Spokeshave Q&A | Paul Sellers

[@devinhiatt9995]

"You want to get that sensitivity in your life." Wise words

[@marciocarneirosantos]

It´s incredible how many things I learn with each and every post! Now I know how to setup a spokeshave inherited from my great grand father.

[@dpgt3478]

I love this dude! Love the way his mind works and his perception on things. Very experienced and equipped with common sense. And finally the way he helps people and tends to the questions he never mocks or makes anyone look stupid, like the younger guys do usually. All the way from USA

[@Yakitoriotaku]

and he also doesn't have a million tools and clutter behind him

[@mattg6262]

He's like everyone's obliging workshop Grandpa! And I mean that in every conceivable best sense.

[@Mr_Rick]

It's called class! So many lack it today.

[@jaseswinconos]

​​@@mattg6262that's why a lot of us are here lol, my grandpa passed when I was too young to be interested in all this stuff. He got me interested in using hand tools, sharpening and maintaining tools tho. He was a professional machinist for decades so he could put a razor edge anything with his trusty bench grinder 😂 I've got an old putty knife he sharpened 15 years ago I still use to scrape glue lol.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

This content is GOLD. Thank you, Mr. Sellers!

[@HampsteadHomestead]

I've watched this video a year or more ago and keep coming back to learn new tips. Thank you Paul.

[@RandomPerson-bd2hv]

you saved my bacon today and the info in this video helped me restore and get functioning (really well by the way!) by grandfather's 1960-something Stanley No 151 spokeshave. So fun when it works! I had to cannibalize a blade from another tool ...and it worked pretty darn well. Once I understood the concepts you were teaching, I was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Thanks for giving me years of enjoyment with woodworking.

[@davidwolf6927]

Paul, this is so valuable. cannot thank you enough! bought a Stanley Spokeshave 151 and got it running after some work as you mentioned. Works perfectly know, but had to do every little mentioned detail. And then: the sensitivity and the way to use it, described here, helped a lot. very, very good advice, thanks again! you are the gentleman of woodworking :-)

[@billthompson9482]

Paul sellers, I watch this video and now I am able to use my spokeshave. My spokeshave was handed down to me from my grandfather it never worked. The chatter was unbelievable, the blade was sharp as a razor, it was useless. After all these years I found out the blade was upside down. I took for granted it was going in correctly because of the markings that were on the blade from the thumbscrew. All that is left now is to develop my hand skills.

[@mattevans-koch9353]

Thank you Paul for the excellent information on using the spokeshave. I have used my spokeshave for curved edges as well as making handles for my chisels. It is a very handy and useful tool once you get familiar with it. Please have a good week ahead.

[@theabandonedchanel]

Sharpened my spokeshave blades yesterday and would have to agree with Paul about using a jig but not for the same reasons. The central adjustment slots on these blades is probanly punched from flat stock and this can leave a nasty sharp edge. When flattening the back it is very easy to cut yourself not on the blade edge but the edge of the slots. Take care, I will be using a jig, or a pair of mole grips from now on. Thanks Paul great channel.

[@robertsimmons6945]

Big thanks Paul I was trying to use a new Record 151 today and was not getting anywhere, was trying to shave a piece of pine, now fully understand that I have to setup up and fettle all the tool, will use my new T8 and your flat glass technology, once again thank you. Robert simmons.

[@skippylippy547]

I learned so much from this video. I feel like I'm ready to purchase my first spokeshave and start using it.

[@uliman100]

For anyone out there that want to buy a good quality tool, have a look at the German made Kunz hand tools, they make all the tools similar to what Record and Stanley produced. good quality at a reasonable price. The irons in the Kunz are also of very good quality.

[@patatrac78]

Thanks a lot for core issue with spokeshave. interesting way to adjust flat modified spokeshave for a two in one tool. very clear explanation, thanks for your time with great pedagogic talk and practice show.

