A couple years ago I got this wooden spokeshave as part of a small lot of tools. I've used it a couple of times, but it's never been quite right. The iron has "tangs" that are threaded and it is fixed in place by two thumb-screws (I guess these would be thumb-nuts) that engage the threaded tangs. There is a fair amount of play between the tang-screws and nuts.
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| Clark Tool Co. spokeshave |
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| Bottom view |
When the thumb nuts are tightened down all the way, the iron won't cut because it is below the level of the brass wear plate. When the iron position is adjusted using the thumb screws, it's not held firmly in place due to the play between screw and nut.
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| The iron when fully tightened is below the brass |
I noticed that where the iron mates with the spokeshave body there are large gaps, so the iron doesn't rest on much.
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| Right side |
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| Left side |
I thought if I plugged these holes that the iron would have something to seat against. So I very carefully cut and fitted two plugs, testing the iron in the shave many times as I pared away the plugs to get the fit I wanted.
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| Right side with the piece being fitted in place |
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| Right side with iron installed - note the solid contact with the plug |
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Set one plug a little higher than the other to allow heavier or
lighter shavings depending on which side I use to shave |
You can see in the above pic that one side of the iron is set shallower than the other. The iron is fully tightened down and this will let me cut heavier on the left side of the iron than the right. And because it's tightened down fully, there's no play to allow the iron to move around in use.
I've tried it out and it definitely works better. It's not adjustable anymore, but I'm OK with that. I'm still getting a bit of chatter on more difficult cuts, but it's better than it was.
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