Shavehorse

[David Ragan]

Am thinking about building a shavehorse.

there are some cool examples-Brian Boggs, a copy of which is on this Forum a few years ago (it looks much nicer than what I would like)

And on YouTube, there is a huge amount of video by a guy Curtis Buchannon he has one, that looks simpler than the above.

Regardless of the design, it will stay inside:

Anybody have a simple easy design?

Can I make it out of BORG pine, fir, etc?

[Christian Thompson]

If you want to go really simple to get going on your project, I built this "benchtop shave horse": http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/796635/10620603/1297085797843/lw13.p28-31.schools.pdf?token=F4F7DpVnM%2BjCxPWX35utJnyc5n8 %3D. I built it using 2x4s and 1x4s and it works surprisingly well. One of these days I want to build a real one, though.

[Karl Andersson]

David,
you can definitely make one out of BORG wood - I'd use DF 2x wood if at all possible, or pick through the hem-fir stuff for boards with tighter rings. DF has good tensile strength, so would be a bit less wobbly than the others -if your BORG carries SYP, then even better.

Drew Langsner at Country workshops has plans/ photos of both a traditional shaving horse http://www.countryworkshops.org/Shaving%20Horse%20Plans.html and a modernized, 2x lumber shaving mule (free plans): http://countryworkshops.org/shavingmule.html . to my eye, the mule may be a better choice for softer woods, as you sit on them on-edge; the horse, with its single flat plank, may be too springy unless you have some 3-inch thick DF. I made a similar sit-on carving table out of DF and compared to a hardwood version, it's much lighter to carry around and still has plenty of strength - just use wide washers on all bolt heads and nuts for the structural fasteners, otherwise you will end up tunneling the heads with a smaller washer halfway through the timber as you tighten up with wear (oops...)

good luck, let us know how it turns out,
Karl

[David Ragan]

if your BORG carries SYP, then even better.



Thanks Karl. what is SYP please?

I'm trying to KISS. I dont' want the shave horse to be a major production, esp cause a friend has some fresh oak and hickory for me-and I need to split it.

so, my additional question is: I dont' have the metal wedges for starting to split the log. Is there a way to do it other than buy them, and I will probably need to buy, I guess three of those, then make some Dogwood larger wedges to complete the split, right?

What is the cheapest way to accomplist splitting the log. it is white oak, about a foot across (no knots:eek:) 5-6 ft long. I asked for smaller hickory piece.

I just called my friend yesterday, and he has the wood ready, but I am not ready at all. I have nothing to process all this with, and all this riving and shaving has to be done with the wood green, or at least not cured, right?

[Robert Norman]

Southern Yellow Pine

I split logs that size with camp axes and hatchets. Bury one where you want the split and hit it with anything heavy, preferably non metallic if you like your hatchets.
You could buy wedges as well, and probably be done very quickly.

[Steve Voigt]

so, my additional question is: I dont' have the metal wedges for starting to split the log. Is there a way to do it other than buy them, and I will probably need to buy, I guess three of those, then make some Dogwood larger wedges to complete the split, right?

What is the cheapest way to accomplist splitting the log. it is white oak, about a foot across (no knots:eek:) 5-6 ft long. I asked for smaller hickory piece.

I just called my friend yesterday, and he has the wood ready, but I am not ready at all. I have nothing to process all this with, and all this riving and shaving has to be done with the wood green, or at least not cured, right?

My priority would be splitting and riving; you can worry about the shavehorse later. You need 2 steel wedges (3 is nice but you can get by w/2) and some larger wooden ones. Dogwood is nice but not required; I would see if your friend has some little offcuts of oak or hickory from the tree. Any triangular piece of wood will work--I have even used pine!

You will also need a froe and riving break. My homemade froe and ghetto brake are here (http://blackdogswoodshop.blogspot.com/2013/08/riving.html), if you are looking for cheap, quick, homemade. If I were making the froe again, I would use 1/4" steel instead of 5/16".

What you really should do is head over to Galbert's blog, chairnotes, and just read the whole thing from start to finish. And watch the first few installments from Curtis's Windsor chair series on Youtube. They will tell you everything you need to know; the rest is just experience.