[@thecarpenter4228]

Right on point! I bought a bench dog brand spoke shave and was really starting to get frustrated with the chattering. I finally decided to look for a video to determine whether it's all on the user or if there is something missing in the quality or build of this product. Of course Paul showed up here and i learned that the iron is supposed to be bevel down. I was quite uncertain about this for 2 reasons. 1-the brand logo on the iron is on the bevel side. i just figured any company would position their logo facing up and/or out, where the brand can easily be identified, (and that's the way the manufacturer had it oriented in the package). 2-Placing the bevel down will leave a scary size gap between the iron and the sole, likely allowing room for shavings to get caught. But seeing Paul get such clean shavings, i figured i gotta try it and if I'm doing it correctly, all the shavings should be curling out the top.....duh! Makes too much sense for my over-engineering self to catch alone. LOL And that lead to fixing the other problem i was having.......chips (not shavings) getting caught UNDER the iron. Between the sole and the iron. Not the iron and the chip breaker/cap. With all the chatter i was getting from the bevel up position, i was indeed getting a lot of tiny chips and no shavings at all. those tiny chips were indeed getting caught under the iron, causing me to have to remove the cap and clear the spoil every few swipes. Now.....bevel down, no more chips, many more shavings and nothing getting caught under the iron. ok, i cut more wood now. Thanks Paul

[@LouisCheungCN]

Thank you for your advice. I am a beginner. Just ordered my pair of Stanley 151 Spokeshaves (flat + round) after watching your video (and your blog post from 2018).

[@robmarshallofficial]

Thank you so much for this video, it has helped explain how to use and sharpen the tools. I’ve just ordered a couple of spoke shaved off your advice

[@Christopher_Giustolisi]

I hated the spoke shave for a long time because I bought two crappy cheap ones, one rounded and one flat. The mouth was way too wide on both of them so especially the round one chattered across the wood no matter how sharp the iron and no matter how carefully I set it up. The cap iron was also comming loose when adjusting it. Those things were just no good. Then I bought a Stanley 152, modified it like Paul shows in this video and I´m happy with it ever since.

[@mm9773]

Sorry to say I just bought the only available vintage Record No: 0151 adjustable flat-soled spokeshave on Tooltique.co.uk - fully refurbished. Many many thanks to Paul for releasing this video - I recently decided to add a spokeshave to my collection, but I wasn’t sure if a flat-bottomed one would suffice, or whether to get a round-bottomed one as well: turns out a flat-soled one will do just fine for my purpose, and of course our Paul Sellers is once again the beautiful soul to answer all the questions I had just last week. Very timely.

[@mm9773]

Perhaps I should add that I’m not in cahoots with Tooltique. But they’re my recommendation for sourcing vintage, refurbished tools in Europe. I’ve filled my boots there, now I’m happy to share the secret. Be careful - very addictive.

[@PaulWoodJatobaFilms]

Thanks, Paul, a very useful video! I have just been using a spokeshave belonging to my great grandfather to make some kitchen spatulas from a piece of one of our olive trees I trimmed back last year. The tools are certainly a bit worn, but after watching your sharpening tips a while back, they have gone from the ornaments my father had, to working tools again,

[@silviapurba6515]

Required 44

[@silviapurba6515]

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[@boblevey]

Thank you so much for clearing up bevel up or down issue.. LOL could never get it to work before I heard this.. I have your books and DVD's and I'm getting there slowly..

[@boatrat]

Hah. I've done fine with the standard flat-bottom 151 shave before now. But that bit about filing a little flat on the round-bottom version, just blew my mind a little bit. I never knew I had a use for a small-radius metal spokeshave before. Now I actually have to go find one!

[@jpg6832]

Thank you so much for your detailed videos, there are very useful and encouraging. Cheers from Argentina.

[@turtleshell001]

love how he prints the questions out ! quality content

[@stevejaeger3550]

Wow....exactly what I needed. I just bought a brand new Stanley 151 and all this advice is perfect. Thanks Paul!

[@maq2054]

Thanks Paul, always clear, comprehensive videos.

