I would go for old circular saw or diamond tile cutting blade ,they have nice carbon rich steel in it and you can cut them with grinder(dont overheat the steel,use hacksaw around the blade edge part,for rest you can use grinder ,just cool it off then cut again,dont let it get super hot . ).Or if you are into blacksmithing and have a blowtorch or a forge and something to strike on ,i would go car leaf spring ,or ball bearing outer shell.That should give you great spoke shave that will not get dull quickly. If you have metal workshop nearby with those power hacksaws ,you could use the old blade,they are made out of hss steel,for ultimate spokeshave that would probably cut metal too. Also Paul you should do from right to left and then let to right motion when cutting with file like a X pattern,give a little bit of angle when file is squeeking like that and clean it with wire brush.You will get a lot of better results.
If your fingers are arthritic, like mine, then then flattening, polishing/honing of the blade can be quite painful. I use double sided tape to attach the blade to a sanding block. This makes keeping the pressure even much easier and more comfy.
Tip for filing curves. Instinct tells you to start your stroke flat and angle down as you push forward. This is the opposite of what you should do. If you start flat and tilt down you are dragging each tooth further along the material than needed, meaning that it fills up towards the end of the cut. You'll find your radius always ends up wrong because of this. If you start your cut pointing down and drop your hand through the push you'll end up with a better curve with less work as each tooth is only making a small cut.
AndroidGameplays4Every1 I don't know if you already tried it, but yeah 5160 is a really good blade steel. I haven't finished the video, but SOP for heat treat is: heat it to non magnetic (a magnet that's on a telescoping rod is helpful cause nonmagnetic is around 1600-1700 degrees Fahrenheit, somewhere around 8-900 Celsius) then run a file along the edge portion to make sure it's hard, it shouldn't bite the metal at all, if it doesn't then go ahead and throw it in your oven for an hour or two at 375-400° F (like 180-190° c maybe) and you should have a properly heat treated spokeshave, or anything else made from 5160. If you're more of a visual learner look up Walter Sorrels get hard here in RUclips, he's a professional knife maker, and one of the better teacher types on RUclips, he'll have plenty of videos to help you out.
I like these videos so much. When Paul say it is poor man's, then it actually is. I it is really inspiring to see (and later use these approaches) what is possible with drill, chisel, hand saw and file. RUclips is full of videos, where poor man's tutorials requires you to have bandsaw, jigsaw with some adjusters and whatever, belt sander, drill press, CNC, space shuttle and revived dinosaur at hand.
Your comment is golden! And you're right; it's interesting when I come across a title that says "build xyz simple jig" then the first thing I see is a full size planer and bandsaw. SMH
The kicker is how these “poor man’s” methods are more reminiscent of the original fabrication for these tools. Nowadays, most people can’t conceive of making things without power tools, and it’s going to get even worse with 3D printing and CNC mills, in the future most people won’t have any idea how to make anything with their own hands or perhaps that it’s even possible.
It really helps to look at traditional woodworking videos from time when they didn't have powertools. They were much more creative back then (with their tools), because they had to be. You'll also notice that it's not that difficult to work with hand tools if you use the correct tool for the correct job and if you know how to work with the grain of the wood.
You say that not needing the fancy machines is part of the poor mans process. If you can achieve the same goal without spending the money on fancy machines than I'd say you're a rich man. Not only do you still have the money you would have spent on machines, you also get the satisfaction of making a great tool with your own hands. Thanks for making these videos so detailed and great. They really are much appreciated.
Until you buy the hand planes or the steel stock lol. Both are expensive in my area, even used rusted up junk that needs a lot of tlc is over priced around here.
Anthony E. that's so unfortunate! Where do you live? Here where I am there are people who try to sell junk for a bunch of cash too. I've learned a few tricks in the last year to find the good deals.
Anthony E. I agree with that as well. I'm just starting out as a wood worker and I'm broke. But I've found if you get creative you can make things happen. Garage sales, junk shops, antique stores, harbor freight, make your own...
absolutely! thats TRUE wealth, not having to depend on businesses selling it to you, but being ready to do your bit for your community by yourself not depending on any thing but your own skill and knowledge.
PoorKidOne I bought a Lie Nielsen plane a few yrs ago because every "PRO/MASTER" woodworker on youtube said they were the best. Thats long sold for a purchase of a gun lol. My $10-50 old stanleys from antique stores and yard sales perform just as well or better with after market blades ($35-50 for those). If you don't mind putting in the effort you can buy the steel from somewhere like metal supermarket and make them yourself even cheaper. I have purchased old corrugated stanelys in #3, 4, ,5 . All cost me less than $50 I have a flat sole 7 that I got for $15 at a yard sale and an atkins cabinet scraper for $5. I had a few old marples chisels i bought 20ish yrs ago for $2 a piece but when I needed a "complete" set I bought a set of narex from lee valley. The marples are better but I will admit not by much. The narex will need work if you hate the look of machine marks on your chisels lol. The marples didn't have that. And if you take notice to what paul says about clamps. His are el cheapos. No need to spend a 1/2 yrs worth of car payments on bessy (and the like) clamps. A cheap clamp will put the pressure on your workthat is needed. I hear oh but bessys don't flex. Im thinking if you are putting so much pressure on a clamp that flexing is causing a issue you are putting to much pressure on it. I can squeeze two glued edges together by hand to squeeze out most of the glue. A cheap clamp will do it 10x more than i can by hand. People that spend money on brand name clamps and tools in general are also the suckers that overspend buying an apple phone just to text talk and watch videos but want to say I own an Iphone lol. My phone is a samsung note 3. Got it when they first came out because my note 2 took a swim in the tub lol. Still works fine and its funny when people at work find some funny video on their social media with their Iphones and come running to me because they want to see it on a bigger screen. Then they watch it and a few are saying why doesn't it look so fuzzy like on my phone or a few say how come its not buffering every 10-15 secs (thats your provider) but i say because its not an iphone lol . Anyway when it comes to tools you can buy the tool cheap and upgrade/work on it to make it perform as much as its 2x-3x-4x cost premium tool. Now Lie Nielsen has come up with a marketing scam that scoket chisels are the cats ass. Sure they are if they are for timber framing but not building furniture and chest and boxes. If you are beating on a chisel so hard for small work that you think you need a socket chisel. Nothing you make will turn out well anyway as you need to work on your skills. If you had the patiences you could make a crap load of tools from a trucks leaf spring.