[David Ragan]

My priority would be splitting and riving; you can worry about the shavehorse later. You need 2 steel wedges (3 is nice but you can get by w/2) and some larger wooden ones. Dogwood is nice but not required; I would see if your friend has some little offcuts of oak or hickory from the tree. Any triangular piece of wood will work--I have even used pine!

You will also need a froe and riving break. My homemade froe and ghetto brake are here (http://blackdogswoodshop.blogspot.com/2013/08/riving.html), if you are looking for cheap, quick, homemade. If I were making the froe again, I would use 1/4" steel instead of 5/16".

What you really should do is head over to Galbert's blog, chairnotes, and just read the whole thing from start to finish. And watch the first few installments from Curtis's Windsor chair series on Youtube. They will tell you everything you need to know; the rest is just experience.

Thanks Steve-

Do you mean, that after I have the green wood down into relatively straight grain pieces for legs, spindles, etc. that I can set them aside and let them cure...the curing wont be an issue after initial selection and rough sizing?

I found Galbert's blog. Man, I started in 2007. Cheaper than buying a book. You mean the entire thing, right?

Have watched a lot of Curtis's YouTube stuff already.

[Steve Voigt]

Do you mean, that after I have the green wood down into relatively straight grain pieces for legs, spindles, etc. that I can set them aside and let them cure...the curing wont be an issue after initial selection and rough sizing?


I didn't really mean that…I just meant that if I were in your position, the shaving horse would not be a priority. A shaving horse is not a necessity. If you are going to make a lot of chairs, it will save you time. If you are just going to make a couple, making the horse will take a lot longer than the time you save using it.

If I were in your shoes, with an oak log waiting for me, I would get it split and rived as soon as I could. I would put some thought and effort into storing the rivings, too. Best is to sticker them outside, elevated, and with lots of circulation, but well protected from sun and rain. A garage or basement will work but is not as good as outdoors. And make sure you seal the ends with paint or anchorseal or something, asap.

You can certainly wait as long as you want to drawknife, spokeshave, or turn your stock, but the drier it gets, the more work it will be, especially the drawknifing.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I agree. I've also seen these called shave ponies. I made one very similar to this one with a couple of additions. I attached the top piece, C in the diagram, to the uprights the same way the piece marked A is attached to the uprights, then another sets of holes for C so I have a couple of choices for holding pieces of different thicknesses. And rather than holding it to the bench with a clamp, I added a piece to one side of the long horizontal member so it can be clamped in a vice.

[David Ragan]

I have these:

317123

Have never used them. The one on the left is used to shape stuff more round, right?

I'll have to wait till next month to get the logs.

How do I anchor my round parts to use the above w/o a shavehorse? Make one of the benchtop models, I guess.

I got the Jeff Miller book. Lots of boring technical information. I'd like to make the Maloof rocker first. I guess that's too ambitious:o?

(Yes-I know, chairs must withstand a lot of stress and you gotta understand the basics first.......)

Have no real interest in making boring looking chairs like used @ a school/church social function.

[Archie England]

A Scorp shave is the one on the left, which is for scooping out wood (primarily ? for chair making and seat bottoms).

[Mike Holbrook]

Like Archie says the scorp/inshave is for hollowing out the deeper sections in a chair seat. I believe the "drawknife" you show is a Flexcut, very small, with a very flexible blade. I have one but have never figured out exactly what to do with it. In my opinion it isn't much use for carving chair spindles or chair seats, it is just to light and flexible. I would look at the drawknives made by Barr Tools or Woodjoy for a starting out tool. It took me a while to find serviceable drawknives at auctions. The good ones took a fair amount of work to get into working order which can be frustrating for a new user trying to learn a new tool. Unless you are taking a class with Peter Galbert or Drew Lagsner, like I did, and they offer to tune them for you...

