On Mon, 6 Jul 2009 08:23:04 -0700 (PDT), Andy Dingley
wrote:
On 6 July, 14:24, T i m wrote:
a shaving horse.
Looked at Wikipedia and Wikicommons (for pictures)?
No but I've seen loads elsewhere.
There was an
article up there once (I wrote it), although some f*ckwit then tagged
it for deletion so I don't know if it's still there.
Oh. ;-(
There are also
the usual canon of green wood books (Abbot, Dunbar) and also the
Taunton workbench book has something on shave horses.
Ok. I think someone on an Arb forum has recommended something.
She'll need about five shave horses, then throw four of them away for
firewood and keep the one she likes.
Hehe.
There's a bit of personal choice,
a bit of personal comfort about just which log is comfiest to sit on,
then a lot about the style of dog-head being appropriate for the
particular work you're doing.
Ok.
What shape of dog head?
I was thinking of the more English rectangular frame style as she's
only going to be doing spoons etc to start with.
How many treadle levers, one or two?
One.
Is the clamp on a raised sub-base above the bench? (German style)
Adjustable raised bed (wedge), yes.
What leverage ratio in the lever? (This is a good argument for a
raised sub-bench)
42? ;-)
Again, because she's potentially only doing spoons (and only some of
that on the shaving bench) I'm not too keen to spend too much time /
effort with her on this bit, especially as none of us have done
anything like this before (I've done turning and plenty of woodwork in
general (inc building a boat) but no carving). Personally, I'm not
into 'decoration' and if I want a wooden spoon I can get 10 for a
pound up the road. That's not the point though eh. ;-)
The easiest bench to build is a low bench with two side levers. These
are simplest but don't (IMHO) work too well. In particular, you're
working very low down with your drawknife and that's close to your
thighs.
I read that the work should generally aim at your belly button?
It's also not really a bench, just a log - so you can make it out of
anything sittable, it doesn't have to be wide or flat.
http://www.bloodandsawdust.com/Images/english.gif
I've read comment that the three legged variety can be a bit unstable
if working on a bigger branch (when you aren't sitting on the bench
etc).
So ... I though that even though these brackets may not be perfect I
feel the forces involved are generally between shaver and object
rather than object and ground etc?
Nope, they're racking forces in the top joints of those legs.
Ok.
Clamping
force is high too (esp. with a sub-bench), but as that's a pretty
rigid assembly, then it's not a problem.
Ok.
Experts can use any old rubbish.
Same as shooting, playing instruments and most other fields then.
Beginners aren't so good with a
drawknife so they push and pull the thing all over the place and
wrestle the bench around over the floor.
LOL
It's quite common for someone
to use a shave horse happily for years, then run a weekend course with
it and have the thing rattling loose by the end of it!
Again, isn't that often the case. ;-(
It's traditional Windosr making to take a green log and shrink it over
some dry legs to make a long-lived tight leg tenon. Still not easy to
get right first time though, so if in doubt, brace the legs.
Or use the bolt up bracket on some 4x2 (for the Mk1 anyway). ;-)
If I were
making a demonutable, I'd probably make a single rail the whole length
of the bench and set it just above ground level. Maybe make the ends a
"hay rake" style (Y shaped) rather than a H shape. Then every joint is
boltable and it'll fit into a car.
Understood. If these brackets proved unstable (against racking) I was
going to include a diagonal brace from the rear legs up under the main
bed (or two steel tubes with the ends flattened off or some flat
welded in and bolt / wing nut through).
Real fix though is to dump the Ka and accept her natural destiny of
either a Volvo estate or a Landie.
Sssssshhhh!!!
I 'chose' the Ka because it was offered to us cheap, was economical to
fix, run and insure. It's also got power steering and airbags (and
goes well as it's small and 1300). I've told her as soon as she passes
her test she can have wheat she likes as long as she buys and runs it.
What she would *love* is a SWB Series Landy (and if a bit beaten up
and covered in mud the better). In the meantime she seems happy on her
hand painted green MZ 251 (the Landy of the bike world?).
She has carried 10 rubble sacks of full kindling she's chopped up in
the back of the Ka so it can be a bit useful. ;-)
T i m