Shop-Made Spokeshaves

A spokeshave is the perfect choice for smoothing out a convex or concave surface quickly and easily. Buying a spokeshave is an option, but there’s nothing like the look and feel of a wood-bodied spokeshave. And having a pair is best, one with a flat bottom for convex curves and another with a curved bottom for concave surfaces. The body of a spokeshave is nothing more than a piece of wood with a narrow opening at the bottom for the blade. This throat opening widens toward the top, creating a bed for the blade and clearance for shavings. Trying to create this shaped opening from a single piece could be a real challenge. The solution is to make each spokeshave from two parts, a narrow front piece and a wider rear piece. Using two parts makes it easy to create a precise opening and an angled bed for the blade.