While general-use shaves excel at cutting face grain, low-angle shaves excel at working end grain. The new #85 spokeshave from Woodjoy falls into the latter group.

The Brazilian-cherry body is 12 in. long and has a 5/32-in.-thick, 2-1/2-in.-long, A2 steel blade and a brass sole. The blade is hollow-ground on the bottom, making it easy to flatten and sharpen. When razor-sharp, the low-angle blade will leave a slick finish on the end grain of even the softest woods, including white pine.

Cutting depth is adjusted by moving the sole; the mouth opening by moving the blade. The sole and the blade have countersunk slots for the screws that secure them to the body. I found that because of this, both move slightly off their settings when the screws are tightened, making adjustments tricky. The #85 costs $95 and is available from www.woodjoytools.com.

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