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As I said, I’ll use whatever tool it takes<\/strong> to get the desired result for a particular curve in a particular wood. So let’s take a look at the available players and which make the cut (pun intended). Most of the game is won or lost on concave (inside) curves<\/strong>; the outside curves are easy.<\/p>\n Spokeshaves<\/strong> perform well on relatively narrow work with cooperative grain, but they can disappoint on highly figured woods, even using a skewed attack. The round shave<\/strong> sees almost all of the action, while the flat shave spends most of the time on the bench because I generally don’t find it has much advantage over a block plane or other flat tools on gradual outside (convex) curves. It’s all in the wrists.<\/a><\/p>\n The convex side of a half-round<\/strong> rasp<\/a> is a good workhorse but has some weaknesses. If it is held at an acute skew<\/strong>, such as for steep inside curves, the teeth start to function ineffectively as tiny knives slitting along the grain, but if the tool is pushed more across the work, tearout results at the far side. Also, the tool is really working the curve at different points,<\/strong> and thus possibly different radii, at once.<\/p>\n So, for more control on gradual curves, I call up the Auriou<\/strong> curved ironing rasps<\/strong> (fourth and fifth from the left in the photo). They have an excellent reliable feel<\/strong> on the curve but lack speed, so they are not for hogging off a lot of wood.<\/p>\n The compass plane,<\/strong> which is a shaping plane in my view, was covered in two<\/a> earlier<\/a> posts, but a different twist on curved soled planes deserves mention. As discussed in the previous post, the sole must be set to accommodate the steepest portion of a chosen length of inside curve, so a given setting is approximate<\/strong> at best. Thus, a reasonable alternative to an adjustable compass plane is a set of a two or three wooden fixed curve sole planes<\/strong>, vintage or shop-made.<\/p>\n Hunting on vintage tool sites will turn up a few wooden curved sole planes with an adjustable toe piece<\/strong> to accommodate different inside curves. I have not tried one but I wonder if any readers have.<\/strong><\/p>\n The little Lie-Nielsen spoon bottom plane<\/a> is a different type of player but performs well despite its lack of size.<\/p>\n A card scraper<\/strong> is a good player if used in the proper role – great for smoothing curves but poor for shaping them because it simply rides whatever curve it encounters.<\/p>\n
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