Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Innocente on November 30, 2009, 10:24:38 am
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hi
have read so much about the drawknife, and i can't visualize how it could be useful for really fine wood removal in bowmaking.
got on youtube and this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhAEa_d1Tw) showed me how one USES a drawknife. (in bark removal on a log).
any of you technosavvy guys willing to film yourself useing the drawknife on a bow in progress?
the pics are nice, but actually watching live action of a guy who knows how to do it is worth gold to a newbie.
thanks in advance
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Flip it over and use it bevel down.
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Flip it over and use it bevel down.
x2.
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A drawknife, like all hand tools, takes a LOT of practice before you start to feel proficient with it. It took me years to start really understanding what you can do with one, and start to feel comfortable that I was using it and it wasn't using me. Same deal with the adz, spokeshave, and other tools. Patience is the key to learning a craft, and willingness to use materials in the process.
Dane
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i agree with you dane. that's why i was hoping one of you more experienced bowyers would demonstrate correct use of the tool for us newbies
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I have never tried using the drawknife with the bevel down. I have seen some guys use it bevel down, but for me I have better control of it the way I'm used to, It just seems to hog off more wood with the bevel up.
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I'm with Dano. Bevel up gives me much more control. In fact, I've never had any luck bevel down- sharp or dull draw knife.
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I get my draw knife razor sharp and hold it 90 degrees above the bow limb and push it away from me with the bevel towards me and remove limb-long shavings of wood. I mainly use it for fine tillering. :) -josh
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You can also use the drawknife pushing away from you, with the blade facing away, not toward you. It feels strange at first, but once you have the basic technique, it is not that hard to do.
Dane
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I dont use a draw shave a whole lot but I like to use it bevel down. With the bevel up it seems to dive too deep. With it down I can get the right control and still take as much as I like. I like a slightly curved blade also. I know a lot of guys like the straight blades. I would try both and see what works for you.
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With the bevel up, I can't be sure of it not digging in on me, I can control it and cut how I want to bevel-down. I guess it's just what you get used to. I use mine like Josh said at 90 degrees as a scraper, too.
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I've mentioned this before to numerous people, but I use a drawknife with a small, flexible blade; it's the best tool I have. And I always use it with the bevel up. I haven't done much research into other companies that sell the same thing, but Flexcut has my drawknife of choice.
Sean
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You can vary the angle of attack to make a finer cut. The more the angle the finer the cut. However, you are better off with a scraper or rasp for really fine work. Jawge
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I use a drawknife almost exclusively. I have three that all have diferent bevels and are all three diferent sizes. A 15inch steep bevel for lots of quick removal of wood as well as bark, a 10 inch with slightly less navel that is sharper for more controlled wood removal and then a swedish carving draw knife with a five inch blade that is razor sharp ( literally ) for shaping handles and such. Of course I also use scrApers and files but the majority of my wood removal is with a drawknife.
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i use mine boyh ways, bevel up tp remove bark and sap wood, down and angled to chase a ring or scrape
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I do bark removal and most of the sap wood with the bevel up. I flip it over for finer shavings, like a spoke shave. You just have to get used to doing it.
Dano - Were you holding your tongue right?
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Prolly not Tom ::)
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I always have used my Draw knife bevel down so I can use the bevel for leverage to force the cutting edge up and out of a deep diving cut. .Flat side down you don't have the bevel to fulcrum the edge back up and out of a diving cut it will just stop the cut . flat side up lets you rock the knife on the bevel and have more control of the blades cutting angle. If it starts to do a diving cut you just twist the handles up as you pull back and pull it out of a dive my tool s are all razor sharp I use red metal polishing compound and leather .
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I always have used my Draw knife bevel down so I can use the bevel for leverage to force the cutting edge up and out of a deep diving cut. .Flat side down you don't have the bevel to fulcrum the edge back up and out of a diving cut it will just stop the cut . flat side up lets you rock the knife on the bevel and have more control of the blades cutting angle. If it starts to do a diving cut you just twist the handles up as you pull back and pull it out of a dive my tool s are all razor sharp I use red metal polishing compound and leather .
this sounds just like the way experienced carpenter uses a sharp chisel for mortising. :)
amazingly enough i read in TBB where one of the masters uses a dull draw knife to remove sapwood. he explained how there was a difference in sound that the softer wood makes as the dull blade crushes the fibers rather than actually cutting them. he'd use that to get the majority of the softer wood down to the heart ring he was after, then used a scraper to remove the rest.
i gotta admidt... i never had much use for blades that weren't really sharp myself..... Kirk
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Kirk, with all your experience, you oghta show us how to use the drawknife. Have ya found it yet?
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I use it bevel down, it is just too aggressive with it up. I stand it straight up and do some scraping but finish tiller with a red devil scaper.
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most times when i cut the sap wood down to heart wood on a Osage stave the sound and feel are hampered by the wood being wet but thats when you can really do some easy bark sap wood removal with a sharp draw knife . Dry osage wood will make the sound I love like a whistling that will stop when you hit winter growth when I hear that crunch I move on and work down slowly tilI I hit it again after about a foot of that I break out the big sawzall blade with the back edge sharpened with a file and get personal with the growth rings.