ON TEST: Ben Adams travishers
Review: Carol Russell
Travishers are usually associated with chairmaking, particularly Windsor chairs or stools that have concave seats.
They consist of a curved blade set in a shaped wooden body. The blade can be adjusted to remove larger or smaller amounts of material to create complex contours.
I’m not a chairmaker but I often have the need to shape sculptures and platters, creating deep concave forms. These objects are like chair seats in terms of shape and depth. My usage of these tools is a bit unorthodox; however, I find them incredibly manoeuvrable and versatile, even for shaping convex surfaces.
When I saw that furniture maker Ben Adams was making his own travishers in his workshop on the Sunshine Coast, I was intrigued.
There are two models, both have spotted gum bodies. The #1 has a 60mm radius blade forged from 80CrV2 steel with a 20° bevel. It has a friction fit blade that requires a tap on the tangs with a wooden mallet to adjust the depth of cut for quick stock removal. At $225, the #1 is an affordable tool for beginners and a good all-rounder.
Model #2 (shown above) is the premium version and has a brass plate for durability. The tangs are adjusted with two screws and an allen key. The 90mm radius curved blade is also forged from 80CrV2 and has a good balance of hardness, edge retention and impact resistance. The blade is 70mm in length with a 20° bevel angle.
It came out of the box razor sharp and ready to go. I had a piece of very dense Huon pine; beautiful, but hard and a lot of work to hollow out with a gouge.
Cutting slightly diagonally across the grain, the material melts away. I loved the weight of the tool; a light touch is all that’s needed as the weight anchors it.
The travisher feels beautiful to use – the shaped handles allow for plenty of clearance for your hands as you go deeper. I tried it on some harder Tasmanian blackwood and some cranky red cedar. It performed well without any snagging or tearing out.
The art, I found, is to read the grain, keep up a steady deliberate pace and use the tool at a slightly skewed angle as you make the cut, rocking it slightly as you exit and slicing the fibres cleanly. The blade held its edge beautifully and after a couple of hours of use was still razor sharp.
Available from Ben Adams, see www.benadams.studio
Carol Russell is a Melbourne woodcarver who also teaches. Learn more at www.carolrussellwoodwork.com.au