On the matter of radius of a travisher, do any of you have comments on the paragraph.
I'm just curious.
My first travisher is one I purchased from one of the woodworking tool stores. It is one that has a prominent chairmakers name associated with it. It is a good tool and I have no complaints. The radius of the iron on it is about 4 1/4".
I was attending a Windsor chair class at Homestead Heritage near Waco and one of the other attendees had a travisher he made. He loaned it to me when I was carving the chair seat and I had better luck smoothing seat with it than with my own travisher (purchased from the store). I liked it so much that I was able talk him into selling it to me. The radius on the iron on it is 5.6". The flatter curve in the iron makes for very fine cross grain carving.
I have a question for you tool makers in this group. Have you made travishers and if so, what consideration did you give in determining the proper radius of the iron. Is there a standard?
I have no reason for asking other than curiosity. The maker of the second travisher said he formed the iron on an old automobile brake drum. It must have been a 10" drum.