My Sloyd Horse (Part 3 the Shave Horse)

This post is the third of  a three part series on what I have “humbly” deemed my sloyd horse.  You may want to read the first post on the Spoon Mule, and the second post on the Bowl Horse as I won’t be repeating much of the information found in those posts.  Additionally, they are also fascinating and very well written.  I use italics to denote sarcasm or hyperbole.

I have to be honest, I built the shave horse because I had the plans and it just seemed like I had to build one.  In my mind, it is the most recognizable of the three holding devices.   What I’ve found is that it is also the most versatile.  But let’s get to the good stuff, where to find what I learned from people far more experienced than I.

My main sources of information for the shave horse came from Tim Manney and Sean Hellman.  Tim has written several blog posts on the topic that go into much greater detail than I ever will.  I see Tim as an expert, the knowledge he shares is detailed and easy to understand.  That is a long winded way of stating I’ve drank Tim’s Kool-Aid and liked the taste.  Sean Hellman has a book of clamping devices that can lead to sensory overload, but I found it not too hard to start seeing what I did and did not want in my shave horse.  It is a wonderful book filled with options and I look forward to building something from the book.

The versatility of the shave horse comes from the clamping action.  You push on the peddle and the clamp comes down and traps the material against a platform.  The more you lean back, causing you to add more force on the peddle, the tighter you hold onto the material.  I often feel like I am rowing a boat when I start removing large amounts of material, and then switch to just moving my arms when removing smaller shavings.  As you can move the head up and down on a series of pivot points, you can work on something as small as a ¼” dowel, up to a quartered log.

This post is a bit short on pictures.  With two hands on a sharp blade, it is tough to take pictures with my phone.  I try not to bore my family too often with taking pictures of me making larger pieces of wood into smaller of wood.

The Sloyd Horse in all it’s glory, a shave horse, bowl horse, and spoon mule “heads” on a common base

6 degree tapered tenon created using my shave horse and draw knife and constantly checking the fit on the tapered mortise.

I would like to thank all my recent followers to the blog.  I hope you find it useful and encouraging.  I really have no idea what I’m doing.  I just know that I enjoy learning more, and have an ego large enough to share my mistakes and a few successes along the way.

If you enjoyed this little view into my greenwood journey, feel free to like, comment, and or follow.  I know some people look at these posts; I would enjoy getting some feedback.

• Greenwood
• Learning
• Shave Horse
• Sloyd Horse
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