I took a class from Drew at Country Workshops a few months back. Drew was working on a few modifications to the shavehorses he sells. I believe the shavehorses Drew sold were made by Tom Donahey. If you go to the Country Workshops site there are pictures of the newer models and a folding Japanese version, there is now a free download for plans too. Drew's sawhorses are about $400 shipped, vs 3-4 times that for the LN version of the Boggs shavehorse. I just bought one, figuring by the time I bought all the supplies etc. and the time it would have taken to figure out the design and make it... Although I think Steve makes a good point about not needing a shavehorse to start, I think with all a new green woodworker has to think about and learn it is nice not to have to worry about holding the work. The thing I like about a shavehorse is it is difficult to run the sharp blade into ones body. Not saying it can't or hasn't been done but with both hands on a drawknife it is pretty hard to pull ones arms into the body. I worried and used a ballistic or leather apron for quite a while before I figured out my hands just naturally stopped before I reached the danger zone.

Peter Galberts new book "Chairmaker's Notebook" is excellent, tons of information, excellent illustrations, done by Pete who has an art degree...

[Pat Barry]

Do you mean, that after I have the green wood down into relatively straight grain pieces for legs, spindles, etc. that I can set them aside and let them cure...the curing wont be an issue after initial selection and rough sizing?.
No. The split pieces will dry much more quickly than the log. I don't follow Steve's comment. I think the wood can stay in log for much longer and you can work on your shave horse now. Doing it the other way around does not make sense to me. Once you split it and let it sit too long you lose all the benefit of using green wood. Take the log and seal the fresh cut ends to keep them from drying out, make your shave horse, split a bit at a time, no more than you can actually work before it dries out.

[Mike Holbrook]

Although there are infinite ways to make a chair, I find two large categories in terms of chair making techniques. Some more modern designers/builders tend to saw out pieces and finish them using sanders and other power tools. There is also a group of chair builders who build chairs using older traditional hand tools like the scorp and drawknife David shows us above. The more traditional chair builders tend to work with green wood for at least some parts of their chairs. Windsors, in particular, are designed to be light and flexible, requiring thin but strong, flexible pieces. Green wood allows the traditionalists to work with a softer wood that is easier to work with the grain. The drawknife and spokeshave tend to remove layers of wood along the grain lines which produces pieces with the grain running the length of the object. Pieces that have the grain running the entire length of the object can be made thinner without loosing strength. Long grain also makes chair spindles more like noodles and less like glass. Peter Galbert loves to demonstrate the flexibility of his windsors by bending the backs into positions that would break a normal chair into lots of smaller pieces. The backs of well made windsor chairs actually move with the person sitting in them.

There are obviously many beautifully made modern chairs being made today but they are often built using very different techniques and tools than the more traditional: windsor, old Welsh stick chairs and slat backs. Maybe some of the more modern chairs use some of the old techniques but I think the chairs are typically much heavier. Instead of milling wood into chair parts the more traditional methods tend to make longer thinner more flexible parts that are steam bent into the required shape and dried in the bending forms. Flexible spindles for windsors do not require that the mortises made for them line up exactly because the spindles can simply be bent to fit. I actually found assembly of my continuous arm windsor to be easier than the assembly of a welsh stick chair that had much shorter, heavier, less flexible spindles that had to match more precisely to an inflexible arm rest and seat.

I took a class on making a low back stick chair expecting it to be easier to make than the continuous arm windsor I made in another class. I found the stick chair to actually be harder to make because of the larger, heavier pieces, especially the arm and back. Gluing multiple pieces of wood into a curved back and then shaping the hard wood into something more serviceable was much harder than the 45 seconds it took to steam bend the arm and back for my continuous arm windsor. Although I have not made any of the more modern sculpted chairs I expect the glue ups and work to sculpt the arm, back and other larger pieces would be a more involved process like making the stick chair arm rest. All the grain directions in those larger curved parts complicate the sculpting of the wood, making it hard to work with a dawknife or spokeshave, suggesting the use of milling tools.

