A drawknife is a simple, hand-held woodworking tool that woodworkers have used for centuries. The best draw knife is usually made from a flat piece of steel with a handle attached to one end and a curved blade at the other. The blade is forged to have a sharp edge, which can be flat or bevelled, and is pulled through the wood to remove large, thin slices.
Many new woodworkers choose to buy a draw knife as a way of shaping and smoothing pieces of wood. The drawknife is one of the most effective tools for quickly removing large amounts of wood, particularly in the initial stages of woodworking and carving.
Top 5 Picks – Best Draw Knife
A draw knife is a simple yet powerful tool in various shapes and sizes. We can use a drawknife to help with carving and preparing wood for carving. However, choosing the best drawknife for your needs is tricky, so let’s look at the best.
Detailed Review
The Timber Tuff Straight Drawknife
The Timber Tuff Straight Drawknife
The Timber Tuff Straight Drawknife is ideal for rough shaping and removing old paint, rotted wood, and any other surface material you need to remove to get to bare wood. The tool has a handle made of durable hickory with a steel blade measuring 8 inches long.
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The tool is surprisingly affordable, given its quality. Once sharpened to a point, it’s the best woodworking tool for quickly shaping wood into even cuts. It works by shaving little wood curls from the surface of whatever you’re carving.
For example, we’ve seen less expensive drawknives that need the blade protector or the comfortable wooden handle featured on this one. This speciality knife consists of a blade with a handle on each end.
BeaverCraft DK1-4 Draw Knife
BeaverCraft DK1-4 Draw Knife
The BeaverCraft DK1-4 Draw Knife is made with a high-carbon steel blade that has been hand honed and razor-sharp. The blade is longer than the handles to ensure extra reach when cutting. This knife is great for making feather sticks, starting a fire by friction, or splitting kindling for a campfire.
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The top-of-the-line price may be a deal-breaker for some buyers. However, this product is definitely worth the investment. The DK1-4 Draw Knife features a long (3-inch) carbon steel blade that hits all the high notes you’re looking for in a product: user-friendly to beginner woodworkers and lightweight enough not to sap your energy away while you’re working.
The one problem it tackles extremely well is making very precise cuts. But while this feature makes it easy to handle, giving it 5 out of 5 in this department means that its users often spend more time than they’d like on crafting those cuts (instead of cutting down a tree).
Ox-Head OX3752500 Straight Drawknife
Ox-Head OX3752500 Straight Drawknife
Our OX3752500 straight drawknife is ideal for cleaning, smoothing, or finishing surfaces. It can also be used as a planer and has various uses in woodworking, construction, and home improvement projects. This tool makes a great addition to your toolbox.
The higher quality of the drawknife, the better the result. Because this tool is so useful for many DIYers and woodworkers, One popular model that caught our attention made by Ox-Head is called the OX3752500 Straight Drawknife. The 10-inch blade glides nicely over wood and cuts cleanly through different pieces of wood quickly.
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You will immediately notice its lightweight, which makes it easy to make fast work of any material without wearing yourself out. The blade stays smooth for a long time (months) and is incredibly durable. There are hand grips that are comfortable and ensure your hands don’t get tired while using them extensively, such as during a long project or job.
FLEXCUT KN16 Draw Knife
FLEXCUT KN16 Draw Knife
FLEXCUT KN16 Draw Knife is a handy tool that helps you make clean and precise cuts. This knife comes with a comfortable grip, making cutting your workpiece lengthwise or at an angle easy.
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The blade of this knife is assembled into a hardwood handle which offers durability and ease of use. This tool can hold its own when it comes to basic material removal, but what sets it apart are some of its more unique features, like the spring-loaded blade, which can be easily adapted to suit many project applications.
The blade comes sharp, so you’ll have an edge in this field from day 1. For additional comfort, you can use the handle, which complements your hand tension for improved precision, control, and balance during use.