I'm sure Paul already knows this (and just mis-spoke in the video); but after hardening the blade the next process is to "temper" it, not anneal it. Tempering removes a little bit of the hardness / brittleness. Whereas annealing is to take it back to a fully softened state.
I just wanted to let you know Paul: I appreciate your videos, the effort, time and experiences that you share moire than you could know! I am an older craftsman and have always been an 'Addict' to learning things my whole life. It is just refreshing to have the ability to get on the internet and answer queries or find ideas/solutions at the click of a mouse. However, without the input from people like you the purposes and benefits to the average person would be minimal at best. You make learning a lot more efficient and practical for me and I am picky about voice, tone and attitude, well you win in all categories so please accept my huge respect and thanks with all sincerity!
Overall, a great tutorial, as usual. A few suggestions for hardening/tempering blades in the future. 1) You cannot begin to judge the metal temperature by color when in direct sunlight. Do the heat treating in open shade or indoors. 2) The blower was blowing directly on the metal and cooling it - that is why it took so long to heat. Use a lower airflow and direct it at the charcoal under the blade. For an item that small, you probably would not need to bury it in the charcoal, making it easier to retrieve for quenching. 3) Once the blade reaches the proper temperature, it needs to be put into the oil as fast as possible. That small and thin an item will cool very quickly. Leaning it against the side to grab it is begging for uneven hardening. 4) Clean and polish before tempering. You can then judge the temperature by the color of the oxide layer that forms. For the spokeshave, a dark straw color (about 225 degrees C - 440 degrees F) would probably be ideal. It is the approximate temperature used for planer blades.
buggsy5 - I was thinking the same as I was watching, esp. regarding the hairdryer blowing the heat away from the steel. Still an excellent video & instruction.
Also don't drop it in oil but holding with a piece of wire put in straight into oil to avoid warping, and move side to side so the surface is agitated with the oil.
I'm from the metal side of things. Metal works like wood pretty much, but is more predictable and has less grain issues. Steel can be likened to the generic hardwood and the non-ferrous group to pine and other conifers. Good layout and sharp tools mean everything-same as wood. Properly marrying the two is now my passion.
Wade Patton -- since you're coming from the metal side, can you talk about heating the blade to 'cherry red' (It didn't look red in Paul's video), and then about baking it in a 375F oven for 45 minutes? Metal work is new to us wood guys. Thanks!
The camera adjusting to brightness etc may make it look colder or hotter than it looks when you are next to it. If you just do that and let it cool down slowly, it would have annealed the metall, meaning the metal is soft. It would be easy to sharpen, but it would not hold an edge very well. So you get it to cherry like red hot and quench it in water or quenching oil (If knew to this and not equipped for it absolutely go for the water unless you want to set everything on fire!). What you did now, if the procedure was successful, you changed the metalls christall structure and made it harder. You can test this y trying to cut it with a file, if hard, the file should not cut but just skate over the metall. The problem now is, this hardened metall is super brittle and would easily break (it really shatters into pieces), so you put it into an oven for a while and not as high a temperature as before. This is called tempering, it releases internal stresses in the material which have been introduced by quenching it (the outside cools faster than the inside, thus the outside pulls on the inside material.) Now you got a hard material, but with less internal stresses, so it does not break as easy.
Metal works like wood? Well as a hobbyist in black smithing and woodworking I think you are full of shit so to speak. When I try to upset wood it splits and spits out chunks of heavy splinters. When I use fire to heat it so I can bend it, it turns to ash lol. And metal is not really more predictable than wood unless you are using it cold. Now if you are talking about cnc you don't have to worry about tear out with metal as its run cold. But when you get into the structure of metal and shaping it in traditional methods you have as many worries about the structure as you do wood. I have made blades from the same steel stock and the first 3 or 4 came out perfect and the next 2 wood be a lesson to be learned and then make 2 that were "predictable" and then get another section that was a nightmare. If i were to take that same stock and just use the removal method as most blade makers do these days I would not have a blade that went to the "garbage". Now where wood and metal is way different is even with just removal to shape you still have to worry about tear out with wood. (unless just using sanding).