[@jimbo2629]

I’ve just bought a new Stanley and tuned it up. I’ve honed the blade and mostly flattened the sole. One adjuster isn’t smooth and on inspection the threaded stud is not at right angles to the case and not parallel to the other. You get what you pay for. I should have aimed higher up market. After some fiddling I got the blade protrusion about right, but it’s skewed in the mouth. I shall have to send it back. I shall try a Luban

[@MarcoGuardigli00]

Thank you Paul! Great piece!

[@declanswords8704]

Hi Paul! You mention you partially flattened a round bottom spokeshave. It would be great if you described the process in text or video. Thank you very much for your channel, the best one on the net.

[@wb_finewoodworking]

Paul, this is by far the best video you or anyone else has produced on the spokeshave. After viewing this video I’m confident that I can get one and use it in my projects. If I have any problems referring back to the video should solve them. The video is outstanding! Thank you.

[@petermarsh4993]

Dear Paul, I have never enjoyed using a spokeshave and several points in this Q&A covered why. I never realised that they came in two forms - bi-curved and bi-straight. You mentioned flattening the front curve of a bi-curved spokeshave to give a leading plane flat surface. That sounds good but with the existing curve, getting a flat would remove a lot of metal. This makes a tight radius of curvature even tighter. Great for tight curves I suppose. How about the idea of taking a bi-flat spokeshave and grinding a curve in the trailing surface? Same end result but greater radius of curvature. This could be the basis of a short video on its own. If at the end of the day, I finally find a spokeshave useful, then the effort would have been worthwhile. Thanks for your excellent series on everything to do with hand tools and woodwork.

[@sameersinha1521]

a legend in himself, best of the best.

[@DarrelCarson]

Thanks for this very informative Q & A. I really enjoyed it. Now it's time let my muscles learn what this video has taught my brain.

[@Caasi67]

I bought a cheapie spokeshave on Amazon about a year ago and was having a lot of fun with it until I took it apart to sharpen it and it was never the same after that. Eventually I found a Stanley 151, immediatly took it apart and got that blade razor sharp, but it too didn't seem to work right. Discouraged, I pretty much gave up on the tool until just now when I watched this video, immediatly went down to my shop, flipped over the blades and now both cut like butter!

[@jfonixed]

great idea to list the questions and times in the written info. Thanks :)

[@pedearruda]

Thats a perfect classe about spokeshave. Liked a lot. Cheers from brazil..

[@spoonerbooner]

learnt loads and didn't have to put up with the usual KZbin over efforts in presenting, thanks Paul

[@IIJOSEPHXII]

Thanks for this. The last two questions were very helpful because I've just purchased my first spoke shave and the manufacturer must have packaged the blade upside down.

[@jaydaniels8698]

when I saw the title and the length of time for the video I thought how can you fill 35 min. boy was I wrong the caliber of question and your immense knowledge 35 min is barely enough I learned things that I never new there would be a question to.. but knowing myself I will be watching this again. Thank you to all

[@thomasarussellsr]

Such a depth of knowledge, thank you so much for sharing it with the rest of us who are interested in learning.

[@fusion-music]

So much to learn from this video which is also useful on other tools like chisels and planes. I do wish though you could experience the joy of Japanese saws - which as you know, cut on the pull. It is my go-to saw, and I get so much more please out if it compared to the tenon saw. The tenon was always my go-to saw. I loved the accuracy and fineness of it. Never dreamed a pull saw would do what it does, bur it gets into situation where a tenon saw just could not do as well. I bought mine specifically for making guitars, but actually use it all the time for jobs.

[@tangle70]

Such an under rated tool. Thanks for the video.

[@joshwatkins6907]

Thank you for uploading this Paul, i have recently restored my grandfathers hand planes and spokeshaves but have always had problems using spokeshaves. Thank you for thd information

[@stanmoderate4460]

Awesome! I should have mine working tomorrow!

[@TobiPHartmann]

Thank you Paul Yesterday my stanley 151 arrived but i had no Time to fit this biutiful thing After this Video i know i just have to spent 15min on it to make it work thanks a lot for sharing Greats from Germany

[@tomthumb1671]

Hi Paul, can you give us a video on how to set up and modify a curved spoke shave from untouched to ready to use, like how to file and set up a curved untouched spoke shave base in a video .. Thanks.