[David Ragan]

[QUOTE=Mike Holbrook;2442914]Although there are infinite ways to make a chair, I find two large categories in terms of chair making techniques. Some more modern designers/builders tend to saw out pieces and finish them using sanders and other power tools. There is also a group of chair builders who build chairs using older traditional hand tools like the scorp and drawknife David shows us above. The more traditional chair builders tend to work with green wood for at least some parts of their chairs. Windsors, in particular, are designed to be light and flexible, requiring thin but strong, flexible pieces. Green wood allows the traditionalists to work with a softer wood that is easier to work with the grain. The drawknife and spokeshave tend to remove layers of wood along the grain lines which produces pieces with the grain running the length of the object. Pieces that have the grain running the entire length of the object can be made thinner without loosing strength. Long grain also makes chair spindles more like noodles and less like glass. Peter Galbert loves to demonstrate the flexibility of his windsors by bending the backs into positions that would break a normal chair into lots of smaller pieces. The backs of well made windsor chairs actually move with the person sitting in them.
QUOTE]

I have in mind to work with green wood. And use mostly hand tools.

I dont want to make any of those blocky ordinary plain chairs.

It seems like a lot more fun to make something w green wood using hand tools. More organic.

Mike-you are right down the road from me (Exit 13 and 400.)

[Maurice Ungaro]

[QUOTE=Mike Holbrook;2442914]
Mike-you are right down the road from me (Exit 13 and 400.)

......I was wondering how long it would take you guys to figure that out........

[David Ragan]

I found a local sawmill that will cut me a green piece of white oak log. Nice, accommodating guy.

I asked for straight grain, 6" by 6" by 4-5'. No knots.

This is just to experiment with. (I need a froe and brake.) I mean experiment with making some Windsor chair parts.

Besides Anchor Seal to the ends-how to store for 2-3 weeks to prevent drying? Outside in shade in plastic?

[paul cottingham]

Consider buying Mike Abbots book "Going with the Grain." It's a great repository of green woodworking ideas. More to the point, he has a plan for making an extremely functional shavehorse out of 2x4 lumber. I used 4 all told, I think (at a cost of about $8.00 or so) and a bunch of lag screws (about $15.00 worth.) Unless you are as big as me (260lbs) you could safely use deck screws, I suspect.

its nowhere near as pretty as many other designs, but it's very functional, and I built it in about 2 hours. So a normal person could do it much faster, especially if you don't use lags.

i have copies of chair books by Langsner, Alexander, Galbert, and Abbot. Abbots shavehorse is the easiest and fastest to make. Any of those books, if you can find them, are excellent, but if I needed a couple quickly, I would use Abbots and Galberts books to build my first chair. In fact, when I can finally find a scorp and an adze that I can afford and a tree to chop down, I'm going to build a few out of Abbots book (post and rung) first, then graduate to Windsors.

As an aside, John (now Jenny) Alexander's DVD on making post and rung chairs is fantastic. I highly recommend it.

[Karl Andersson]

for keeping it "fresh wet" or close to it during storage, I'd recommend wrapping it in old towels and then plastic. I've done it in warm weather with just plastic, and the condensation/ evaporation in the plastic formed standing water that grew mildew, mold, and a fungus that spalted the maple I wrapped. That was an unforeseen benefit for those bowls, but I also had some red oak that grew mildew that stained about 1/4' deep. The wood shouldn't be dripping wet anyways, and the towels do a good job of equalizing the moisture on the surface. In my experience, of course - I don't make chairs, but bowls, spoons, and boxes from green wood.
Karl

[Paul Saffold]

Paul, check out these guys. They're in your neck of the woods. http://www.kestreltool.com. A Kestrel Sitka gutter adze blade is only $65. It comes with instructions for making the handle. It doesn’t look like attaching the blade to the handle with twine would be very secure, but it is. The blade comes VERY sharp.

[Mike Holbrook]

David,

I sent you another PM. You are welcome to try out my tools, shavehorse, sharpening gear....just about any time. I work at home and I am usually around. I have a good chain saw and tractor, we can find a tree somewhere that is interested in becoming chair parts.

[David Ragan]

Here is my rendition of the Mike Abbott Shavehorse.

I read a child can do it in 2 hours, of course it took me 7.

