Looking for a decent draw knife

Let’s first get this out the way. @Bushman5 , I’m not buying a GB draw knife
I cut down a cypress tree that was terminally damaged by hurricane Ida. I want to make a fire pit bench out of one of the logs I cut.
I’m just looking for a decent quality blade that’ll shave the bark off and get put in the shed probably forever.
Preferably from a North American company. Definitely no Chinese products.
I’ve never used one, so I’m not sure if straight or curved would be better.

 

You sure you don't want a GB drawknife?

try looking at estate sales , farm sales, antique stores , thrift stores etc. Often you can find carbon steel drawknives, chisels etc for dirt cheap. An hour or two of handle restoration, sharpening/stropping and you'll have a great tool.

 

I can't help beyond what a google search can tell you about the style you need but I bet I have an old rusty American one in the pile, maybe a dozen all together, nothing choice, some need a handle or two, some have a chunk of stick for a handle, give me a ballpark size and shape and I'll shoot a couple pictures.

 

Just a simple straight one with around a 12” blade. Preferably one with handles the run perpendicular to the blade.

 

I have this Lakeside with a ten inch blade. Handles are solid, would date to WWII or a bit earlier maybe.

 

I’ve got the Gransfor Draw knife and it’s second to none. For a smaller straight blade, look at Barr Tools. All of his stuff is top notch. His framing chisels have become the gold standard in timber framing.

 

first cypress fire pit bench. Still needs finishing on the seating area. But draw knife worked great.
Thanks again.

 

Double

 

Does she take an edge ok or is it hard as a rock?

 

Very hard. But with an extra fine diamond stone and leather strop I was able to get it shaving sharp. After stripping that log it still has a great edge on it. A few passes on the leather should be all she needs to get the edge back.

 

Sounds like they hit the temper then, some of the early ones get a little chip prone from them leaning to hard on the hardness. Love to see rusty carbon steel getting cleaned up proper! Now your gonna hand scrape that seat shape right Lol

 

I really want to form some sort of contour in the seating area but still brainstorming on how to approach it. My wife looked at it and said I need to make another. She wants two incase we need to swap sides to escape the smoke.

 

finally got my hands on some South Louisiana Gold. Should have it, along with a couple other items, heading your way sometime this week.

 

I'm drooling already, love local flavors!

 

The bee keepers name is Toby(Toe-Bee)
He’s about 60 years old and the third generation of his family doing it.
The hives are kept on his property along the bayou. This one looks like his summer honey, his winter one is much darker.
I also have a pack of chili mix made by a retired LEO friend of mine from Chauvin Louisiana. This dude is as Cajun and you can possibly be. Though I recommend using about half the pack for 2 lbs of meat. It’s pretty good stuff. He looks exactly like the guy on the packaging lol.

 

Holysheeit that’s basically my backyard!

 

Small world.
My dad is from Chauvin and my mom is from Point-aux-chenes. Born and raised on the bayou my entire life. All my great grandparents were trappers.

 

My great grandfather was a trapper and from Chauvin. Are you still in Terrebonne? I had a lot of friends from both of those communities, I graduated from South Terrebonne High and grew up basically in Bourg. I’m in Houma now.

 

Yep I’m still here. Will be moving to Mississippi once we build our “camp/home”
This last hurricane really messed us up good down here.

 

Yes indeed, we’re still fighting with our insurance company to get the rest of what we need to finish repairs. We were a lot more fortunate than a lot of folks in that we could stay in our house and didn’t endup with major damage. We’ll likely be here until retirement age due to my wife’s career, once that time comes we’re heading northward away from the gulf coast.