Lost Art of the Drawknife - article link

Right on... Khukuris make excellent drawknives for planing posts, poles &c. I used mine to plane the logs I used to build my little-house-in-the-little-woods.
 
“Put it there, partner, and pull!”
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If, it's all the same to you, I would rather put it there and push. Cutting towards yourself is generally a bad idea.

n2s
 
Then it wouldn't be a draw knife. I have used a home made draw knife and there is a lot more control of how much cutting is done drawing the knife toward yourself. People that get cut useing a knife toward themselve usually do no have a hold of both ends of the knife.
 
.
And unless your hands are Far apart
it's almost impossible to actually
draw the blade into your body.
The arms bind up when your hands
get close to the body.
Possible, but not likely I think.
 
Yeah, I plan on using the draw knife aspect of my khuks soon. After I finish a current sheath project, I'll be shaping an old oak oar into an oval cross section pole about 7" long so I can rehaft a lochaber axe that I have.
Original haft shattered when I tried some severe cutting tests against an old heating oil tank. Those things are thick, and have some sort of internal bracing. Dumpsters are easier to cut with heavy polearms than these heat oil tanks...don't ask me how I know...

Keith
 
re: Push?
Pappy and DDean are right on the money about proper draw knife use. It's the controllable power of the biomechanics involved that make a draw knife a very useful woodworking tool. Something I haven't heard mentioned yet is the vital importance of having the piece being carved secured by a clamp, etc., so it's not moving around while you're carving it. Simply put, you need to have a secure hold on the draw knife, something else has to have a secure hold on the wood.

Sarge
 
re: Push?
Pappy and DDean are right on the money about proper draw knife use. It's the controllable power of the biomechanics involved that make a draw knife a very useful woodworking tool. Something I haven't heard mentioned yet is the vital importance of having the piece being carved secured by a clamp, etc., so it's not moving around while you're carving it. Simply put, you need to have a secure hold on the draw knife, something else has to have a secure hold on the wood.

Sarge
 
You are forgiven for the OOOPS. Secure the project by all means. My lilttle shop isn't very big, 25' X 25', but I have two four inch vises, a small 2' and a wood vise that are in locations handy for the things that I do in there. I have another small vise that I can take from the house that has rubber jaws for delicate work. Making keys and pendents and such. The project being well secured saves a lot of pain and misery.:)
 
Uncle Bill, If you tell me it was done with a Khuk, you've got a lot more grapes than I've got. I think I'd have turned chicken.:D
 
I haven't used a drawknife for some time but when I did I secured the object I was working on by sitting on it, leaning forward and pulling the knife towards me. The position poses some potential problems but if you hang onto the knife as you should it would be almost impossible to inflict damage on yourself. The khukuri, because you don't have the traditional drawknife handles, is a bit trickier but if you are careful and pay attention to what you're doing you shouldn't have any problems.
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino ....I secured the object I was working on by sitting on it, leaning forward and pulling the knife towards me.
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I can see doing that with larger / longer items,
but I have an image of a khuk point sticking out beyond the grip
and slicing open the inside of my thigh.
 
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