Bogg's shavehorse finished

[Sean Hughto]

By now, most of us have seen plenty of these, but for what it may be worth, here's mine. Finished it last night and took a few pics and a test spin today. Seems to work great. I'm glad to answer any questions about my build process for anyone who might be interested.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/5711741236_6e96695104_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/5711740850_2fa3c0b02a_z.jpg

[Gary Hodgin]

Great job! Looks comfortable. I really like that seat. Some horses just don't look comfortable. By the way, those are very good pictures.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks good.

jtk

[Niels Cosman]

Nice work! looks like a sweet horse!
Now you just need some decent work clothes :D:D:D:D

[Jeff Bartley]

Great job Sean! What type of wood is the seat? The seat looks adjustable from the pic....that's a smart feature!

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks for the kind comments, all. Oh, except you, Niels. ;) Do you think I need a better blouse and britches like Mr. Cherubini? Braces like Saint Roy?

Jeff, I carved the seat from a thick piece of birch I had. It does move; it has a keel that rides in the slot, and those bits on the bottom with wingnuts lock it. It's pretty much a slightly tweaked version of the Boggs horse from the short article in Fine Woodworking 139. I used bolts and rood instead of dowels for the axles, and made the top jaw adjustable. I also added some UMWH "washers" to the area between the treadle arms and the body to aid the swing. Other than that, it's pretty close to Mr. Bogg's specs.

[Mark Wyatt]

That is very nice. A "someday" project for me.

[george wilson]

Looks like a nice horse,Sean. Yes,you really need to get into the spirit and at least get some overalls. Also,chew tobacco until there is an ingrained tobacco stain running down 1 side of your mouth!!:)

[john brenton]

yeah, easy there "Mr. Perfect shaping wood by the jasmine bush wearing pointy shoes". If you were/are single, that picture on a website would get you tons of...ahem....replies.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, every time sean shows a picture, even the pictures look expensive.

I rarely dress that well to go to work, and I work in an office.

As usual, sean, a notch above the dirty garage projects most of us pikers do.

[David Weaver]

Looks like a nice horse,Sean. Yes,you really need to get into the spirit and at least get some overalls. Also,chew tobacco until there is an ingrained tobacco stain running down 1 side of your mouth!!:)

Don't forget the tar bucket and a few chunks of animal fat.

[Sean Hughto]

You guys are a hoot. I would never have thought of jeans and boots as particularly fancy. I wouldn't usually wear a "dress" shirt to do wooodworking, but I'd just come home from work and wanted to take some pictures before the sun went too low, so I didn't bother to change to my usual T-shirt. Then again, I'm thinking with a vest, I might be able to rock the Thomas Lie-Nielsen look?

As for the pictures, it's sort of another hobby. I'm no photographer by the standards of folks who are actually good at it, but I know the basics and have reasonably decent mid-range equipment (Nikon D-80 for anyone who knows these things). I'm glad they come across well. I think pictures make posts more interesting, and enhance the sharing aspects here - kuum by yaahh.

I made a few build notes for what they may be worth to anyone else thinking about this style horse:
I essentially used the old FWW 139 "master class article as the guide. Though, I have to say that article leaves out an awful lot. I guess that’s why it’s a "master class" topic, because without some experience, it’s gonna be a challenge to fill in some of the blanks. While the article has some measurements and a diagram, it ain’t exactly blueprints and a step-by step.

For the sake of anyone else who might make one of these, here a few building notes that may or may not be useful:

- Mine is made from maple and birch (back legs and seat). The rough slabs I started with amounted to (1) a slab of maple that was nothing special grain or color wise and with some structural issues like cracks and knots to cut around (so fit for a non-furniture fate) 2"+ thick, and about 12" wide and 8' long (main body halves, lower jaw assembly, front leg, internal spacers including the seat keel; (2) a piece of 8/4 maple roughly 7" x 36" (treadle arms); and (3) a piece of thick (around 2.5"?) birch about 14" x 30" (seat and rear legs)

- I flattened one side of everything with handplanes, but used the lunchbox to get the other side flat and the parts to final thickness.