James O'Connell - It doesn't look 'cherry red' because he's out in the sunlight and its very bright outside compared to the blade. If he were working indoors you'd definitely be able to see a bright red glow. Furthermore, to oversimplify heat treating steel: Usually, metal blanks come "annealed" which means softened. This allows you to shape and cut the steel more easily so it doesn't destroy your tools. When you harden a piece of steel, you're changing the structure and "locking" the molecules in place when you heat and quench (submerge in oil or water). This makes the steel very hard, and able to be extremely sharp, but also very brittle, meaning that pieces are likely to chip off, or the entire blade may even snap if subjected to enough pressure. Baking it in the oven is called "tempering" which brings back the hardness a bit, and makes it a bit less likely to chip and break.
James O'Connell You need to know what type of metal you have before you can find out how to heatreat it. He never says what he is using. Could be D2, or 01, ASP, probable 01 seeing as though he used Oil to quench it
As a musical instrument maker, who has made instruments and tools for over fifty years now (including spokeshaves), thank you. It's great that this knowledge is passed on. cheers from rainy Vienna, Scott
Your straightforward, no panic, no rush approach is perfect. You're one a very small number of youtube educators that get it right. Your years of experience underpin every aspect of the craft, and it shows. Long may you continue sir!
Richard Allsebrook. If you like this approach, Two other You Tube channels I find with a similar laid-back approach are, Mustie1, for mechanical fun, and Pask Makes, who also does woodworking and other craft skills. Enjoy.
A few words about hardening.The thermal regime depends on the type of material.Generally speaking steels with less than 0.3% carbon will not harden , like in case of Flat Sheet or Structural Beam make from low carbon steel .
Hi there from Portugal, Another great idea, project and video. This will definitely go the to TODO list :D Obrigado(Thanks) Master Paul Sellers, and Team.
1080P and more. Thank you for going the extra mile in quality videography. Craftsmanship is in the details and its no good when you cant see the details, so thanks again. Rather watch this then whats on TV any day!
I don't think he mentioned this, but not all steels can be hardened. The hardenability of a steel is related to its carbon content. You can't really harden a mild steel (low carbon %) sufficiently to maintain a decent tool edge. I suspect he was using some variety of tool steel which has a high carbon content.
You can easily buy O1 flat steel strip at various thicknesses and widths, this is tool steel and can be hardened and tempered as Paul shows. I paid £10 on eBay for half a metre of 3mmx15mm to make some rebate plane blades recently. (Other widths are not much different in price.) The company is Rennie Tool Steel.
You can find small-lot pieces of this online. If you’re following Paul’s instructions, it’s best to line up your material selection with his. Try onlinemetals.com or toolsteelservice.com and look for O1 Precision Ground Flat Stock. If you use something other than O1, you’re on your own for hardening.
to see scribed lines in metal working they use a blueing to scribe a line in but if you don't have any you can used a black or blue magic marker then scrib your line in that then it will show up better so you can see where to drill or cut.
Probably best to temper it after hardening .when it's too hard it can chip if it hits something hard but I'm definitely gonna have a go and make on,the wooden one are a lot nicer to use then the modern ones
Watching this helps me understand more about the one I bought that did not work well. This was a really great video. Thank you for taking the time to do it right. Love the longer screw part at the end. Something I would never think of. ( musician here) never worked with wood in school.
When I worked as an electrician, I would use a coat hanger to drill a small hole to locate where I would come out, before drill a bigger hole. If I was off, it was simple enough to put a little filler in the hole and it was not noticeable. I would just clip the hanger off at an angle, approximately 45 degrees. I learned this trick from an older journeyman electrician. Give it a try.
The hardening part always stops me from this type of work, but I see I can do it in my backyard with my grill! Thanks, awesome diy I’ve come to expect.
Thank you SO much for your tutorials, they are easy to follow, exaustive and you give metric misurements too!!! In the other side of the pond we are in trouble with the 274/86 uf an inch... ;) Btw the BBQ forging is a GREAT idea (and yummy too).
You're simply Amazing, Please keep sharing your wisdom and massive master Intellect of woodworking, I proud to be your student! After almost 35 years, I find myself back in shop class.
For holding those fiddly bits flat on the stone, I took the magnet out of an old car loudspeaker and recessed it in a bit of wood. Stick the workpiece on the magnet and off you go. Also works fine for plane blades, much easier on the fingers.
Wonderful video! I think this might just have to be my first project! One question though: did you decide not to temper the steel to save time, or was there another reason? Would an "untempered" blade be better for a spokeshave? Thanks! :-)
A poor man's spokeshave exists in the scads of standard stanley spokeshaves and copies. Often available on the ground for less than the cost of tooling to make any wooden one. Sort of like planes. Making a plane in search of economy (when records are a couple of bobs each over there) is false economy.
Great demonstration Paul. Gives mere basis and inspiration I need to restore a few old spokeshaves I purchased in the early 70's and used up. Love the coarse and fine cuts on each side! BTW: What kind of soft steel?
Paul is right when he says you get more satisfaction out of a tool that you have made yourself and also learn other things from making it. In this video we learned about both the spoke shave AND creating a hardened steel cutting edge for our tools. Thank You Paul.
Paul Learning is such a great experience. I have been at this a long time building that is. One of the greatest experience of a lifetime . Thank you for this RC
Love your work Paul But imagine going on a country walk, maybe a picnic basket with you, trotting along lush green walkways… And to your shock, stood stoically, there’s a bearded man with a huge red glove, hair-drying an empty BBQ while talking to himself 😂😂
This is really neat, I figured out how to do this on my own a few months ago because I needed a spoke shave. It's great seeing the other things done to make it and tune it to work nicely! I have the first one I made set up for a thick cut and another set up for a fine cut. I should make a few more and try what's here out. Very nice video, I really enjoy watching your stuff
Great great work, as always very inspiring, so thank you Master. Only one question is about the metal.. what kind of steel is it? looks not so hard. My most sincere thanks from Chile.