Nothing special about it, except:

1) I finally used the hydraulic table purchased months ago. You all said it would come in handy. It did.
2) See in the picture where the 2x4 legs hit the floor? I remembered the simple trick of how to cut them exactly straight across so they are flush with floor.
3) All the stuff you all told me about hand saw joinery cuts in an earlier thread, I remembered-am satisfied with my cuts on legs
4) And it was a 'first use tool day' for a 1" Brad point bit, a huge Irwin clamp, and the hydraulic table.

I have asked lots of questions, sprinkled with flippant comments-just wanted all the genuine experts to know that I been taking it all in.

The pictures look like the Shavehorse is not level....trust me, it is exactly level both ways:)

Hydraulic table perfect for getting the legs right:

317653


It's not pretty. I deserve a medal for doing something, especially in a single day. Great design by Mike Abbott. Now, if I had some decent green wood to start making a chair.......





317654

[paul cottingham]

Looks like mine, only much neater! I used lag bolts to hold it together, but I'm a big guy. I didn't bother flattening the bottoms of the legs.
On a side note, I made 2 of the work holders (the swinging part of the vice). I plan to notch one and line it with leather for holding "the work" at 45 degrees (corners up and down,) if you know what I mean.
I also followed Mike Abbots idea of setting the seat members apart and at angles. Great for using as a riving brake.

[paul cottingham]

Paul, check out these guys. They're in your neck of the woods. http://www.kestreltool.com. A Kestrel Sitka gutter adze blade is only $65. It comes with instructions for making the handle. It doesn’t look like attaching the blade to the handle with twine would be very secure, but it is. The blade comes VERY sharp.

Cool. I am definitely going to check that out. Looks like a very nice adze for the money. Thanks!

[Mike Holbrook]

Looks good David,

Similar to the Country Workshops design. We will get you some green wood soon. You can try out different green woodworking tools and see what you like when we get together. I have chairs I am putting together that hopefully prove that almost anyone can do it.

The chairs I have made sort of break down into 3 major part categories. 1) Spindles and often the backs and arm rests are made from red or white oak worked with drawknives and spokeshaves. The continuous arm windsor has one long thin piece that is bent into the back of the chair and arm rests. Other windsors may use multiple pieces for the arms, back..2) Seats for windsors are typically made from glued up poplar, pine or elm boards. A template is used to mark the various sections of the seat. The basic shape is cut out with a bandsaw and worked with adze, scorp travisher...3) The legs and rungs are frequently turned from dry maple, although they can also be made with green wood tools or hand planes and the same wood as the spindles (for tapered octagonal legs for example).

Yes, there are typically three types of wood or more in a windsor. The hard wood spindles, arm support pieces and legs tend to hold well when driven into the softer wood in the seat. Pieces that carry a good deal of weight usually use through mortises with wedges to give them even more strength.

A windsor could be built with two different woods. Hard woods for spindles, backs and arm rests. Legs that are turned are frequently made from a third wood, hard maple, because the wood is less apt to break after being turned. Turning woods with lots of changing grain often leaves brittle pieces when trying to make light chair legs. One can use the same white or red oak used in the top portion of the chair to make the legs but they may be significantly heavier, less attractive and a little out of place on a windsor with thin delicate spindles.

[David Ragan]

Looks like mine, only much neater! I used lag bolts to hold it together, but I'm a big guy. I didn't bother flattening the bottoms of the legs.
On a side note, I made 2 of the work holders (the swinging part of the vice). I plan to notch one and line it with leather for holding "the work" at 45 degrees (corners up and down,) if you know what I mean.
I also followed Mike Abbots idea of setting the seat members apart and at angles. Great for using as a riving brake.

Riving break? His books are sold out on Amazon. I'm 265lb. Now I gotta figure out how to get it outa the way when not using it.



Looks good David,

Similar to the Country Workshops design. We will get you some green wood soon. You can try out different green woodworking tools and see what you like when we get together. I have chairs I am putting together that hopefully prove that almost anyone can do it.

