Finishing the curved surface of oak braces

Hi!

I've very little experience in framing but trying my own small build. I was wondering how you finish the curved surfaces of curved braces? I have chainsawed the shape of the brace but have a very rough surface left and chiseling is a bit of a nightmare. Are there spokeshaves you can use? Or is a compass plane effective?

Many thanks!

Drawknife and spokeshave will work well. Compass plane would be a slow and expensive option.

Also, you can use a rotary sanding drum mounted on an electric drill for final finishing.

Or a gouge

Adze.

I would work crossgrain with a gutter adze and then clean up with a scorp and wish for a travisher for the finest finish

When I have cut curved braces or scoops on the bottom of rafters and floor joists, I used an axe first to blast away the bulk of the wood. Then an adze to shape it more and to remove the axe marks. Then a draw knife to shape it more and remove the adze marks. Then a curved bottom/sole spoke shave to shape if more and remove the draw knife marks.
When it is done it is usually very smooth and of a nice gentle arc.

Jim Rogers

I rough out with the chain saw then semi-finish with Adze then final finish with draw knife. Believe it or not, most people like the hand-made look.

Rough out, with portable bandsaw. Sand using a stationary spindle sander to the line. If the brace is too big for the sander, we attack it using a belt sander.

An easy way to cut the curve. Consistent, repeatable, efficient, and easy to clean up. I wonder if you could mount a chain saw and cut braces with a similar jig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhPcsWsBNmY

I haven't cut a curve in strait stock in nineteen years, never made sense to me, trees grow crooked every day.

Even so, I'm still often milling the the sapwood off of natty curves - Free form following the grain, a chain saw with rip chain, sometimes guided on bigger section pieces by a second set of eyes and hands via a stinger handle.

Cleaning that up with a Mak curved body. Not caring much for sanders or the finish they yield, I prefer to produce a final finish with this Spokeshave > http://www.veritastools.com/products/Page.aspx?p=116 Pricy but worth the investment - Chatter free and smooth, it is great for cleaning up large curved reductions and relief cuts also.

The key point I see on that spoke shave is how low to the work the handles are. I have never been able to make the spoke shave with high handles function with out is rolling over onto my knuckles. My only spoke shave has handles almost flat to the blade/sole.

In my video you can see how dusty that jig is, I cringe when the client asks for cut curved braces. Wider stock, longer mortices, more work,