I didn't make a poor man spoke shave but a poor mans draw knife. The steel was cut from an old circular saw blade with an angle grinder . The handles. Just sandwiched on with epoxy. The steel sharpened up well and holds an edge. After a bit of practice it is wonderful tool.
I’d like to see the outtakes, you know the footage where Paul’s throwing stuff about in disgust. Or where he bangs his thumb and then punches the cameraman. Only kidding.
Paul --how on earth do you mount that blade on the body --it all looks very wrong ! Flat on top ? how does it cut at all ? Bevel up ? or down ? This is a sick joke --will never cut anything !
Please don't take this wrong, but your metal filing technique is terrible. You file at it. You need to take long full strokes. I wish I was able to teach you proper filing technique. I love your videos. Lee Gibbs
What kind of steel? Mild steel won't skate a file with it's low carbon points. For those never doing any smithing, it's better to cover the steel with more coal and blow the red hot coals below the metal and let the fire climb up to the SURROUNDED bit... When you quench, the ideal is to swirl the steel in a figure 8. Water quenches harder and faster because it carries the heat away faster...
I once heard awoodwork teacher state without modern tools woodworking other than basic stuff would be unpossible. first its impossible and second its not. Either that or someone forgot to tell every builder using wood from ancient pheonetians through to ship and house builders of 19th century, how lucky the ship builders of the 15th century had electric band saws, table saws and electric planers, and whese would the pheonetians have been without power routers, dominoes and plunge morticers !
Paul, allow me to say you might reconsider what pooverty is. That is not such a good title for your video. There are men who do not consider having plenty money their main goal and there also are who live in many countries where good tools are almost imposible to get. You may also choose the tools you wish to build that spoke and have the perfect place where to work; many men do not even have the smallest barn, yet they are skillful and enjoy to work with simple tools made by their own. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. Think about it... if a man decides to spend his money in tools, doesn't really mean he is rich.
I wanted to make one of these for a long time, so when this video was released I immediately jumped on it and made one. Works great! Today I also put together a video on my channel on making it!
You are too quick to show how to shave with it ? Which side is used ? Do you pull towards you --or push away ? cannot see which side you are cutting with !
If that is mild steel it will not harden as not enough carbon in this type of steel. Wasting your time on mild steel. If you have a med carbon steel then you will have to temper after hardening as this steel will become brittle.
It is allways a good day when i see one of your Videos paul. you are an inspiration to so many including myself. thank you so much.
Always good advice and useful tools to make. Very entertaining video.Keep it up Paul. Thank You.
I would go for old circular saw or diamond tile cutting blade ,they have nice carbon rich steel in it and you can cut them with grinder(dont overheat the steel,use hacksaw around the blade edge part,for rest you can use grinder ,just cool it off then cut again,dont let it get super hot . ).Or if you are into blacksmithing and have a blowtorch or a forge and something to strike on ,i would go car leaf spring ,or ball bearing outer shell.That should give you great spoke shave that will not get dull quickly.
If you have metal workshop nearby with those power hacksaws ,you could use the old blade,they are made out of hss steel,for ultimate spokeshave that would probably cut metal too.
Also Paul you should do from right to left and then let to right motion when cutting with file like a X pattern,give a little bit of angle when file is squeeking like that and clean it with wire brush.You will get a lot of better results.
If your fingers are arthritic, like mine, then then flattening, polishing/honing of the blade can be quite painful. I use double sided tape to attach the blade to a sanding block. This makes keeping the pressure even much easier and more comfy.
Tip for filing curves. Instinct tells you to start your stroke flat and angle down as you push forward. This is the opposite of what you should do. If you start flat and tilt down you are dragging each tooth further along the material than needed, meaning that it fills up towards the end of the cut. You'll find your radius always ends up wrong because of this. If you start your cut pointing down and drop your hand through the push you'll end up with a better curve with less work as each tooth is only making a small cut.
I like that his shop looks as cluttered as mine does during a project. It just seems more real.
31:57...that's a bright red color-!
Is it ok if I use 5160 steel instead?
AndroidGameplays4Every1 I don't know if you already tried it, but yeah 5160 is a really good blade steel. I haven't finished the video, but SOP for heat treat is: heat it to non magnetic (a magnet that's on a telescoping rod is helpful cause nonmagnetic is around 1600-1700 degrees Fahrenheit, somewhere around 8-900 Celsius) then run a file along the edge portion to make sure it's hard, it shouldn't bite the metal at all, if it doesn't then go ahead and throw it in your oven for an hour or two at 375-400° F (like 180-190° c maybe) and you should have a properly heat treated spokeshave, or anything else made from 5160. If you're more of a visual learner look up Walter Sorrels get hard here in RUclips, he's a professional knife maker, and one of the better teacher types on RUclips, he'll have plenty of videos to help you out.
I like these videos so much. When Paul say it is poor man's, then it actually is. I it is really inspiring to see (and later use these approaches) what is possible with drill, chisel, hand saw and file. RUclips is full of videos, where poor man's tutorials requires you to have bandsaw, jigsaw with some adjusters and whatever, belt sander, drill press, CNC, space shuttle and revived dinosaur at hand.
