Flexcut Flexible draw knife

[mic-d]

I've been turning out a bunch of spindles for Windsor chairs of late and thought I'd pass on an absolute revelation for draw knife work, the Flexcut Flexible draw knife. It looks like a toy, but when I was comparing this tool and the Pfeil draw knives recently at Carba-tec, the Flexcut just felt wonderful in the hand. Although the Pfeil's shape reminded me of a delightful little Peugot draw knife that I'd tried once, they felt uncomfortable, so I opted to give the little knife a go. It comes with a good leather cover, which is a necessity, this thing is very sharp, out of the box. It works like an extension of the hand, the control it offers is well above any other draw knife I've used, especially my old clunker. Primarily the timber it's been used on is silver ash and it eats this timber with ease. I also tried it on the much harder Queensland sheoak with less success, it doesn't seem to have the weight and authority to plow through this timber. That being said, when I tried that timber I was carrying a bit of a sore hand and may not have done the tool justice. Here's some photos of it next to my large draw knife and of the substantial shavings taken with it.
Overall, it's a great tool and one of my finer tool choices. Apologies for the low quality photos, I corrupted my OS and currently not able to open the program to scale my larger camera photos.
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Cheers
Michael

[Wongdai]

Thanks mic. Appreciate the write-up. I've often wondered what to do with draw knives.

[mic-d]

Thanks mic. Appreciate the write-up. I've often wondered what to do with draw knives.

No worries. I've often wondered what to do with that old draw knife of mine, burn it andw melt it down?

Cheers
Michael

[Andy Mac]

Thanks mic-d, a realistic sort of appraisal! It does look dinky next to your other one, and I guess that alone wouldn't have impressed me. I have 5 draw knives in a range of sizes, and the smallest is slightly curved somewhat like that, and its not a bad beast. Still not as small as that though!
Are you doing all that work on a bench with a vice, or is there a shaving horse we can't see? If you don't have one, make the change, especially if you are into making chairs, it's a revelation...

Cheers,

[mic-d]

Thanks mic-d, a realistic sort of appraisal! It does look dinky next to your other one, and I guess that alone wouldn't have impressed me. I have 5 draw knives in a range of sizes, and the smallest is slightly curved somewhat like that, and its not a bad beast. Still not as small as that though!
Are you doing all that work on a bench with a vice, or is there a shaving horse we can't see? If you don't have one, make the change, especially if you are into making chairs, it's a revelation...

Cheers,

Hi Andy,
I don't have a horse, but I have used them and one day may make one. At the moment I don't mind using the vice. I don't hold the spindle in the vice when spokeshaving...

Cheers
Michael