Draw Knife aka spoke shave

[mrchuck]

Some call it a scraper or a "draw-knife.
Made by Fulton, stamped in the middle of the steel blade
Stamped 10, and the actual blade length is exactly 10 inches long.
The steel blade itself, is VERY sharp with no "dings"
Each wood handle is solid and has a metal cap on the end held in place by a steel pin nail.
When holding it, there is a "10" stamped in the steel above the left handle.
On the back, same side, is "BV" stamped in the steel.
I found this at our local week-end flea market.
It looks pretty old. Any ideas?

[Bill Houghton]

Yes, it's a drawknife.  It is NOT a spokeshave.  A spokeshave looks like one of these:

.

In general, drawknives are used for rough work, and spokeshaves for fine, although, with a little practice, it's possible to do surprisingly delicate work with a drawknife.

Fulton is a second line for Sears.  I don't know much about it; my impression is that the steel wasn't great, but you might find it a fine tool.  Sharpen it up and use it.

A couple of comments:

1.  Some people sharpen a microbevel on the back side of the bevel.  I've never done that, but those who do argue that you get more control.  Don't know.
2.  The commonest method of sharpening is to hold one handle in your hand with the other against your chest, and run a stone over the bevel, using a large enough stone that your fingers are out of danger.
3.  For rough work, say removing chips to make a bevel on a garden post, hold it with the bevel up and the handles slightly down and pull it in short, choppy motions to raise a chip with you then kind of chop off with the knife. I sometimes even do that karate "huhh!  huhh!" thing.
4.  For smoothing, let your mind calm, and stroke the knive (again, bevel up) along the wood as if it were a chisel, shaving off small shavings.

[bill300d]

mrchuck
    "The "Fulton" brand was the most frequently mentioned tool brand in the Sears catalogs of the pre-Craftsman era, and after the introduction of Craftsman tools, Sears continued to use the "Fulton" brand as a lower-cost alternative to the Craftsman selections." per alloyartifacts.com

Bill

[mrchuck]

Thanks for the knowledge. I remember as a young boy helping put in fence posts, and this tool was used to remove bark from limb wood that was used for the fence posts.
I will keep it in inventory.

[Branson]

The 10 means that the blade is 10 inches long.  It's a bit less common than the 8, which was the size most commonly found in a carpenter's tool box.  The largest I've ever had had 22 inches of blade, nearly long enough to qualify as a mast knife.  I love draw knives.  I especially like my century old
D. R. Bartons -- an 8 and a 10 -- and my older D. R. Barton and Buck Brothers 4 inch knives.  Maybe my favorite, though is a 6 inch carriage maker's drawknife.  It's lender enough and light enough to work wonderful curves and contours. 

Rough work... Well, yes.  Draw knives can do this,  but among the "rough work" done by draw knives were the graceful stocks of Pennsylvania and Kentucky long rifles.  Note that back in the day, the wheel wright at Colonial Williamsburg said (On The Woodwright Shop) that he never bothered to use a spoke shave but used his drawknife to make the finishing surfaces on spokes.

[scottg]

Fulton was Sear's mainline for about 30 or 40 years, then became its second line when Craftsman came in.
   Sears didn't make it. Sears never made anything. So it could be real good or it could be crap. Its a gamble.
Straight blades are my favorite. Many straight blades are good since its not as easy to make them.

The drawknife is one of the most versatile tools in woodworking. It has to be sharp though, really sharp.
Work it bevel up for the rough stuff. Work it bevel down for the fine stuff.
For the finest cuts of all, work bevel down and start at one corner of the blade and slide sideways as you gently pull. The shearing cut is very controllable and can work the hardest wood.
 You can work a sharp curve this way if you remember to always cut downhill. Start on one side of the curve and go to the bottom. Flip to the other side and go to the bottom again.
 You cannot work "uphill" or it will bust out chunks of wood.
       