The chairs I have made sort of break down into 3 major part categories. 1) Spindles and often the backs and arm rests are made from red or white oak worked with drawknives and spokeshaves. The continuous arm windsor has one long thin piece that is bent into the back of the chair and arm rests. Other windsors may use multiple pieces for the arms, back..2) Seats for windsors are typically made from glued up poplar, pine or elm boards. A template is used to mark the various sections of the seat. The basic shape is cut out with a bandsaw and worked with adze, scorp travisher...3) The legs and rungs are frequently turned from dry maple, although they can also be made with green wood tools or hand planes and the same wood as the spindles (for tapered octagonal legs for example).

Yes, there are typically three types of wood or more in a windsor. The hard wood spindles, arm support pieces and legs tend to hold well when driven into the softer wood in the seat. Pieces that carry a good deal of weight usually use through mortises with wedges to give them even more strength.

A windsor could be built with two different woods. Hard woods for spindles, backs and arm rests. Legs that are turned are frequently made from a third wood, hard maple, because the wood is less apt to break after being turned. Turning woods with lots of changing grain often leaves brittle pieces when trying to make light chair legs. One can use the same white or red oak used in the top portion of the chair to make the legs but they may be significantly heavier, less attractive and a little out of place on a windsor with thin delicate spindles.

"When the student is ready, the Teacher will appear"

I have a lot to learn. Hopefully not too much more to buy.

Thanks Mike, I look forward to meeting you. How early do you get up on a Saturday?

[Mike Holbrook]

I'm a beginner too. I took a couple class from guys who I believe know what they are talking about, Peter Galbert, "Making a Continuous Arm Windsor Chair" Drew Langsner "Making a Welsh Stick Chair", Chris Schwarz "Making a pair of Sawbenches" using the same techniques for making and attaching the sawbench legs.

We let client dogs out every morning except Mondays. An employee/friend handles Monday AM. We have to let our 6 German Shepherds and three Lancashire Heelers out, get breakfast....before we let client dogs out so 7-8 AM most mornings. I cheated a little this AM. Got to get to work. We will have some fun.

The point I think I was trying to make above is the spindles, chair back and arm rest wood are what are usually crucial to work green. Maple for legs is, I believe, often turned from dry wood. Seats are not a big deal to work dry as the wood is soft anyway. The wood to be bent can be bent dry too as dry wood bends as well or better than wet wood. The issue is often getting the wood worked and into a drying kiln before it can split or crack. The smaller the pieces the easier that is to do. From what I understand many professional chair makers make things in batches roughing them out and drying them, then doing the final work and fitting. Guys like Galbert can whip out near perfect chair spindles from green wood in a small fraction of the time it takes us beginners.

In chair classes they often work spindles into several different shapes within a few days so the student learns all the techniques and steps. I have seen Galbert sit down and make a complete tapered spindle from a blank in maybe 5 minuets. If you have watched Curtis's video on making spindles you have seen the huge, long chunks of wood the experienced guys can remove in one stoke with a drawknife.

[David Ragan]

Have watched many of Curtis's videos now. Looks like am going to need a small steamer and kiln. Small is the operative word.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am accumulating parts for a steamer and a kiln myself. Highland Woodworking sells a paper steamer, Peter Galbert bought one or two to make his new steamer with at the class I took. I bought one of the steamers and some other parts. The "paper" steamer comes with instruction for making a steam box with it. I am thinking about a small radiant heater with a thermostat for my kiln. The Kiln Drew Langsner used in the class I took there used a radiant heater and it seemed to work very well. Figuring out where to put these things is part of the issue. I have also been thinking about a small lathe.

[Pat Barry]

Very nice work Dave. How much would you charge to make a second one?

[Mike Holbrook]

Is the wood in your seat glued up? If it is you could use it to practice carving chair seats. It looks like SYP (southern yellow pine) or fir which will be a little hard but doable. I like a nice seat on a shavehorse as I spend long hours rocking around on it.

[paul cottingham]

Riving break? His books are sold out on Amazon. I'm 265lb. Now I gotta figure out how to get it outa the way when not using it.



A riving break is an appliance made out of two sticks (or boards) that hold a pice of wood that allows you to split stock easily with a Froe.

mine is so light it's easy to move around. I would store it outside under a tarp if I had to. It's just a couple 2x4's after all, easily rebuild, if necessary.

