Making a saw horse and then a shaving horse is one of the earliest, most affordable and rewardable investments of time that the aspiring woodworker will make.
A saw horse can be made up from old plasterboard pallets cut in half then overlapped and joined together back to back using a few metal hinges. A couple of pieces of rope are added at the feet to stop the horse legs from spreading. This type of horse can hold up and secure a fairly hefty log.
The shaving horse is a little more sophisticated being made up from sawnplanks and cleaved and shaved legs. The horse illustrated above was made by Kyle Dumka but others in the county also make these e.g. Leo Zinovieff.
A good sized chopping block is needed to support an upended log so that it can be split lengthwise down to a size that can then be gripped and shaped by the shave horse.
The draw knife is then used to pair down the roughly cleaved piece of wood to form square, flat or cylindrical shaped pieces.
Once aboard the horse be prepared for total absorbtion in the task at hand and experience the wave of contentment and satisfaction that comes from making the simplest of wooden parts that are used in many wood based crafts such as chairmaking, timber framing, wheelmaking, etc.
A sliding seat is useful in making the shave horse adjustable for different people but also acts as a good device with which to clear wood shavings that will fall from the work piece.
When making octagonal tapered pegs for timber-framing its usful to cut a shallow groove in one or two faces of the barrel clamp to clasp the square peg ready for drawing it down into an octagon.
Plans for making horses can be found in most wood craft books such as those by Mike Abbott and Richard Tabor. If you would like some help or guidance to make any of these devices then please register and post your query here.
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Saw Horse & Shave Horse