   I keep about 5 sizes of drawknives in service at all times (plus backups, hah).
 From skinny little 4" blades to honkin big 16's.  Each has its use. 
 Here are a few words I wrote about drawknives one time.
  http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/drawknive.htm

  For sharpening I use a grinder and it takes some acrobatics, believe you me. But its do-able. I made a stand for a sharpening stone so I can home them properly. I have sometimes used a long stone freehand, but its not very good. It only takes a few minutes work to mount a sharpening stone box onto a tall pole (scrap of 2x6) to get the work up high enough to actually use.
 


 yours Scott

[scottg]

Of course a drawknife alone is tough to use, and dangerous.
 You need to hold the work with something better than your toes!!
 I use a large X of wood, anchored to the ground, and a sawhorse to hold poles around waist high.
 And for small work its either a vise or a shaving horse. The vise is fine if you are not working for long. But its slow to use.
 Faster by far is a shaving horse. Its an ancient invention that relies on your body weight to clamp the work. When you pull the knife you naturally extend your legs against the foot pedal, and that clamps the work as solid as a rock.
When you let go, its lets go, and you can instantly reposition the work! Very fast and versatile.   
 
  yours again Scott

[Bill Houghton]

The 10 means that the blade is 10 inches long.  It's a bit less common than the 8, which was the size most commonly found in a carpenter's tool box.

That's interesting, Branson.  Here in Sonoma County, the 10 inch knives are way more common.  I'm just a beginner at this, it seems - a few 10 inch knives (I thinned the herd a couple of years ago; used to have more), a 6 inch James Swan, and a folding handle Greenlee that I like for its gizmocity as much as its (very high) usability.

[rusty]

A clamp with FINGERS! I love it!

[Branson]

That's interesting, Branson.  Here in Sonoma County, the 10 inch knives are way more common.  I'm just a beginner at this, it seems - a few 10 inch knives (I thinned the herd a couple of years ago; used to have more), a 6 inch James Swan, and a folding handle Greenlee that I like for its gizmocity as much as its (very high) usability.

That *is* interesting.  Still, the most common size on eBay, as well as in my experience, is 8.  I wonder why Sonoma County had a preference for 10.   The one I picked up a couple of years ago out at the dump -- Recycle Town.  It came in a box of tools that came with the ShopSmith I got there.  Gloat!  It cost $40, and with a little de-rusting, went right to work.  For pure joy of working, find yourself a carriage maker's draw knife.  The blades are between 5/8 and 3/4 inches wide, and they just dance through curves!

[Bill Houghton]

That's interesting, Branson.  Here in Sonoma County, the 10 inch knives are way more common.

That *is* interesting.  Still, the most common size on eBay, as well as in my experience, is 8.  I wonder why Sonoma County had a preference for 10.

No idea.  This was, historically, an ag area - dairy and, originally, hops, later apples.  Now it's grape vines, although there's still quite a bit of dairy.  At any rate, maybe the farmers found the 10 inch knives more useful.

I do have one eight inch knife, which I've been planning to donate to a group that works with furniture-making coops in Central America.  If I have a six inch knife and five ten inch knives, is there any special benefit to the eight inch size that should make me reconsider?

[oldtools]

I don't see many Draw Knifes here in Hawaii, been to tons of garage sales.  only one I seen was at Woodcrafters for $89.00 (only one 8" in stock)
Thanks to Scottg, I got a beautiful Spoke Shave that works great, but would love to find a 8-10" Draw Knife in Hawaii...

[scottg]

   Even with postage, drawknives are really cheap, if you watch and wait.
 The lovely 10" carriage knife I posted cost me under 10 bucks, plus flat rate postage. 
 Granted, it wanted a lot of work.
But then I expect to work on most old tools I get cheap, to bring them back up to snuff.

 The only thing you have to watch for in an old knife is total lack of any trace of original handle.
Many knives that have nothing were in a fire and temper will be ruined.
 Bit if there is even a trace of original handle, it couldn't have been burned.
You can always reshape it and polish and make new handles
  and have a fine knife for very little. 
    yours Scott

[Branson]

  If I have a six inch knife and five ten inch knives, is there any special benefit to the eight inch size that should make me reconsider?

No particular benefit that I can think of off hand.   An eight inch would take up slightly less room in a tool chest, and might work in some tighter spots than a ten inch, but you've got both those covered with a six inch, seems to me.

[scottg]

If I had 6, 10 inch knives I would keep the 8 and let one of the 10's go.
Unless you were planning on hiring a crew you need to equip with tools??
 
  Occasionally you need to work in cramped spaces and the 8 might just work when a 10 wouldn't.

  Lots of work doesn't matter either way. I have an oddball 7" knife I use a lot, just because its cute and handy and unless I am working on something big, its totally adequate. 
   yours Scott