- A bandsaw is very helpful for many of the cutting tasks here, like the rear legs - the male part of the ratchet assembly (I kept thinking of it as a bird because mine resembled the outline of a bird) - and the various curved cuts.

- I used a ‘lectric router and 90 degree V groove cutter with a quicky shop slapped together jig to cut the lower jaw notches. I also used a router with a simple straight bit to cut the dados for the rear legs.

- As for angles, if you don’t have one, I would definitely invest in a bevel setting protractor (the one with the swing arm) for this project.

- I found that the ratchet and treadle assembly mechanics could best be figured out before gluing any parts of the main body together - stuff like, placement of the ratchet "bird" and its axle. It is also help ful to do various required drilling operations in steps where you drill from an inside piece on the drill press and then use it (clamped in place obviously) as a sort of drill guide to hold the bit steady and square while you finish the hole through adjacent parts.

- I used ½" bolts for the "bird" and upper jaw axles and 3/4" threaded rod for the treadle. Wood is romantic, but I value the ability to service things if needed down the road. It also helps in building because you can take apart and reassemble components as required to fashion adjacent parts. I used wedged dowels for the front and rear legs.

- To help ensure the treadle swings freely, I made UMWH (maybe ½" thick) washer-like inserts that ride in forstnered recesses where the treadle meets the body. I did it by drilling 3/4" holes, roughing out the exterior circle on the bandsaw, and then mounting the result on a 3/4" dowel on the lathe for refining the outside edge and final diameter.

- I glued the leather on with "Leather-Weld" glue and seems to hold very well. If it ever needs changing I think I’ll be able to scrape it off though.

- I went ahead and drilled three holes for the top jaw axle. I decided it couldn’t hurt to have the flexibility should I ever decide I’d prefer to work at other heights or with strange sized material.

As in all projects, there are tons of little details of my personal choices in accomplishing many things that others would no doubt do as well or better with other methods.

[Prashun Patel]

You do nice work, Sean. I concur, though, with the comments about your shoes. It would appear that you are gunning for a spot in the Lie-Nielsen catalog. Your posture is also too good; I believe it's a pre-req to be grizzled and hunched over to rock a shave horse.

[John Tallyn]

Shave horse looks really nice, won't speak to the clothes as that has been pretty well covered, I'm more thinking what a nice place to do some woodworking, outside, by what looks to be a lavender tree, only thing missing is the cold beer in the cup holder.

[john brenton]

Did he put a cup holder on his horse? That would be AWESOME. Thanks John, I think I might do that if I build another one. Or maybe I'll just drill a 2 5/8" hole right through the bridge on mine.

On the horse though...is it finished? What did you use? Tung? BLO?


Shave horse looks really nice, won't speak to the clothes as that has been pretty well covered, I'm more thinking what a nice place to do some woodworking, outside, by what looks to be a lavender tree, only thing missing is the cold beer in the cup holder.

[george wilson]

If you oil it,we used tung oil on our Wmsbg. tools. Many of our planes were kept in unheated sheds,and tung oil doesn't let mold grow on it.

[john brenton]

I used tung with the UV protector stuff (not sure how good that really works). I was just curious as to what Sean used because it looks unfinished.


If you oil it,we used tung oil on our Wmsbg. tools. Many of our planes were kept in unheated sheds,and tung oil doesn't let mold grow on it.

[Sean Hughto]

The top of the seat has a little BLO on it because I had the BLO out for something else and poured a bit on for the heck of it during construction. The rest is as yet unfinished, but will probably get BLO as some point. Tung is fine too, but I use BLO on most other things in my shop from my bench to my plane totes and knobs, so it's just easier to keep it all the same.

[george wilson]

Yabbut,the lid of a can of tung oil unscrews as easily as the lid of a can of linseed.:)

[Sean Hughto]

Here's how it works in my shop, George: I get out the BLO for a turning maybe or as a prewipe to the faces of some rails and stiles I'll be gluing up so that squeeze out don't stick there, etc. So now I've got this paper towel with plenty of linseed oil on it, and I look around the shop and says to myself, what else could use a wipe ... next thing you know, that handle or scuffed part of the benchtop or what have you has been refreshed.