Your comment is golden! And you're right; it's interesting when I come across a title that says "build xyz simple jig" then the first thing I see is a full size planer and bandsaw. SMH
The kicker is how these “poor man’s” methods are more reminiscent of the original fabrication for these tools. Nowadays, most people can’t conceive of making things without power tools, and it’s going to get even worse with 3D printing and CNC mills, in the future most people won’t have any idea how to make anything with their own hands or perhaps that it’s even possible.
It really helps to look at traditional woodworking videos from time when they didn't have powertools. They were much more creative back then (with their tools), because they had to be. You'll also notice that it's not that difficult to work with hand tools if you use the correct tool for the correct job and if you know how to work with the grain of the wood.
And I can never find my damn dinosaur
@@DERICKBLAIR4 So you miss the most important poor man's tool. No spokeshaves for you until then.
You say that not needing the fancy machines is part of the poor mans process. If you can achieve the same goal without spending the money on fancy machines than I'd say you're a rich man. Not only do you still have the money you would have spent on machines, you also get the satisfaction of making a great tool with your own hands. Thanks for making these videos so detailed and great. They really are much appreciated.
Until you buy the hand planes or the steel stock lol. Both are expensive in my area, even used rusted up junk that needs a lot of tlc is over priced around here.
Anthony E. that's so unfortunate! Where do you live? Here where I am there are people who try to sell junk for a bunch of cash too. I've learned a few tricks in the last year to find the good deals.
Anthony E. I agree with that as well. I'm just starting out as a wood worker and I'm broke. But I've found if you get creative you can make things happen. Garage sales, junk shops, antique stores, harbor freight, make your own...
absolutely! thats TRUE wealth, not having to depend on businesses selling it to you, but being ready to do your bit for your community by yourself not depending on any thing but your own skill and knowledge.
PoorKidOne I bought a Lie Nielsen plane a few yrs ago because every "PRO/MASTER" woodworker on youtube said they were the best. Thats long sold for a purchase of a gun lol. My $10-50 old stanleys from antique stores and yard sales perform just as well or better with after market blades ($35-50 for those). If you don't mind putting in the effort you can buy the steel from somewhere like metal supermarket and make them yourself even cheaper. I have purchased old corrugated stanelys in #3, 4, ,5 . All cost me less than $50 I have a flat sole 7 that I got for $15 at a yard sale and an atkins cabinet scraper for $5. I had a few old marples chisels i bought 20ish yrs ago for $2 a piece but when I needed a "complete" set I bought a set of narex from lee valley. The marples are better but I will admit not by much. The narex will need work if you hate the look of machine marks on your chisels lol. The marples didn't have that. And if you take notice to what paul says about clamps. His are el cheapos. No need to spend a 1/2 yrs worth of car payments on bessy (and the like) clamps. A cheap clamp will put the pressure on your workthat is needed. I hear oh but bessys don't flex. Im thinking if you are putting so much pressure on a clamp that flexing is causing a issue you are putting to much pressure on it. I can squeeze two glued edges together by hand to squeeze out most of the glue. A cheap clamp will do it 10x more than i can by hand. People that spend money on brand name clamps and tools in general are also the suckers that overspend buying an apple phone just to text talk and watch videos but want to say I own an Iphone lol. My phone is a samsung note 3. Got it when they first came out because my note 2 took a swim in the tub lol. Still works fine and its funny when people at work find some funny video on their social media with their Iphones and come running to me because they want to see it on a bigger screen. Then they watch it and a few are saying why doesn't it look so fuzzy like on my phone or a few say how come its not buffering every 10-15 secs (thats your provider) but i say because its not an iphone lol . Anyway when it comes to tools you can buy the tool cheap and upgrade/work on it to make it perform as much as its 2x-3x-4x cost premium tool. Now Lie Nielsen has come up with a marketing scam that scoket chisels are the cats ass. Sure they are if they are for timber framing but not building furniture and chest and boxes. If you are beating on a chisel so hard for small work that you think you need a socket chisel. Nothing you make will turn out well anyway as you need to work on your skills. If you had the patiences you could make a crap load of tools from a trucks leaf spring.
Paul Sellers video = awesome. Paul Sellers video in 4K = AWESOME.
TY, I just checked and switched the resolution upwards.
If my wife finds out I could make my own tools I’m done for! Thankyou Paul, another great video.
Stuart Osborne If you learn how to put a Lee Nielsen logo on your homemade tools, then you can pocket the approved funds for your big tool budget!
Include the labour cost.
Imagine if she sold the ones you bought for what you said you paid for them.
I'm sure Paul already knows this (and just mis-spoke in the video); but after hardening the blade the next process is to "temper" it, not anneal it. Tempering removes a little bit of the hardness / brittleness. Whereas annealing is to take it back to a fully softened state.
I just wanted to let you know Paul: I appreciate your videos, the effort, time and experiences that you share moire than you could know! I am an older craftsman and have always been an 'Addict' to learning things my whole life. It is just refreshing to have the ability to get on the internet and answer queries or find ideas/solutions at the click of a mouse. However, without the input from people like you the purposes and benefits to the average person would be minimal at best. You make learning a lot more efficient and practical for me and I am picky about voice, tone and attitude, well you win in all categories so please accept my huge respect and thanks with all sincerity!
Overall, a great tutorial, as usual.
A few suggestions for hardening/tempering blades in the future.
1) You cannot begin to judge the metal temperature by color when in direct sunlight. Do the heat treating in open shade or indoors.
