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Drawknife vs spokeshave

Updated: 23 October 2026

A drawknife and a spokeshave both leave shavings on a green chair leg, and they are not the same tool. You pull a bare blade with a drawknife, and the only limit on the bite is your hands. A spokeshave has a sole and a mouth, so the cut stops when the sole bears. If you can buy only one this month, the choice depends on whether the waste is still thick. None of the ten knives in the [drawknife comparison](/hub/hand-tools/drawknife) is a spokeshave, so this page does not award a winner among them. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

A drawknife and a spokeshave both leave shavings on a green chair leg, and they are not the same tool. You pull a bare blade with a drawknife, and the only limit on the bite is your hands.

Our top picks

YWBL-WH YWBL-WH straight draw knife

Best overall

YWBL-WH YWBL-WH straight draw knife
6.2/10about £19.32
View offer
PPI PPI 10 inch straight draw knife

Alternative

PPI PPI 10 inch straight draw knife
5.4/10about £38.31
View offer
banapoy banapoy draw knife

Best value

banapoy banapoy draw knife
4.1/10about £15.43
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On this page
  1. 1.The sole is the whole difference
  2. 2.When the drawknife is the right first tool
  3. 3.When the spokeshave should take over
  4. 4.If you buy only one

The sole is the whole difference

A drawknife has no depth stop. Tip the handles and the edge takes a deeper shaving, or it dives and tears the grain. That freedom is why it clears waste quickly, and why a loose clamp or a steep bevel ruins a spindle in one pull. A spokeshave is a short plane you can pull or push. The sole rides the wood, the mouth sets how thick a shaving can be, and the iron only cuts where the sole allows. Fine Woodworking's 1990 piece, still a page Google UK surfaces, says the sole limits the bite. It is an old magazine synopsis, not a current UK test. Woodsmith's FAQ says the drawknife has no adjustment, and the spokeshave is the later, more accurate tool. The jobs sit in sequence, and the tools are not substitutes.

When the drawknife is the right first tool

Use the drawknife while the waste is thick and the wood is held. A cleft chair leg, a shaved handle, or the facets on a green blank are that work. Both hands stay on the handles, which means a shave horse, a vice, or a brake has to hold the billet. The stroke itself is on how to use a drawknife. It is the wrong first tool when you already like the shape and you are frightened of a dive. There is no mouth to save you. A long pole you would walk is a peeling-spade job. A drawknife still peels short, fresh wood once it is clamped.
YWBL-WH YWBL-WH straight draw knife

Testsieger

YWBL-WH YWBL-WH straight draw knife
6.2/10about £19.32
View offer

When the spokeshave should take over

Bring the spokeshave in when the leg is close to round, or when a curve needs to stay fair. The sole stops the iron from grabbing the hollow you just made, which is the usual way a drawknife used bevel-down ruins the last two millimetres. You can push a spokeshave or pull it. You do not get that choice with a drawknife, which is a pull towards you. A flat sole suits a straight facet. A round sole suits a tighter curve. The spokeshave is not automatically safer in every grip. It is safer against an accidental deep bite, not against every dull iron. Woodsmith treats it as the more accurate tool after the drawknife.

If you buy only one

Buy the spokeshave if you are new to this and you want a fair surface more than you want to move a lot of wood. The sole teaches a maximum shaving, and you can still round a leg that is already near size. Buy the drawknife first if you have a shave horse, or a vice you trust, and the blanks are still thick, square, or barked. You will rough with the knife and wish for the shave later. One tool will not do both jobs well. A drawknife used as a finishing plane leaves digs. A spokeshave used to hog a cleft blank is slow, and the mouth clogs. If the budget is one amazon order from the comparison table, read the drawknife buying guide before you trust a star rating. If the budget is one finishing tool, leave that table and buy a spokeshave. The condition is the thickness of the waste, not the brand on the knife.

Common questions

Which one removes wood faster?
The drawknife, while the waste is thick and the wood is clamped. There is no sole to limit the shaving, so a skewed pull can take a long ribbon off a green blank. A spokeshave is slower at that stage because the mouth only passes a thin shaving, which is the point of it later.
Which one stops me taking too much?
The spokeshave. The sole and the mouth cap the bite. A drawknife stops only when you do. If you are fairing the last of a chair leg, the shave is the tool that prevents a dive. If you are still splitting off corners, the knife is the faster one and the less forgiving one.
Can I push a spokeshave and only pull a drawknife?
Yes. A spokeshave is used both ways, push or pull, like a very short plane. A drawknife is pulled towards you with both hands on the handles. Pushing a drawknife puts the edge in the wrong place relative to your body.
Do I need both for chair legs?
You need both if you want the fast roughing cut and the fair finished surface. Many green-wood chairs are drawknifed to shape and then spokeshaved. If you will only own one, pick from the thickness of the blanks you actually have, not from a kit photograph that shows both.
Is a drawknife just a spokeshave without the body?
It is a blade with two handles and no sole. The missing body is the missing depth stop. That is why it hogs waste and why it can dig in. Calling it an unfinished spokeshave hides the reason you would buy it first.
What if the job is bark, not a spindle?
A short, fresh pole in a brake is still a drawknife job. A long stem, especially if you are walking the bark off, is a peeling spade used in push strokes. The spokeshave is for the wood underneath once the shape matters. Bark grit also dulls an edge, whichever tool you choose.

Related pages

Drawknife for removing bark

Drawknife

Best drawknife on amazon.co.uk and who should skip it

Drawknife buying guide for blade length and sheath

How to use a drawknife: pull, clamp, hone and cover

Sources

Sources for this comparison, last checked on 22 October 2026.

  1. Woodsmith, Drawknives FAQ (2023) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. Tyzack, Kirschen 300 mm straight draw knife (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Thomas Flinn, drawknives (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. Crown Hand Tools, drawknives (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK, Buying and carrying knives (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 141A (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. HSE PPS12, safety knives (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. The Conservation Volunteers, tools guide (January 2024) (retrieved 22 October 2026)