[@TornelliGuitars]

Thanks Paul, this has helped me enormously 👍

[@porterrasi]

Thank you Paul. Your keen insight has greatly influenced my introduction to working with hand tools and really enjoying woodworking. Well, woodworking on another level anyways.

[@bluesky5542]

Good work . I love your channel. 👍

[@johnkinsella4802]

I too love Galway, fantastic town, i also love how you work with and advocate for £15-£20 tools, i feel very lucky to have access to your knowledge, thank you Paul and team

[@boozoochavis7506]

Great as usual, and a heads up for the new Stanley #151, at least in the states the new model has been moved from being made in Mexico to a different factory in China. The quality is actually much improved overall from the older shaves just a year or three ago. I looked all over to buy a used model, could not find a decent one and would not spend the money for those new ones, the fit and finish was terrible! These newer units are much better, there is work to be done on the blade as the grind is odd, but other than that a great improvement overall. I hope this helps those of us who could not find a decent vintage model?!

[@bbfoto7248]

@Boozoo Chavis Thank you for posting this! A few years ago the Stanley 151 Spokeshave that I inherited from my grandfather went missing. :( Of course I was disappointed, and searched for it for days, but with no luck. However, I thought that it should be no problem to replace this simple tool with a new one. BOY WAS I WRONG! IMO, the new Stanley that I ordered to replace my original was a huge step down in quality in many regards... The casting, the quality of the thumbscrew's metal, threads, and knurling, and especially the quality of the blade steel were all sub-par. :/ It took quite a bit of work to even make it useable. IIRC, I paid about $23 for it. And let's be honest. These are one of the most basic and simply-designed hand tools you could own, and even for a new spokeshave made to the original Stanley's higher-quality, these should not be more than a $20 tool! So I just checked on Amazon for chits & giggles, and the new "Chinese" Stanley 151 was over $50! That is just pure insanity! Other sellers such as Zoro and Acme Tools had it for around $25. But the photos in the listings look identical to the current new Stanley that I have (which I'm assuming is the Mexican version). Unfortunately, I think that if you order a new Stanley 151 online, it may be very difficult to know if you will receive a newer Chinese-made or slightly older Mexican-made tool due to where the seller sources their stock. There are probably hundreds of thousands of the Mexican made spokeshaves still on warehouse shelves. So I looked online and in forums to see if there were higher quality spokeshaves available, and luckily, of course there are. Veritas, Dave's Shaves, and Lie-Neilsen, etc... BUT WAIT!!! All of these are WELL OVER $100!!! And even just a good quality replacement blade is over $40!!! Guys, the blade is just a ~2"x2" piece of flat, hardened steel, NOT a high-quality, multi-faceted, precision, carbide tip router bit! Again, this is absolute insanity! I realize that these smaller companies need to make a profit, but come on! Seriously? Talk about a "Profit Organization"! Take another look at just what these are comprised of and how much material is used in order to manufacturer one. Ummm, yeah. In addition, I haven't read or seen any truly compelling reviews that these "High-End" boutique spokeshaves actually perform their duties in any significant manner that is better than the original Stanley 151. WTH? Don't get me wrong, I can see how the cost of the better quality smoothing planes etc are justified. But there is A LOT more that goes into their manufacturer compared to a simple spokeshave. Boozoo, do you happen to have photos or links to photos that you could post to show the actual differences between the Mexican and Chinese models??? I think I might just have to completely tear my shop apart and look for my grandfather's old Stanley spokeshave! Hopefully it is just hiding in some unseen nook & cranny and didn't grow legs and walk away.

[@brookedurkan8412]

Thanks Paul!

[@jamieedgar855]

Thanks again Paul. What would be really nice would be a video or blog post about making new bodies to fit irons fron old cream crackered wooden spokeshaves. I've got loads of them and it seams such a waste of that good steel. Main difficulty in my mind is making the holes for the tangs a good fit.

