Synopsis: Ever wondered how to make hand-tool woodworking even more enjoyable? Try using a tool that you’ve made yourself. A spokeshave is a great place to start. It’s easy to make, and once you’ve used it, you’ll turn to it again and again to make spindles, clean up bandsawn curves, and quickly create chamfers and roundovers.

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Part of the reward of working with wood and hand tools is the satisfaction of being directly involved in the interaction of tool and material. That satisfaction grows when you’re using a tool that you have made. I learned to make a spokeshave from John Gunterman some years ago. A sensitively tuned spokeshave may not be on the list of tools you thought you’d need, but once its utility becomes apparent, you will look for excuses to use it. The name spokeshave suggests its usefulness in making spindles, but it…