From standing trees to shaving horse. Hand tools only!

In this video I fall a couple Green Ash ( Fraxinus pennsylvanica ) that were killed by Emerald Ash Borer and use them to build a shave horse using only hand tools for the entire process. This video is long but you can jump to specific spots using the timestamps/chapter outline below. (This is not the longest shave horse build on YouTube; this very cool ‪@Zedoutdoors‬ video showing traditional bodger’s shave horse build from greenwood is 3.25 hrs).

A shave horse is a traditional woodworking tool used to clamp wood for shaving with a drawknife. Other names are shaving horse, draw bench, banc d'âne, selle à planer, banc à planer, chevalet à planer, Schnitzbank, Schnitzelbank. There's lots of different styles and designs, and they range in complexity and finishing from #bushcraft grade, to practical homestead, to finely made with complex features.

Most shave horse designs can be categorized as two types, the English/bodger's (chairmaker's) type with two arms on the outside of the bench, and the continental/dumbhead type with one arm passing up through the bench. They each have pros and cons that I discuss in video.

I roughly followed the method popularized by Roy Underhill for the dumbhead design in his first book, The Woodwright’s Shop https://books.google.ca/books?id=oMB9... and his TV show of the same name (some episodes are free on PBS but the first season Shaving Horse episodes (S1E2 and S1E3 are for sale at Popular Woodworking https://videos.popularwoodworking.com... ) This one is a simple, traditional design similar to one that would be used by a German farmer or North American homesteader.

I worked off the book and other YouTube videos. My favourite is this one by    • Making a Shave Horse from Start to Finish   ‪@AxeAndAnvil‬ The video I found that most closely follows the Roy Underhill design and methods is this one    • Manual Foot-Powered Vise? - Build A Shaveh...   from ‪@townsends‬

A few other videos of inspiration/information:

Learn about Green Ash in this Tree of the Week episode from @UKForestryExtension (University of Kentucky Forestry and Natural Resources Extension)    • Tree of the Week: Green Ash  

My previous shave horse is based on this one    • Видео   from‪@traditionaltools5080‬

There's great refinement and modification ideas in this video    • Learn all about the Schnitzbank style Shav...   by ‪@well-versedman9583‬, especially making the two sides of the dumbhead different heights. I will probably try that out later.

‪@KentSurvival‬ Does a bushcraft-y take on the bodger's type    • Making A Rustic Shave Horse from a Log  

‪@coalcracker‬ has a bushcraft version of the dumbhead design, but he puts the pivot in the bench instead of the riser    • A Shave Horse from One Log  

‪@TrustinTimber‬ has a nicely produced take on the Roy Underhill design using Eastern White Cedar and chainsaw mill    • The Roy Underhill - DIY Shaving Horse build.  

‪@royleonard1963‬ has a refined, take-down version of the bodger's type made out of an ash log

‪@RexKrueger‬ makes a nice one out of lumber    • Build a Shavehorse from Two Boards.   and there are plans available.

A slick one from ‪@AnneofAllTrades‬    • Build a Shavehorse from Two Boards.  

This vintage shave horse https://www.pbs.org/video/woodwrights... from a later episode of the Woodwright's Shop (The Crotch and the Horse, which is free online) is just really cool and different.

Here's another really different antique example    • Ross Farm Museum - Shaving Horse   from the Ross Farm Museum via ‪@NovaScotiaMuseum‬

Finally, ‪@TheudBaldM‬ just using his banc à planer for it's most divine purpose, making axe handles    • Comment faire un manche de hache avec un b...  

00:00 Intro
SECTION 1: RAW MATERIALS
04:00 Felling and processing tree #1
05:23 Splitting log #1
07:53 Hewing planks for the bench
13:55 Digression, another shave horse design.
15:56 Making pegs
18:34 Felling and processing tree #2
23:33 Rough splitting the dumbhead
27:03 Splitting and hewing a plank for the riser
28:02 Wood for the legs
SECTION 2: MAKING THE LEGS, BENCH, RISER AND DUMBHEAD
28:42 Rough carving the legs
29:12 Shaving the legs
30:11 Leg mortices
32:00 Installing legs
34:05 Carving the dumbhead
36:28 Shaping the riser and spacing block
38:28 Planning the bench and riser mortices
39:31 Fighting the big auger
40:25 Morticing the bench and riser
SECTION 3: ASSEMBLY
42:39 Pegging the riser
46:14 Boring the pivot
46:59 Dumbhead test fit, adjustments needed
48:31 Chiselling the neck of the dumbhead
49:30 Making the treadle
50:54 Brace drill breaks down, time for power tools?
54:21 Enlarging the bench mortise
54:43 Putting it all together.
56:05 Trying it out!

#ShaveHorse #DrawBench #DrawHorse #Schnitzbank #BancÀPlaner #BancAPlaner # BancDÂne #BancDAne #GreenWoodWorking #Axe