Felled 7702 Draw Shave Knife
Felled 7702 Draw Shave Knife
Looking for a longer blade to work with? The Felled 7702 Draw Shave Knife may fit that bill. But like most tools on this list, it has its benefits and drawbacks for you to consider. Consider this a slightly more expensive version of our TimberTuff, but with a much longer (13-inch) blade and similar profile.
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The Fellhult Felled 7702 Draw Shave Knife combines the traditional draw shave and modern shaving knife. The specially shaped blade has a flat top edge that aids the user in scraping off the shavings, eliminating having to rotate the wood while working with it.
Buying Guide
BUYING GUIDE
Blade Edge
The blade edge is the sharp point on any drawknife. It’s the cutting edge of the blade. It allows the drawknife to cut through softer materials like wood and not simply scrape against them. Drawknives come with varying blades, each able to be honed in different ways depending on what you are using it for or where you are using it.
These edges are sharper than standard knives and can be resharpened by a professional allowing them to last a long time if looked after correctly rather than used as one-off tools that wear out without regular maintenance.
Suppose you want your drawknife to work effectively throughout its lifespan. In that case, you must maintain its blade edge just like any other equipment in your workshop, even if only for safety reasons. For example, using an unsharpened scraper against harder material could break your material or send shrapnel flying around at speed!
Handle
Here’s how you can tell a good drawknife from a bad one: First, you’ll want your handles to be fixed instead of adjustable. This way, they’re sturdy and stable while you’re working. And fixed handles are also more comfortable than their sliding counterparts.
When buying a drawknife, you must choose between fixed and adjustable handles. A fixed handle is usually more stable, but it can compromise comfort. An adjustable handle allows you to customize the handle’s position to find a natural grip. Still, it would help if you had more control over your angle, and it is less ergonomic than a fixed design.
Ultimately, finding an in-between option that favours comfort without compromising safety is best. That way, you will feel relaxed and be able to complete longer sessions of demanding work!
Other Handle Considerations
In many ways, the handle of the drawknife is just as important as the blade. If that’s the case, it’s a good idea to look at how well your draw knife’s handle works for your hand and how comfortable it feels when you hold onto it.
You can consider a few material options, including rubberized plastic, treated wood, and polished metal. Each offers its benefits and drawbacks – so in some cases, there might be more than one option that would work well for your individual needs.
Blade Length
No tool is created equal, and this particular tool is best used to provide a smooth surface or remove less than 1/8th an inch of the wood. So remember, when you’re thinking about a drawknife, make sure it is the proper size for your project so that you can work quickly and easily without getting paint in your hair!
Blade Thickness
A thin, strong blade is a question of balance. If you use a thick blade, you’re wasting material. And if you use a thin blade, you may end up with a too-fragile blade that breaks during use. Sometimes, a too-thick or thin blade can cause problems.
If a blade is too thick, it’s more difficult to make cuts without wasting a lot of material. If a blade is too thin, it can break easily during use. A proper balance may be challenging, and there are many different opinions on the perfect balance. But you can find good blades that have close to this perfect balance.
Blade Design
When looking through drawknives for sale, you’ll quickly notice different kinds of blades out there. But most will fall into two categories: curved blades or straight blades. Each has perks and drawbacks, so it’s important to understand what kind of blade you need for any task.
Safety First
A drawknife is an important tool for any woodworker. But the wrong one can be dangerous. This guide will explain what to look for when selecting a drawknife and what you can use the tool for. The first thing to check is the handle. You want to ensure your drawknife has a handle that’s easy to hold and manoeuvre.
That’s why you should look for one designed to face outward. With this outward-facing handle design, you can control the blade’s position and ensure the tool is never in a place where it could puncture your skin. As a bonus, this design is also often easier to use.
Wrapping Up
The best drawknife for you will depend on what you’re looking for in a drawknife. For example, if you’re looking for a drawknife that you can use to clear the ground, you’ll want something that can slice through the ground and make quick work of even the toughest brush. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a draw knife to cut wood, you’ll want a tool that can produce well-defined, smooth cuts. No matter what you’re looking for in a draw knife, we’ve reviewed various models in various price ranges so that you can find the best draw knife for you.