2) The blower was blowing directly on the metal and cooling it - that is why it took so long to heat. Use a lower airflow and direct it at the charcoal under the blade. For an item that small, you probably would not need to bury it in the charcoal, making it easier to retrieve for quenching.
3) Once the blade reaches the proper temperature, it needs to be put into the oil as fast as possible. That small and thin an item will cool very quickly. Leaning it against the side to grab it is begging for uneven hardening.
4) Clean and polish before tempering. You can then judge the temperature by the color of the oxide layer that forms. For the spokeshave, a dark straw color (about 225 degrees C - 440 degrees F) would probably be ideal. It is the approximate temperature used for planer blades.
You're right, Paul was blowing it cold; You're right on all your points!
Thanks for all your help and advice.
buggsy5 - I was thinking the same as I was watching, esp. regarding the hairdryer blowing the heat away from the steel. Still an excellent video & instruction.
"buggsy5" knows exactly what he is doing!
Cheers mate!
Also don't drop it in oil but holding with a piece of wire put in straight into oil to avoid warping, and move side to side so the surface is agitated with the oil.
I'm from the metal side of things. Metal works like wood pretty much, but is more predictable and has less grain issues. Steel can be likened to the generic hardwood and the non-ferrous group to pine and other conifers. Good layout and sharp tools mean everything-same as wood.
Properly marrying the two is now my passion.
Wade Patton -- since you're coming from the metal side, can you talk about heating the blade to 'cherry red' (It didn't look red in Paul's video), and then about baking it in a 375F oven for 45 minutes? Metal work is new to us wood guys. Thanks!
The camera adjusting to brightness etc may make it look colder or hotter than it looks when you are next to it.
If you just do that and let it cool down slowly, it would have annealed the metall, meaning the metal is soft. It would be easy to sharpen, but it would not hold an edge very well. So you get it to cherry like red hot and quench it in water or quenching oil (If knew to this and not equipped for it absolutely go for the water unless you want to set everything on fire!). What you did now, if the procedure was successful, you changed the metalls christall structure and made it harder. You can test this y trying to cut it with a file, if hard, the file should not cut but just skate over the metall.
The problem now is, this hardened metall is super brittle and would easily break (it really shatters into pieces), so you put it into an oven for a while and not as high a temperature as before.
This is called tempering, it releases internal stresses in the material which have been introduced by quenching it (the outside cools faster than the inside, thus the outside pulls on the inside material.)
Now you got a hard material, but with less internal stresses, so it does not break as easy.
Metal works like wood? Well as a hobbyist in black smithing and woodworking I think you are full of shit so to speak. When I try to upset wood it splits and spits out chunks of heavy splinters. When I use fire to heat it so I can bend it, it turns to ash lol. And metal is not really more predictable than wood unless you are using it cold. Now if you are talking about cnc you don't have to worry about tear out with metal as its run cold. But when you get into the structure of metal and shaping it in traditional methods you have as many worries about the structure as you do wood. I have made blades from the same steel stock and the first 3 or 4 came out perfect and the next 2 wood be a lesson to be learned and then make 2 that were "predictable" and then get another section that was a nightmare. If i were to take that same stock and just use the removal method as most blade makers do these days I would not have a blade that went to the "garbage". Now where wood and metal is way different is even with just removal to shape you still have to worry about tear out with wood. (unless just using sanding).
James O'Connell - It doesn't look 'cherry red' because he's out in the sunlight and its very bright outside compared to the blade. If he were working indoors you'd definitely be able to see a bright red glow. Furthermore, to oversimplify heat treating steel: Usually, metal blanks come "annealed" which means softened. This allows you to shape and cut the steel more easily so it doesn't destroy your tools. When you harden a piece of steel, you're changing the structure and "locking" the molecules in place when you heat and quench (submerge in oil or water). This makes the steel very hard, and able to be extremely sharp, but also very brittle, meaning that pieces are likely to chip off, or the entire blade may even snap if subjected to enough pressure. Baking it in the oven is called "tempering" which brings back the hardness a bit, and makes it a bit less likely to chip and break.
James O'Connell You need to know what type of metal you have before you can find out how to heatreat it. He never says what he is using. Could be D2, or 01, ASP, probable 01 seeing as though he used Oil to quench it
As a musical instrument maker, who has made instruments and tools for over fifty years now (including spokeshaves), thank you. It's great that this knowledge is passed on.
cheers from rainy Vienna, Scott
So you can see your scratched lines better, first use a sharpie. Gives a nice contrast, and is easy to clean off.
You always make it look so easy ! After all these years, you are the ultimate professional. Thank you for all your efforts Paul.
Your straightforward, no panic, no rush approach is perfect. You're one a very small number of youtube educators that get it right. Your years of experience underpin every aspect of the craft, and it shows. Long may you continue sir!
Richard Allsebrook. If you like this approach, Two other You Tube channels I find with a similar laid-back approach are, Mustie1, for mechanical fun, and Pask Makes, who also does woodworking and other craft skills. Enjoy.
Paul, your guestemating is more accurate than my measurements. Beautiful workmanship. 👏 👍
A few words about hardening.The thermal regime depends on the type of material.Generally speaking steels with less than 0.3% carbon will not harden , like in case of Flat Sheet or Structural Beam make from low carbon steel .
Brilliant, I always enjoy your videos Paul.
Cheers mate.
Hi there from Portugal,
Another great idea, project and video.
