Shaving Horse

[Robert Wolfe]

I just finished this shaving horse. I always wanted one and it finally got to the top of my list. An oak tree came down in my woods last summer and I split it up to make the boards. No store-bought lumber here. The legs were from an oak pole I had cut years ago that had been stuck up in my barn rafters. I wanted well-seasoned wood for the legs so that they wouldn’t shrink and come loose. The green oak bench will also shrink around the legs keeping them tight. The only thing not from my woods are the two pins/axles that the work table and treadle frame pivot on. I fired up the forge last weekend at a local living history event and finally got them finished. 

[Greg Pennell]

Nice one!  I had one years ago when I was doing a lot of primitive archery...they sure are handy to have around. Yours might inspire me to build another.  Thanks for sharing!

Greg

[David R. Pennington]

Very nice Robert. I’ve been meaning to fix one for a while too.

[Robert Wolfe]

Just to confirm that this thread is gun related ( ), I used the shaving horse yesterday to hold a 1/2 inch hickory dowel that I needed to taper down to 5/16 (edited - thanks Sawfiler!) for a 12 gauge fowling gun ramrod. If you haven't used Acer's ramrod scraper you're missing something fine. The horse worked great too.


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[Bigmon]

I have one of these my Dear Old Daddy made long ago.  He called it a "Cooper's Mare"

[WadePatton]

Most excellent.  I need one of these too. Love drawing, never have proper hold on stuff.

[Sawfiler]

I need to learn the trick of tapering a 1/2 inch dowel down to 5/8!!

[Bob Roller]

I need to learn the trick of tapering a 1/2 inch dowel down to 5/8!!

I hope you're NOT using common hardware store wood dowels for ram rods.
They are not suitable for any job involving push/pressure like loading a rifle.
I have seen them break and saw one man taken to the nearest hospital from
the Friendship range with a section of 1/2" dowel still thru his hand.

Bob Roller

[WadePatton]

I need to learn the trick of tapering a 1/2 inch dowel down to 5/8!!

mathematical marvels?   


Heck no Bob, we make wood round for anything more serious than a hat peg.  Good note for the un-washed though.

[Robert Wolfe]

Oops - 5/16th! Thanks Sawfiler.......

No Bob, it was a 1/2 inch hickory ramrod blank from Larry Zorne.

[Nordnecker]

I had one years ago, loaned it to someone and never saw it again. It had a trunion for the front legs. In other words, the plank was cut down leaving a round tenon sticking out. The front legs were morticed into a square board about 16" long. In the middle of this board was an oval shaped hole. The tennon went through this hole and had a wedge pin that tightened up in it's own mortice so it didn't press against the other board. Really simple but hard to explain. It was a great design because the front leg "trunion" would self adjust for uneven ground. It gave the stability of 4 legs but always sat flat like 3 legs.

[Robert Wolfe]

I think I can picture it - sounds like a neat way of constructing one.

[Nordnecker]

Here's a clumsey drawing of it. It was neat, and always sat still.

[Curtis]

That is awesome Robert!  I have some oak planks sawed up and waiting in my garage for me to make a shaving horse with.  Guess I need to get busy with it, you have inspired me!!

Curtis

[galudwig]

That's pretty cool Robert. I particularly like the forge work on the axles. If you bring it to Canter's Cave next January, we can all try our hand at tapering ramrods! 

[Robert Wolfe]

Thanks. It was a lot of fun to build. The metal work was icing on the cake!

[will payne]

That looks nicer than the ones I've seen.

[Robert Wolfe]

Thanks - I used it just today to make a new handle for one of my hammers.