Right, tried to upload this thread earlier having spent half an hour getting the photos and text all done, Internet went down and the article was lost. So, you will have to excuse the slightly rushed nature of this! If you were expecting a lovely detailed explanation of woodcraft and how to make tools then I suggest you read beach crickets blog - the blokes a woodworking maestro. However, if you were looking to see how a very basic travisher could be created then read on.....apologies for the poor pictures!
Anyway - I spent Wednesday sharpening all tools, bringing life back to those who were neglected and modifying the few that were unusable. The pictures below are of 'Travi-Steins' pre-cursor - a cheap beech travisher bought through Axminster power tools, it has had hardly any use because the design is crap. I modified it badly but at least now it works beautifully, it's a number 2 travisher so gives a very small amount of concaving, great for traditnal profiles. Anyway - as the photos show - big block of wood glued on, jobs a good'un!
Anyway - this inspired me to make my own do it yourself travisher - 'TRAVI-STEIN'!!!! A blade purchased from ebay £18 and a block of wood from Yandles wood merchant £5 and I was away!
Some gratuitous willow shavings.....podshavers artistic license!
Block of wood was then shaped down into an arc shape to fit the radius of the travisher blade, a number 6 which means serious concaving. Holes cut using a saw and chisel to place the blade in. Also added the drill holes for he screws to go in, to secure the blade.
The block was then re shaped a little - lines drawn on the wood indicate where the surface would extend to as I have found that these travishers work a little better when they are treated like a plane. The blade is then secured using the washers - a pyramid of 3 were used because I was a little inaccurate with the fittings and they really needed bolting down.....as I said, very much an experiment! Finally, any additional sanding made to the wooden block to ensure that the blade and the face of the travisher married up nicely and a good cut was achieved.
As the photos show - TRAVISTEIN has been created, still a little bulky, but very comfortable to use and taking some good consistent shavings. I will modify it slightly and update with more pictures when I get the chance. Any recommendations for a different wood to try for my next travisher project - will be making a 3 or 4 radius travisher with a slightly different design.
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Topic: 'Travi-Stein' - a woodworking monstrosity! (Read 2434 times)