This will definitely go the to TODO list :D
Obrigado(Thanks) Master Paul Sellers, and Team.
Blog das Madeiras
I am in love with Madeira....so wonderful and green and diverse weather island.....
1080P and more. Thank you for going the extra mile in quality videography. Craftsmanship is in the details and its no good when you cant see the details, so thanks again. Rather watch this then whats on TV any day!
When I'm using a hacksaw, I tend to use a small amount of cutting fluid.
I don't think he mentioned this, but not all steels can be hardened. The hardenability of a steel is related to its carbon content. You can't really harden a mild steel (low carbon %) sufficiently to maintain a decent tool edge. I suspect he was using some variety of tool steel which has a high carbon content.
You can easily buy O1 flat steel strip at various thicknesses and widths, this is tool steel and can be hardened and tempered as Paul shows. I paid £10 on eBay for half a metre of 3mmx15mm to make some rebate plane blades recently. (Other widths are not much different in price.) The company is Rennie Tool Steel.
You can find small-lot pieces of this online. If you’re following Paul’s instructions, it’s best to line up your material selection with his. Try onlinemetals.com or toolsteelservice.com and look for O1 Precision Ground Flat Stock. If you use something other than O1, you’re on your own for hardening.
Is it ok to use stainless steel? That is already harder than the soft steel.
to see scribed lines in metal working they use a blueing to scribe a line in but if you don't have any you can used a black or blue magic marker then scrib your line in that then it will show up better so you can see where to drill or cut.
Very good video, the quality is very good too, bravo
RIP headphone users. Thanks for the videos
I think I will make one of these with an old jointer blade. Great idea!
Probably best to temper it after hardening .when it's too hard it can chip if it hits something hard but I'm definitely gonna have a go and make on,the wooden one are a lot nicer to use then the modern ones
Watching this helps me understand more about the one I bought that did not work well. This was a really great video. Thank you for taking the time to do it right. Love the longer screw part at the end. Something I would never think of. ( musician here) never worked with wood in school.
For those of us with old eyes color in the ends of the steel with a sharpie before scratching in your marks! Much easier to see your lines!
really nice video.
Can you do a video of a bow tie/dovetail key inlay in a peace of cracked wood?
keep up the great content.
the beauty of this channel, everything is done in real time ... thanks master sellers
All his video's are great to follow along with. but you will never get the same results as he gets.
No. You won't. Unless you try really hard and practice... If he can, so can others.
The great thing about this spokeshave is that when you make a second one, you can then use each to shape the handles of the other!
Always enjoy watching your videos.
P.S. I now tell my wife that things are "dead flat" at the most random times.
Beautiful tool
poor man's spoke shave and pyscho sound effects generator!
what sort of metal would you use?
It's been so long thank god your back Paul brilliant as ever
When I worked as an electrician, I would use a coat hanger to drill a small hole to locate where I would come out, before drill a bigger hole. If I was off, it was simple enough to put a little filler in the hole and it was not noticeable. I would just clip the hanger off at an angle, approximately 45 degrees.
I learned this trick from an older journeyman electrician. Give it a try.
Chingon,simplemente.gracias por compartir.saludos desde León Guanajuato México 🙏
The hardening part always stops me from this type of work, but I see I can do it in my backyard with my grill! Thanks, awesome diy I’ve come to expect.
Thank you SO much for your tutorials, they are easy to follow, exaustive and you give metric misurements too!!! In the other side of the pond we are in trouble with the 274/86 uf an inch... ;) Btw the BBQ forging is a GREAT idea (and yummy too).
You're simply Amazing, Please keep sharing your wisdom and massive master Intellect of woodworking, I proud to be your student! After almost 35 years, I find myself back in shop class.
For holding those fiddly bits flat on the stone, I took the magnet out of an old car loudspeaker and recessed it in a bit of wood. Stick the workpiece on the magnet and off you go.
Also works fine for plane blades, much easier on the fingers.
Wonderful video! I think this might just have to be my first project! One question though: did you decide not to temper the steel to save time, or was there another reason? Would an "untempered" blade be better for a spokeshave? Thanks! :-)
A poor man's spokeshave exists in the scads of standard stanley spokeshaves and copies. Often available on the ground for less than the cost of tooling to make any wooden one.
Sort of like planes. Making a plane in search of economy (when records are a couple of bobs each over there) is false economy.
Great video. I wish there was a camera on the sound tech so we can see their head explode during the filing part.
Great demonstration Paul. Gives mere basis and inspiration I need to restore a few old spokeshaves I purchased in the early 70's and used up. Love the coarse and fine cuts on each side!
BTW: What kind of soft steel?
Paul is right when he says you get more satisfaction out of a tool that you have made yourself and also learn other things from making it. In this video we learned about both the spoke shave AND creating a hardened steel cutting edge for our tools. Thank You Paul.
Awesome class!!! Love the way you teach, seems I could make one of those tools right now!!! Thanks for inspiring us!
Oh wow! Making your tools for making things is a kind of deeper reality than just making things. It feels like being really on top of the process.
Paul Learning is such a great experience. I have been at this a long time building that is. One of the greatest experience of a lifetime . Thank you for this RC
Interesting, you use the term annealing for a procedure I believe is referred to as tempering here in the US.
can wait to see you making the adjustable one Paul... thank you for the education !!!!!!!
How do you know that bevel on the blade --that you're filing ----is 25 --to 30 degrees ? HOW do you measure 25 0r 30 degrees ?
