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Shmot 31:4 says
לַחְשֹׁב, מַחֲשָׁבֹת; לַעֲשׂוֹת בַּזָּהָב וּבַכֶּסֶף, וּבַנְּחֹשֶׁת
Why does the word לחשוב have a shvah under the chet when normally a Peh-Gronit shoresh in the Pa'al binyan has a chataf-patach under the first shoresh letter in the שם הפועל?
I know that I have seen the same word spelled with a chataf-patach in Chumash before. Also, the following word has a chataf-patach where I would expect it to be.
You are correct in that a I-guttural (a peh-gronit verb) usually takes a composite shewa (although be mindful of the fact that it's not always with patach), but the major exception to this is where it appears in a closed syllable, after the lamed of the infinite construct, in which it often (although not always) takes a regular shewa.
So, for example, חֲסוֹת but לַחְסוֹת (Isaiah 30:14), עֲזוֹר but לַעְזוֹר (II Samuel 18:3), חֲצוֹב but לַחְצוֹב (Jeremiah 2:13), etc. And, of course, the example you gave, which can also be seen in Exodus 35:32, Proverbs 16:30 and II Chronicles 2:13.
If you would like to see a discussion of this in grammatical literature, see Gesenius §63i or Joüon and Muraoka §68e.
