Woodworking Glossary

Drawknife

A drawknife has a blade with a handle at each end, gripped with both hands and pulled toward the body across the workpiece, rather than pushed the way a plane or chisel is. That two-handed pulling motion, straddling a piece clamped in a shaving horse or vise, removes material fast and aggressively -- a drawknife's main job is rough shaping, knocking large amounts of waste off a blank quickly, not fine smoothing.

It's a mainstay of green woodworking and chair-making specifically, where round or tapered legs, spindles, and stretchers are shaped from riven (split) stock while it's still fresh and easy to cut, well before final smoothing with a spokeshave or plane.