Curved Shaves

[Eric Brown]

I have several shaves for inside curved work. The "classic" is called the Cigar shave by Millers Falls. In actuality it was patented by Albert Goodell in Feb. 19, 1884 (pat #293651). Millers Falls acquired Goodell in the late 1800's.
Here are some of my shaves:

Curved Shaves Top.jpgCurved Shaves Bottom.jpg

From top to bottom:


Small unmarked bronze. Curved both directions. Good for dished surfaces. Flat blade.

Lie-Nielsen small bronze curved bottom. Fairly flat curvature. Flat blade. Well made.

Stanley #67 with curved sole (flat available). Removable handles - can be used for rabbets. Flat blade.

Millers Falls "Cigar" small diameter (about 5/8"). Curved blade. Works well.

Modern copy. Larger handles than MF, but body the same. Curved blade (Interchangable with MF) Works well.
Source: ebay item 331385929259 Made very well.

WoodJoy 5/8" diameter. Flat blade with micro-adjust. Made very well. Works well.

[Mike Holbrook]

My favorite shave for curved surfaces is the WoodJoy Two Inch Performance Spokeshave Compass. I use my 3" WoodJoy Master Spokeshave a good deal too. The Master has a reversible sole, one side is a compass and the other is flat. The Master shave is a similar shape to the cigar shaves but may be more versatile.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I'm a fan of the Millers Falls and the Stanley No. 67. I keep two 67's, one equipped with a flat sole and one with a convex sole. An interesting thing about the MF No. 2 and the No. 67 is that both of them had only one significant design change. Both of them started out with both handles held to the body with right-handed screw threads, which led to one of the handles coming loose fairly easily. Both companies later switched one handle to left-handed threads so that didn't happen. I'm not sure which one made the change first.

Albert Goodell was an employee of MF when he invented the cigar shave, which I think is a really creative design. He and his brother Henry, who also worked for Millers Falls, left and started the Goodell Brothers Company in 1888. Albert sold his share of Goodell Brothers in 1892 to start the Goodell Tool company with his son. Goodell Brothers became Goodell-Pratt. It was bought by Millers Falls in 1931 when its stock tanked after the crash. The Goodell brothers were involved in at least two other companies that bore their name -- Goodell Manufacturing and Goodell, Son and Company.

Here's some good information about the Goodell brothers, including a list of Albert's patents, and a history of their companies. http://oldtoolheaven.com/related/goodell-brothers.htm

[Eric Brown]

Thanks Mike an Michael for your input. I just got an e-mail from Tim (the modern copy above) about how he sharpens the curved blade. Here is what he said: "You do in fact hang the blade over the side of a stone. I use a dedicated stone (repeated sharpening will groove the stone) with a steel block (you can use wood) for the heel of the blade to ride on. By varying the thickness of this block you can adjust the angle of your cutting edge. With these tools angle isn't as critical as some others because you rotate the tool to control depth of cut--thus changing the angle of the cutting edge as presented to the wood." I will say his shaves come pre-sharpened and look/work very well. I can't believe he sells them for so little. He was formerly Kelly Toolworks and I just saw one of those sell for $127. The ones he offers now have larger handles of maple but otherwise are the same as the Millers Falls. Do a search for cigar shaves and you will find his offerings. (He works another full time job so his offerings are limited). I like the WoodJoy a lot also, but it has a different feel to it. The micro-adjust makes setup easy. Grain direction also can be a challenge. I like taking thin cuts. Wax helps too.

Enjoy. Eric

[Michael Ray Smith]

I think Tim must be the guy who sold me some replacement blades for my MF 2 on the 'Bay a while back. Excellent work. (The ultimate praise: They are comparable to the ones George made for me a few years ago.)

Another way to sharpen cigar shave blades is with sandpaper glued on a dowel. The angle of the bevel is fixed by the diameter of the dowel and the geometry of the particular blade, and, of course, the bevel produced by that method is a bit concave or hollow ground. I've thought about figuring out the formula for calculating the angle, but it quickly gave me a headache, so I didn't think about it very long.

The observation about the bevel angel not being crucial is correct, and the comment about adjusting the angle the cutting edge is presented to the wood is also spot on. Sometimes you see spokeshaves described as planes with very short soles, and that's a good analogy for shaves like the Stanley 51, etc. But it's not applicable to cigar shaves (or to the old wooden shaves or low angle shaves like the Veritas). In fact, I sometimes wonder if that's why some people find it tricky to use cigar shaves. If you think of them as small draw knives instead of small planes, using them becomes more intuitive. At least it works that way for me. YMMV.

[Mike Holbrook]

I bought two Eze-Lap diamond steel rod sharpeners to do heavier touch ups on drawknives, spokeshaves, travishers, inshaves, axes, adzes...The rods are available in round or oval shapes. I think mine are 600 & 300. I use several ceramic rods in round and elliptical shapes to do honing and polishing for touch ups. My triangular Spyderco knife sharpening jig & rods serve well too. Round, elliptical and triangular rods can adapt to curves easily and I find them easy to follow an existing bevel with too.