I don’t hate metal tools but I love wooden ones, even the transitionals that so
many shun. In that vein, some years ago I’d picked up an odd stubby wooden
bodied spokeshave of sorts. I believe it to be a carriage maker’s specialty
tool, and I believe it to be very old, possibly 18th century. It’s stubby but
beautiful despite it. If you know the Douglas C-47/DC-3 airplane, this little
shave was pretty in the same way. And the wedge itself is a work of art. I
literally stare at it and admire it.

It’s rather like a “cigar” spokeshave, but it has a block in the middle, with a
45 degree iron secured by a wedge. The block is maybe 1.5” x 1.5” by 2.5” wide.
I’ve not measured it.

This little goober was even more unique in that the sole is radiused. Not the
tight half circle of say a nosing plane, but I’d guess the radius of the circle
to be maybe 9”. The iron’s 2” wide so you can imagine a pretty gentle curve.

=> While your description is vivid, perhaps a picture would help.

It was *extremely* useful for so many little tasks. Taking the corner off a
board prior to running a beading plane on it; rough shaping stock to save lathe
time; and of course it’s probable intended purpose, making staffs, staves,
spokes.

But it had a design flaw in that the wedge was pressing across the side grain
and not into end grain, and the body had split many years before I ever got it.
It’s got glue in it but that isn’t enough to help. It has two brass rods
embedded across the grain and I suppose they may have helped but I didn’t have
the courage to pick the glue out of the crack, squeeze it in the vise and peen
the ends of the rods . . . this thing is old and I don’t want to destroy it.

===>> I think I have an image of this in my mind, but a picture would resolve
doubt.

For a long time I could make it work by keeping my thumbs on the wedge to
provide just enough “stick” to hold the iron. Alas that’s not working anymore so
I last week I resolved to make a new body for it.

Having seen it split using the original design, I came up with my own. I made
the “block” out of a piece of old Stanley transitional, and the wedge is now
oriented so it pushes into end grain. The geometry of it was quite a challenge,
as I didn’t want to thin the walls to the point where I’d risk a different kind
of failure. I had to try 3 times to get a wedge that worked. Note: spruce is
useless for wedges. My theory is the hard/soft grain doesn’t compress the right
way. The first one in maple worked fine.  I turned the handles on their own,
mounted each in a plinth of maple, and glued the plinths to the central block.

=====>>> Pictures would help. Please!!

My design is large and crude compared to the original. But I’m not embarrassed.
Sometimes overbuilt is the right answer, and the design may be heavy but the
quality of the execution does me no shame, especially given this was my first
attempt to make a wooden tool. If I’d done it “krenov style” I probably could’ve
cut the size by 1/3 - 1/2 and not given up any strength. I may still give it to
the tailed apprentice band sawyer to see if I can take some bulk off without
sacrificing strength. But for now it feels good to use and I’m not unhappy with
it.

====>>> Pictures!! I'm dying here!!

But knowing the work that went into my relatively simple tool, I’m utterly
humbled (and encouraged) to read that Bill understands this much about wooden
tools. I had to read it three times and I’m still not sure I understand the
difference between Spiers and Norris. Maybe the picture will help. But I’m
hooked on making my own out of wood. It’s unlikely that my already-ridiculous
collection of planes will wear out given my age and life expectancy but to the
degree I need tools I’ll be making them from wood going forward.

====>> OK. Now I get it! But still, could you share a picture? <<===

Mark.