Shave Horse Project - Getting Started

This project was not occupying my mind at the time. It’s one that’s been an interest for quite a long time now. It has, in fact, been an interest for years. Time, and matters that seemed to take priority, have always been the issues that would run interference where tackling the project was concerned.

I was not looking for a hunk of wood for a project. I was on a firewood gathering errand for that retirement-birthday soiree Shirli has scheduled for me to attend next month … the one that coincides with my 62nd birthday and this thing called retirement.

I put the oak on the ground. By the time I sawed my way to the log I had all I cared to haul across some rough spots before I would be back onto good level ground with the truck. My plan was to return the next day, saw the log into firewood lengths, then haul it home and split it for the woodpile.

The plan changed when I got back to the log the next day and started looking it over. A good four feet at the small end was straight and without any serious knots. A good four feet at the larger end was also straight and without any serious knots. The six or so feet between the ends had some knots and qualified as firewood. I stood there studying on the log and hatched an alternative plan that would utilize the smaller end section to construct a rustic shave horse. The larger end section? I may split it and make a couple benches from it.

I used my chainsaw to rip the log in half. This is the last time a non-human powered tool is used on this project. 

I’ve built a lot of stuff over the years using an assortment of tools associated with several trades. Carpentry tools. Masonry tools. Tools used in shipbuilding and repair. No. My name isn’t Jack. I’m not quite as diversely skilled as him but I have developed quite a repertoire of skills over the years of scratching out a living.

I’ve bought a lot of tools over the years to utilize in these areas and still have a good assortment of them. A good many years ago I started selectively collecting “old school” tools at estate sales, yard sales, flea markets, and wherever I could find them without paying an arm and a leg for them … tools that require no power other than human power to operate them. 

The adz is an old heirloom from the farm that I laid claim to. It was sitting on a concrete floor rusting away. It's got some deep pits but the cutting edge is still solid and takes a good edge.

As electrically powered tools give up the ghost I simply reach back in time, pull out its predecessor, and press it into service. The non-electrical versions are not unfamiliar to me. I became quite familiar with them as a child growing up on the farm. It’s what we had and what we used day in and day out.

Removing the bark with an antique draw knife that I picked up somewhere along the way. I'm working off the bark and outer growth ring. Sharp. I once learned that it's smart to wear leather gloves when working with one of these.

From time to time, if you take your time, you can happen across some good old tools that need a little cleaning up and TLC to put them back into good condition. The alternative to going the slow route is to shell out a lot of cash for new human powered tools. 

Good new tools are expensive. 

Cheap ones are more often just that. 

Cheap. 

The quality is poor, they are a bane to work with, and they just don’t hold up well for the long haul.

I used an old axe head to get the split started. Wood wedges and a maul did the rest of the job of splitting off a plank.

Why this project?

One of the reasons for this project has to do with my interest in keeping history alive in a world where the past is easily forgotten and replaced with all the modern “flip the switch” conveniences associated with life in modernity. There is a broad learning curve where tools and processes are concerned. There is a lot of learning where particular natural materials and how they behave are concerned.  A large part of the learning involves space within my own personal interior life … an area that can always stand some improvement.

Crafting. Add whatever prefix you prefer to the beginning of the word. A major part of this crafting, for me anyway, is about being able to take some raw material from the surrounding environment and process it into a functioning product that will serve a purpose. Process. There’s not much self-reliant process in going to the store or ordering a readymade product off the internet.

Another reason has to do with uncertainty and the issue of personal preparedness in this modern world where uncertainty seems to be the only real certainty. Possessing the skills and tools to return to an 18^th Century lifestyle simply makes sense to me.

The wood is still too green to plane well but I worked on the two pieces a little with the old Stanley to clean them up some.