[@radoslawjocz2976]

I bought recently Stanley 151 straight spokeshave and I think it was a good choice, thanks for the video, it is nice to learn from you.

[@philipp4025]

It really is hard to hate Galway, what a lovely city. Also you're a real treasure! Greetings from anywhere within Europe (I tend to move a lot)

[@robinalexander5772]

Enjoyed video. Cheers from Tasmania

[@dickeydanger6156]

Thank you sir for saving me some headache.

[@johno6861]

I went from hating my spoke shave to loving it by going from sharp to scary sharp. I polish the blade without a micro edge.

[@pamtnman1515]

Paul (or any other helpful people), question: On your round-bottom spokeshave, is the blade curved at all? Or it is just a regular straight, flat blade cutting across a rounded surface? Thank you

[@stevebosun7410]

Hi Paul, can you give us a little more detail on how you modified your curved spokeshave. Thanks.

[@MadMulberry]

Yes please, I rewatched that section of the video 5 times and I’m still not sure of what needs to be done.

[@rcjbvermilion]

I think he rounded the bit between the blade and the front. It gives the front a bit of a curve. I think.

[@mildyproductive9726]

@@rcjbvermilion I think he flattened a round spokeshave, so that instead of being a "rocking chair" that you have to fight to keep the blade in the right spot, it has a small flat spot to index and guide the shaving. He chose to flatten the area of the sole in front of the blade, so it ends up working like a mini kana (japanese plane) which has the contact area in front of the blade (the short area of sole behind the blade is relieved a tiny bit and should be floating when you use the kana). After filing the sole to have this flat spot, you might have to retract the blade a frog's hair or two to get it to cut right. It should be able to get into just as tight a radius, but when using it in a really tight radius, you might have to extend the blade a frog's hair.

[@jondavies450]

Hi Paul, Any chance you could do a video on Fettling up a rough 151/152 with some nice close up shots, I am particularly interested in your modified 152 with the flat on the front part of the sole. Keep up the good work.

[@dennisoshea4906]

Thanks Paul for informative Love my 151 and use it quite often

[@johansmith5713]

Thanks for all the knowledge you share, it is really great stuff👌🏼 Would the same results be achieved if you round a little bit of the front and Back edges of the 151 spoke shave?

[@quadcoptervision]

next tool perhaps - great video - many thanks.

[@alphabrace]

what is the "regular can oil" you use on the bottom of the plane?

[@matthiasbecker-ql6pb]

love my Hand scraper blade ; ) ( and my ulmia sharpener for it )

[@bobbieboykin3527]

great teacher .know his shaves

[@timokuhmonen5215]

Thanks for the info... My father had used Stanley 51 flat spokeshave. Unfortunately the metal body has a fracture, in front of the blade. I quess it is not possible to repair. May serve as spare parts, if I manage to find old 51/51R pair somewhere...

[@toonybrain]

Thank you for this helpful video.

[@MrJimGallacher]

Super video Paul, you covered more than I realised there was to know - and covered the couple of problems I have encountered, ie. blade nice and sharp but back to front, plus tightening wrong screw. I recently stripped 20 years of paint off some garden bench pine slats about 3" wide 5' long and Spokers took it all right off, better than messing around with the heat gun and some burr on a chisel. I do wonder though if you have used the convex shaves for hollowing seats or scrubbing?

[@conradsmith9332]

Very good video paul, I really enjoyed it. Great tips I learnt a whole lot. Thanks. :)

[@judigrass2056]

Thank you Paul

[@markdmaker3173]

Awesome video, thank you so much for your knowledge and experience. I always learn so much from watching your videos.

[@davidgagnon2849]

Thank you for the new word; "fettling". I've not heard that word until now.

[@davidryle1164]

It's old English David, has its origins in Anglo Saxon

[@georgesweap7]

Good forum, great questions, fantastic solutions! I like this type of discussion.

[@jimradz6583]

Thanks for the great lesson.

[@havensole]

Thank you Paul. I am just about to pick up a spokeshave, so this has been very helpful.

