How this shaving horse works
A shaving horse is a workbench, vise and
chair all rolled into one. It’s primarily used
to work green wood with a drawknife, which
cuts on the pull stroke, or a spokeshave,
which you can push or pull. The design of
this shaving horse is rather unusual, mixing
traditional elements and modern engineering.
Here’s how it works:
To set up the horse, place your workpiece
on the work support. Then, raise the
work support up to the clamping jaw, which
is free to rotate. The work support will click
into one of eight different height positions,
to accommodate thick or thin work. It’s
locked by a pivot that engages a series of
ratchets on the work support’s column. To
clamp your workpiece, push the treadle forward
with your foot. This swings the lever
arms, squeezing the clamping jaw against
the workpiece.
All that sounds quite complicated, but
this shaving horse is as easy to operate as stepping
on the brake in your car. It only takes a
few seconds to release the clamping pressure
on a workpiece, reposition it, and go back to
making those glorious, huge curls.
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