[paul cottingham]

Is the wood in your seat glued up? If it is you could use it to practice carving chair seats. It looks like SYP (southern yellow pine) or fir which will be a little hard but doable. I like a nice seat on a shavehorse as I spend long hours rocking around on it.

Im an idiot. What a great idea. I'll make my riving brake out of something else, and make a nice seat.

gives me an excuse to buy an adze and one of those LV rigs (pullshave) for shaping seats (haha.) Now I just have to find an adze that I can afford.

[Mike Holbrook]

Paul, I'm sorry if I made a short unclear post.

I was actually making the comment to the OP, who I am also carrying on a private conversation with. David is interested in making windsor chairs with hand tools which we have been discussing in PM's. David and I are trying to acquire suitable woods to make windsor chairs. We are talking about taking down a tree or trees on my property to acquire green wood for the two of us vs buying it. David is eager to have some wood to work with ASAP. I just noticed the seat in the picture he posted and thought he might sculpt it a little with some of the tools he has acquired.

Sorry if I lost track of the direction the post moved in while I was posting and doing a PM.

[paul cottingham]

Regardless, it is a terrific idea. Obvious things rarely occur to me. I'll make a riving brake out of something else.

Nice to to have a ready supply of green wood available. Finding suitable wood isthe hardest part of green woodworking for me.

[David Ragan]

Very nice work Dave. How much would you charge to make a second one?

You guys are too funny! Making a big deal out of a BORG lumber shave horse.

I was having a challenge just to get the thing @ 90* where appropriate, and have the wherewithall to get the legs right.

The plan is: http://www.living-wood.co.uk/lumber_horse.html



Is the wood in your seat glued up? If it is you could use it to practice carving chair seats. It looks like SYP (southern yellow pine) or fir which will be a little hard but doable. I like a nice seat on a shavehorse as I spend long hours rocking around on it.

Yep, the seat is glued on it. I have thought about putting a pillow on it. Spending hours using hand tools sounds really sweet.

You use that scorp in my picture to carve seats? It's going to have to be razor sharp, plus have some really good technique. Isn't a travisher a much better tool?

[Mike Holbrook]

David, the shavehorse I have is a similar plan. My seat slides between the two 2x6's it sits on and is removable. The two chair making classes I took used shavehorses that were the same or similar to mine. It is tough to get an entire chair made between lectures in a week long chair class. Still there were long hours sitting on a shavehorse making spindles. I found that sitting on a plain wood seat that long would cause my butt to fall asleep after a few hours, as did others in the class. The shavehorses that had padded leather seats became very popular. Galbert just sculpted his seat into something even nicer than a windsor seat. I suspect Galbert's seat was at least as comfortable to sit in for long periods as the padded seats.

There are lots of ways and tools to make a seat with. Some people start with an adze (Drew likes a long handled one), then go to the scorp, travisher, spokeshaves and curved card scrapers. The travisher is a great tool, usually a less rough tool than the scorp, although much depends on the skill set of the user. Galbert is a huge fan of the travishers he designed and sells. Pete often uses a travisher in place of an adze and scorp. I tiried to get one before the chair making class I took with him. Unfortunately the lady that makes them had a large backlog and I did not get one. Galbert planned to bring new ones to class but there were none to be had. I used one of Peters for a while and it was very good. There is one thing about Galberts travisher, the blade height and mouth are not very adjustable. I think it is designed that way so it is harder to adjust it such that it does not work. Peter's travisher is designed to be tilted during use which provides another way to adjust how much wood the tool removes. Scorps and travishers are both designed to make and get into hollowed out areas that can not be reached with a drawknife or spokeshave.

[David Ragan]

Dang, I could make another seat and just put it on top of the platform that I have already! Have leather and padding already.

[Mike Holbrook]

I was mostly just explaining why I was thinking you could take your seat off, clamp it in a bench and shape it. I do like being able to adjust my distance from the work for shorter and longer pieces. The comfort issue may not be a big deal unless you are working long hours in a class for 5-7 days in a row. I would probably use it as is for a while and modify it for your specific needs/wants. You can try out mine and see if you think the adjustment features and padded seat are worth the time to make them.