That is a really neat looking drawknife. I have never seen one that folds like that.
Drawknives are also called spokeshaves. They are used to shape wood into rod-like shapes, e.g. spokes, spindles, chair legs, etc. They are useful for making bows for archery, and in the old days, shingles for roofing. There is indeed a specific type of sitting bench (shaving bench) with a heavy 'horse' head clamp that is used to hold sticks for shaping with a drawknife.
The origin of the straight handled draw knife, is probably in Sweden, where it is called a Spantkniv. Other variations have the handles oriented at various angles to the blade to improve cutting efficiency. Larger drawknives are very effective at removing bark.
Wood carvers like myself use smaller drawknives for all sorts of rough shaping. Sometimes you can get a much more powerful, controlled cut by pulling rather than pushing. I have a couple of small forged drawknives made from O1 tool steel. Drawknives can be seen and purchased at woodworking supply shops like
www.woodcraft.com
That particular folding drawknife looks like a carvers drawknife, not a larger knife for bark removal.
Paracelsus
[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 12-19-2000).]
