The Drawknife

[BobSmalser]

The drawknife is among the most useful and versatile tools in boatbuilding and general woodwork, but is also frightening, because it can behave like a power tool and get the beginner into a lot of trouble very quickly. That trouble, however, is merely a matter of sharpening the tool and learning to read the grain of the wood.

As my stones live their life out on the bench where they belong for daily use, they are filthy from saw and metal dust and need cleaning. A simple stiff parts-cleaning brush and a pan of kerosene does the trick. I

[BobSmalser]

Now we do the second critical part

[Johannah]

Bob, thanks so much! I do hope you will put all your traditional tool articles together sometime because I need to give that book to friends. There are books around but your description and pictures are particularly clear. Like many other folks, I really like hand tools and knives of all sorts but don't have enough experience with any of them (with the exception of pruning tools) to use them well. We have a wood carving friend who built his own shave horse (but uses the local term for this area which is a German word I can never remember) and also uses a draw knife in his work, but I just mess around with the draw knife and cobbled together clamps. The great appeal of this tool for me is that it cuts on the pull stroke which feels safer and steadier (not very good fine motor control here).

[Charlie Jones]

That drawknife is a really handy tool sometimes, for both roughing out and for smoothing cuts. Here's a pic of one being used to rough down the bevel on a keelson matching it to the stem piece on a B and B Yacht design Princess 22.

And by the way- I was using a spoke shave today on this same boat:)

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[BobSmalser]

Das Schnitzelbank, by Drew Langsner, chairmaker...I built it to his plans using old-growth DF with Madrone dumb head/treadle and lined the wear surfaces with brass or copper:

http://www.countryworkshops.org/CWshavehorse.html