Dunlap spokeshave - yard sale find

[Bill Houghton]

One of my several weaknesses is spokeshaves (no, I won't mention the count).  This little Dunlap followed me home from a moving sale yesterday.  I like the styling, especially that concave front face).  It's interesting: they made some effort to save on metal, with the skeletal handles and general heft (as shown by the final picture, comparing it to a Stanley of similar size).  But then I can't figure out why they invested in a captured lever cap, which I assume would have been more expensive to produce than the screw threaded into the body as used on the Stanley.

[wvtools]

I do not know for sure with the Dunlap shave, but that open handle style is typically used on leather shaves.

[Bill Houghton]

I had wondered whether it might be a leather shave.  I'm not sure how they differ from spokeshaves for wood.

[Bill Houghton]

Some research on the leather shaves that resemble spokeshaves: bookbinders and other folks who need to shave long bevels on leather have apparently been modifying spokeshaves for some time for their own use.  The two most significant changes seem to be: (a) opening up the mouth a lot, with 3/16" being the recommendation I found in one article, and (b) grinding the bevel to 10 degrees, way more acute than on a spokeshave.  This little Dunlap I bought isn't configured anywhere near like that, so I think it is a spokeshave for wood.

If I had the time, which I don't, I'd dig around and see if I could find a Sears catalog that included the Dunlap line, to confirm my hypothesis.  But that's not necessary to shave wood with it, so I think I'll just let it be.