Spokeshave

[Joelm]

Hi everyone, I've been on a hand tool buying kick lately and am now looking at getting my first spokeshave. With the pandemic and low stock I'm having a hard time finding a good quality one.  Lee Valley is put for a few months. Lie Nielsen's Boggs Flat Spokeshave is sold out as well.
Would the Lie Nielsen Small Bronze Spokeshave be a good spokeshave to start with or would it be too small?
I almost bought a super cheap Amazon one but would hate to buy a dud that I have to fight with. I'd rather get something that works out of the box and is a joy to use.
Are there any other makers out there that make quality spokeshaves and preferably have them in stock?

 

[Holzhacker]

Prowl craigslist, you'd be amazed at the cool old odd tools that pop up.
You could also try flea bay. Nice tools pop up but I don't know what some of those bidders are thinking price wise. Its crazy how high some stuff goes.

 

[waho6o9]

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_odkw=ottawa+ontario&_fosrp=1&_sop=12&_mPrRngCbx=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=spokeshave&_sacat=0
http://www.hocktools.com/smallshave/Spokeshave.htm
http://www.hocktools.com/products/kits.html

Making a spokeshave from a kit is a lot of fun, good luck on your journey.

 

[Joelm]

Thanks for the replies.

I decided to try out a kit. LV had them in stock so ill try shaping my own handle.

Only problem was I didn't have a rasp. So I've also ordered a hand stitched rasp to go with my spokeshave kit.

 

[Joelm]

I thought I'd post an update. The spokeshave kit was out of stock. So I did find a Vintage Seymour Smith & Son Spokeshave on Ebay that I ordered. Then my spokeshave kit showed up the next day while I was waiting for my ebay order to arrive. On Saturday I opened the kit and went through the instructions. Nice and detailed but it called for exact holes using a drill press (which I don't have yet). So I thought I'd look up Lee Valley again and drool over their spokeshaves. Low and behold the site said that the spokeshaves were back in stock! So I quickly ordered it. It arrived a few days ago and it is a blast! I decided to try my hand as spoons with scraps from my coffee table build. Here are the first spoons I made with my spokeshave (with help from a gouge and rasp).
View attachment 1View attachment 2View attachment 3

I'm really enjoying making spoons. I've been a sculptor for the past 20 years and this feels like a natural extension of my skills. I think I'll need to work on a different work holding solution though, standing upright at my MFT for a few hours each night is killing my back. I think one of my next builds will be some kind of shavehorse with a spoon mule.

 

[waho6o9]

Good looking spoons!
Thanks for the update