Why Use a Drawknife?

A drawknife is commonly used to remove large slices of wood for flat faceted work, to debark trees, or to create roughly rounded or cylindrical billets for further work on a lathe, or it can shave like a spokeshave plane, where finer finishing is less of concern than a rapid result.

What's the difference between a spokeshave and a drawknife?

A spokeshave is curved while a drawknife has a long blade and is held like a knife or a saw against the wood. They are used similarly but the control for finely finished items is improved with your shaver as opposed to the drawknife.

When was the drawknife invented?

The drawknife is an old tool. Some have been found in the Mastermyr chest (1000 AD). Also in Novgorod, Russia drawknives have been found from the 10th century onwards with blade lengths between 30-40 cm.