A japanese inspired travisher.

The aim is to take what I like about a traditional Japanese spokeshave, which is a lot, and adapt it to do the job of a travisher. I very much appreciate the simplicity of their spokeshave design however since the blades I have aren't tapered I need to include a wedge.

Recently the design and construction of a beautiful Japanese spokeshave has been documented on Berin's Blog.

As can be seen the tool is delicate compared to the traditional and rather cumbersome travisher. The only western travisher I've seen that catches my eye is from Peter Galbert, a chair maker based in the US.

For these travishers I've chosen a different approach. Small plane irons approximately 1.5 x 3.5 inches with 5 varying curved edges will be used, and at 4mm thick they're pretty hefty.

To make the bodies a nice piece of Beech has been drafted in. It's a large piece of timber that will make 5 travishers plus a couple of planes with ease.

The design I currently have in mind will include a face piece to solve the issues I've encountered with the curved sole. Whether this is inspired thinking or a disaster waiting to happen is yet to be known.

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