[@williams.1130]

Fantasticly helpful. Almost all the questions applied to me lol.

[@jan-reiniervoute6701]

... a lot of the old woodworkers I used to work with. Splendid, uncle Paul, the grey is dust only. Keep going, produce fine content and Enjoy!

[@hippyamp]

I have a round bottom spoke shave. The problem with it is that the mouth of it is far too large. No matter the amount of adjustment done, it seems to snag regardless of grain direction. I don't know if there is a way to remedy it, maybe a spacer behind the blade.

[@Kikilang60]

Thanks Paul. This is very helpful.

[@metallitech]

I battled for hours with what I thought was a scraper. It turned out to be a flat spokeshave.

[@IrfanAKhan-ee4nr]

I bought spokeshave No 63, made in Germany. I would like to know where and what type of blade I need to buy. Thanks

[@micheljauvin3536]

very good q&A

[@arkansas1336]

Thanks for the lessons, very well taught!

[@lilcicero77]

I DID wonder today whether it might be possible to use a bench plane on a pull stroke just like with a spokeshave, but I was sure it was one of my weird ideas that sounds logical but would never be done !

[@makenchips]

Do us and Mr. Mr. Sellers a favor I you give a thumbs down you should comment on yo why so he can understand your rating. I personally dont understand why any one gives a thumbs down to any one like Paul's work cause he is doing a great service to those interested in woodworking! Thumbs down are ok if the video is a waist so time or info is garbage, but you have to also state in comment so the can fix or mend the problem if they can. Do be so lazy and give a thumbs down and walk away or make a counter video and post it and see what you do to improve it. Steven Columbus Michigan

[@gcanaday1]

The MF #1 can have its iron treated like the bevel up iron of a wooden shave. Of course, the bevel is down, but it serves as the sole of the iron in use. The mouth must be just big enough to pass the chip. Sharpening is pretty hard. The bevel must have NO camber in any direction! I have two of them, one with an aftermarket iron and another with the factory iron. The factory iron works better mostly because the inner diameter is the same or slightly smaller than the body of the shave. If the diameter is larger, the edge will pull away from the body in such a way that the mouth is enormous. Personally, I have had far better luck with the #2. It can technically do both curved and flat depending on how you have the sole "formouth" set. Generally I have this set for curved and use a 151 for straight surfaces.

[@David_K_pi]

What type of oil was used to lubricate the bottom of the spokeshave, i.e., what's in the oil can? Anything special about it? Thanks!

[@ccso917]

3 in 1 light machine oil is what he has recommended in the past

[@David_K_pi]

@@ccso917 - Many thanks!

[@andrewnewman520]

How to make a Rag-in-a-can Oiler | Paul Sellers

[@wilkbor]

Thanks for the video

[@vincent7520]

Thanks for the info … And yes, Stanley always come rough … keep the good work coming !…

[@simonscott2806]

My new (vintage151) spokeshave from Ebay has a blade which is not flat across the back, also the cutting edge also seems more worn in the center so it is a slight crescent. Is it first necessary to flatten the back prior to addressing the cutting edge?

[@243WW]

Very helpful, Thanks immensely!

[@chessguru900]

Is there any of these for rounding wood like one for shaving snooker cues.

[@gunnyoorah1846]

how to weld the metal tang on a vintage wooden spokeshave. like the one you have. i purchased it online and found out as i was removing the rust that one of the tangs was cracked off. i tryed JD WELD and ca glue mix with salt. no good kept breaking off. a little help please...

[@miketownsend6108]

thanks Paul

[@timolock4331]

hi Paul can you do a video on sharpening and use of the hand router have just got a stanley 71 but finding it difficult to sharpen 100 % thanks

[@hassanal-mosawi6049]

Thanks for sharing that

[@abdurrahmanbulut7571]

I got an old stanley 151 from a friend. It is missing its lever cap. The iron is secured with a washer under the main screw. How does a spokeshave perform without a lever cap?

[@thomasverdi2056]

1st. Always informative