Love your work Paul
But imagine going on a country walk, maybe a picnic basket with you, trotting along lush green walkways…
And to your shock, stood stoically, there’s a bearded man with a huge red glove, hair-drying an empty BBQ while talking to himself 😂😂
This is really neat, I figured out how to do this on my own a few months ago because I needed a spoke shave. It's great seeing the other things done to make it and tune it to work nicely!
I have the first one I made set up for a thick cut and another set up for a fine cut. I should make a few more and try what's here out. Very nice video, I really enjoy watching your stuff
Great great work, as always very inspiring, so thank you Master. Only one question is about the metal.. what kind of steel is it? looks not so hard. My most sincere thanks from Chile.
31:28...that's doggone good idea- because using charcoal prevents "de-carburization" of the steel!!
I didn't make a poor man spoke shave but a poor mans draw knife. The steel was cut from an old circular saw blade with an angle grinder .
The handles. Just sandwiched on with epoxy.
The steel sharpened up well and holds an edge.
After a bit of practice it is wonderful tool.
I'll just forge one with tangs
right on
I love using my old wooden spoke shaves but making my own is an awesome idea, thanks Paul, great video as usual.
I’d like to see the outtakes, you know the footage where Paul’s throwing stuff about in disgust.
Or where he bangs his thumb and then punches the cameraman.
Only kidding.
Paul --how on earth do you mount that blade on the body --it all looks very wrong ! Flat on top ? how does it cut at all ? Bevel up ? or down ?
This is a sick joke --will never cut anything !
Please don't take this wrong, but your metal filing technique is terrible. You file at it. You need to take long full strokes. I wish I was able to teach you proper filing technique. I love your videos.
Lee Gibbs
What kind of steel? Mild steel won't skate a file with it's low carbon points. For those never doing any smithing, it's better to cover the steel with more coal and blow the red hot coals below the metal and let the fire climb up to the SURROUNDED bit...
When you quench, the ideal is to swirl the steel in a figure 8. Water quenches harder and faster because it carries the heat away faster...
Strong fingers after 55 years....it’s downhill after that..rsi, arthritis, bursitis...?
You never show the gap between blade and wood body to allow shavings to pass through easily ----WHY ?
I once heard awoodwork teacher state without modern tools woodworking other than basic stuff would be unpossible. first its impossible and second its not. Either that or someone forgot to tell every builder using wood from ancient pheonetians through to ship and house builders of 19th century, how lucky the ship builders of the 15th century had electric band saws, table saws and electric planers, and whese would the pheonetians have been without power routers, dominoes and plunge morticers !
This weekend, I'll be making one out of a nice piece of cherry here. I'm using a commercial blade. Wish me luck.
Sir, will it matter much if we keep those edges in tringle sothat the final shape would b trapazoid?????( instead of those offsets on either sides).
Paul, allow me to say you might reconsider what pooverty is. That is not such a good title for your video. There are men who do not consider having plenty money their main goal and there also are who live in many countries where good tools are almost imposible to get. You may also choose the tools you wish to build that spoke and have the perfect place where to work; many men do not even have the smallest barn, yet they are skillful and enjoy to work with simple tools made by their own. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. Think about it... if a man decides to spend his money in tools, doesn't really mean he is rich.
Just casually eyeballs 1/16th line with fingers and a pencil = God mode
Just an idea: You have those screw holes. Mount the blade onto a temporary device to make sharpening easier.
Paul has... Look through his back catalogue
Doesn't heating the steel soften it, so it is workable. Later heat-treating hardens. Or am I confused?
Thank you for another interesting and informative video, much appreciated!
I really miss the sound of scratching a blackboard. luckily i found this video.
I wanted to make one of these for a long time, so when this video was released I immediately jumped on it and made one. Works great! Today I also put together a video on my channel on making it!
You are too quick to show how to shave with it ? Which side is used ? Do you pull towards you --or push away ? cannot see which side you are cutting with !
Very nice!
But it took quite a lot of tools (which cost money) to build a "poor-man" ' s tool..
4:34...all it takes is practice- metal working and wood working are not quite the same.
To get rid of that awful noise, you can give a small squirt of WD-40 on your file.
At 11 :44 ---that angle - on your blade --how do you file or grind it to 30 degrees ?
I can't say it would be possible on that small area but if you want to reduce squeaking with a file, cut diagonal to the work piece.
If that is mild steel it will not harden as not enough carbon in this type of steel. Wasting your time on mild steel. If you have a med carbon steel then you will have to temper after hardening as this steel will become brittle.
"the reality of wood" There is something that makes the difference between a dabbler and an experienced wood worker. Nice wide blade there.
Modern metal spokeshaves are an abomination - cutting geometry all wrong for a smooth easy cut by a tool that has to be delicately held in the hands!
"... and then of course you have to have a bbq after this! "
The spokeshave will ware out depending on the sharping pretty fast so be prepared to fix the wood at the mouth
Hi Paul,
Always enjoy watching your video's. How long does this retain the sharp edge?
Regads,
Bill.
Were you tempering the steel in your garden? It looks wonderful!
Metal workers and wood workers always cringe at each other on how metal working and wood working tools are treated by them.
Why not film a close up of the blade --what is up & what is down ?
He starts a hacksaw the same way he starts a dovetail cut-he starts the cut across the top, pulls off and clears the chips, and then cuts to the line.
The steel must be carbon steel, or other oil quench steel, or it will not harden. Look it up