right|thumb|Traditional draw knife|350px

A drawknife (drawing knife, draw shave, shaving knife) is a traditional woodworking hand tool used to shape wood by removing shavings. It consists of a blade with a handle at each end. The blade is much longer (along the cutting edge) than it is deep (from cutting edge to back edge). It is pulled or "drawn" (hence the name) toward the user.

The drawknife in the illustration has a blade long, although much shorter drawknives are also made. The blade is sharpened to a chisel bevel. Traditionally, it is a rounded, smooth bevel. The handles can be below the level of the blade (as in the illustration) or at the same level.

Purpose

thumb|Using a drawknife in making a [[flatbow]]

A drawknife is commonly used to remove large slices of wood for flat faceted work, to debark trees, or to create roughly rounded or cylindrical billets for further work on a lathe, or it can shave like a spokeshave plane, where finer finishing is less of concern than a rapid result. The thin blade lends itself to create complex concave or convex curves.

thumb|American drawknife circa 1800

Unlike a spokeshave, it does not have a closed mouth to control chip formation, and so lacks the spokeshave's superior cutting and shaving precision.

They are also a vital piece of equipment in hand-made cricket bats, being used to shape the curve of the bat.

Operation

The drawknife ideally is used when the operator is in a seated position astride a traditional shaving horse, which safely grips the working stock, and they can also use their legs for additional pulling power.

The ideal working stock has the grain of the wood running parallel to the shaving horse, and perpendicular to the blade of the drawknife, so that the drawknife shaves away the entire wood fibre and does not cut against it.

thumb|Draw shaves are often used with shaving horses.

thumb| Use of a drawknife and shaving horse from [[De Re Metallica, a sixteenth-century work on mine technology]]

Straight cuts

One works from the centre of the piece to the end, not the entire length all at once. The operator then reverses the piece in the shaving horse or vise and works from near centre to trim the "fatter" end to match the centre and just finished original "skinny" end. Final work can be done by spokeshave, sanding block or lathe.

An inshave is a similar tool with a blade curved out to the side between the two handles. It is used to shave wood to form a hollowed out surface, such as the top of a chair seat. It is also called a scorp. There are also versions with a single handle.

See also

  • Spokeshave

References

  • Green Woodwork
  • Craftsmanspace Free Shaving Horse Plan
  • Internet Archive PDF of Craftsmanspace Shaving-Horse plans