What is the difference between a flatsole and compass shave?
The terms I use below for classifying spokeshave soles are not historical terms, but were devised for my own convention. The old guys may not have used these terms, however they do accurately describe the tools. The flat sole shave is the most commonly used wooden spokeshave. As the name implies, the sole is flat. Shaves of this type are often seen with a brass wear plate fitted to the sole. This is referred to as brassing the shave. The advantage of brassing is to prolong the life of the sole when the shave is used extensively or used on very abrasive/hard wood species. This shave is used for working straight, convex or moderately concave edges. The compass shave is a specialized tool. The sole of the compass shave is rounded to gain access into concave edges too curved for the flat sole shave. This is similar to the role of a compass (circle) plane. Note that the compass shaves sole is rounded in the front-to-back direction for the purpose of hollowing edges, and should not be confus
