I have a #51 & a #63. The #51 is flat sole and the #63 is a convex sole shave.

A concave sole spokeshave may not be feasible since the size of curve couldn't vary by much. Most folks use a flat soled spokeshave to work on convex shapes. Also for this are circular planes like the #20 or #113.

There are many convex sole shaves having a different radius than the #63. There is a limit to how tight of a curve my #63 can work in.

A lot can be learned about spoke shave just be reading the auctions on them.

jtk

[Patrick Tipton]

I don't know anything about old stanley spoke shaves. Can anyone help me which one is recommended for flat, concave, convex, concave, etc..?
Im also looking at new veritas and Lie-Nielsen. But Im leaning toward to used.

Thanks

It would be very helpful to know more about what you intend to shave. I have several old Stanleys, a wooden spoke shave and a Lie-Nielsen (Brian Boggs) round shave. I use each of them for certain purposes, mostly connected to making windsor chairs. Spoke shaves are generally useful to have around.

The 151 is a flat sole with screw adjustments. It is very similar to the 51, which has to be adjusted by tapping the blade (or a handle) to advance or retract the blade (like many wooden planes). Both work great, but the 151 is easier to set up. I have a Hock blade in one 151. It cuts better than my other standard 151, but it is not a crazy difference.

I would recommend you pick up a 151. You should be in for less than $50. Sharpen it up and enjoy.

[Jim Koepke]

One bit of advice is to pass on any of the newer "recreations" by the companies that paint everything green.

I have a pair of those that are totally useless. As time goes by, I may try to see if the blades are made of decent metal.

jtk

[Sean Hughto]

They all work pretty well in my experience. The model differences are just user preference and what you become used to. The 151 is easier to adjust, but you pay teh price of it being heavier. The common 51's - like from the SW era - 1930's are good. I really like my 54, with the adjustable mouth, but they can be a little harder to find and more expensive. The curved bottom ones are good too, though may frustrate a beginner at first until you get the feel of the angle of attack. The old Stanley's are inexpensive and perform well. Buy a common flat sole - sharpen it up, and have some fun. Be careful though, because like old chisels, they breed like rabbits in your chests and tool drawers.

[Kenneth Speed]

I bought an old 151 that was in pretty good shape but I've had to spend a lot of time tuning it up. A spokeshave is essentially a plane with a very short sole and needs to be set up in a similar manner. The old Stanley I bought needed a lot of flattening of the casting that the blade clamps against. This is file work and not especially easy to do.

In contrast I have a cigar shave made by Woodjoy tools and while it cost much more and took a little trial and error to learn to use, it was perfect and needed nothing but blade setting before it could be used.



I'm not sorry I bought it but I think it's a matter of whether you like your tools to be ready to work out of the box or if you're OK with doing a lot of tuning to get them to work well.


Ken

[Sean Hughto]

Just for the benefit of the OP, I'd offer that I have a lot of old metal Stanley's - like 1900 to 1935 vintage - and beyond some sharpening and a maybe some cleaning in a few instances I've neve had any problem getting them to work very well. A long long time ago I was given a 1970's vintage Record that was more like a metal spokeshave kit as far as poor castings covered in thick paint, poorly bedded blade, rough mouth, etc. You can get a 51 for probably less than $10. Sharpen the blade and give it a go. Some of my shaves there in the top:


By the way, LN's boggs shaves, Hock's kit, Dave's Shaves, Woodjoy, etc. are all great too. I'm only answering about old Stanley's cause that's what you asked about.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I bought an old 151 that was in pretty good shape but I've had to spend a lot of time tuning it up. A spokeshave is essentially a plane with a very short sole and needs to be set up in a similar manner. The old Stanley I bought needed a lot of flattening of the casting that the blade clamps against. This is file work and not especially easy to do.

In contrast I have a cigar shave made by Woodjoy tools and while it cost much more and took a little trial and error to learn to use, it was perfect and needed nothing but blade setting before it could be used.

Ken

The reason the cigar shaves (and some other spokeshave designs) don't require fettling like a plane is that, in contrast to Stanley 51/151, etc., is that the cigar shave is NOT like a plane with a very short sole. The flat section on the body of the cigar shave (Goodell's patent spec calls it a face-bevel) isn't a sole that lies flat against the wood (at least not the way I use them). It is simply a cutaway that allows the blade access to the wood. At most the square edge of the flat section (i.e., the leading edge of the mouth, if that's what you want to call it) rests against the wood to provide stability. A cigar shave is maybe closer to a small draw knife than it is to a small plane, although that's not a perfect analogy either because nothing but the blade of a draw knife touches the wood. In fact, Goodell's patent spec calls the blade a knife or a cutter and describes it as cutting the wood rather than scraping it.

As you mentioned, it takes a little practice to get the hang of a cigar shave -- again, not unlike a draw knife. The really tricky part, however, is keeping sharpening the blade correctly. If the angle of the knife bevel is too great, the cutting edge won't even touch the wood. That's why it makes sense to me to put the secondary bevel on the inside of the blade, not the outside, if you use one at all.

Sorry if I've taken this too far afield of the OP topic, which is Stanley spokeshaves.