On Jul 26, 2014, at 9:31 PM, RH Hutchins  wrote:

> On 7/25/2014 3:53 PM, William Ghio wrote:
>> Yesterday I posted a note about an "Italian style shave horse" a

>> SNIP

>> Pictures are at - https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/7
2157645917373992/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/721576459173
73992/
>> 
>> The inspiration is here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N..
./14735758002/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../14735758002/
>> 

> Great job on the shaving horse, Bill.  I might try to make one, but I'm going
to wait until you can report back on how well it works and what - if anything -
you would do differently.
> 
> In looking at the pics, it seems to me that the stationary post might be a bit
too high for some things.  Did you consider drilling holes through it to allow
it to be lowered and raised?
> 

I made a handle today for my new spoon carving knife and the shave horse
performed very well. As Bob suggested the rear poppet is too tall. I think I
will shorten it by about two inches for now. By sawing the cheeks deeper I can
get it to sit lower and preserve the option Bob suggests of making the poppet
adjustable. The swinging poppet will have to be lowered too but again a few more
dowel holes and it can be adjustable for height, w/in reason. I do like how
quickly you can change the distance between poppets - just lift the swinging arm
and drop into a new slot. Once in place it has no tendency to come loose. As you
apply pressure to your piece everything locks up tight.

I have a right handed spoon knife (pull w/ the right hand; push w/ the left) so
when I decided to get a smaller curved knife I ordered a left handed version for
flexibility. The trick is to not get confused as to what hand the knife is in
and whether it is a push or a pull at that moment. A wrong decision will hurt. A
lot. I have not had any problem so far, but w/ two knives I knew they had to be
distinct. The right handed knife is already handled in burl turned on the lathe.
So I decided the left handed knife needed an octagonal handle to make it
distinct. A different wood would be nice, but I like the burl too much. The
handle is only 4 1/2 inches long so I shortened the reach on the horse and went
after it w/ a spokeshave. I could work the top surface easily as it sat above
the ledge in the poppet. Because of the funky grain I needed to work towards he
center of the handle. If I tried to exit w/ my stroke I would break off little
chips. So rather than turn the piece around constantly I pushed and pulled the
shave. Worked fine both ways but you have to be more vigilant when pushing.
Relax too much and you loose your grip. When pulling you naturally apply more
pressure as you pull. Because the swinging poppet is too long I found I could
also hold against its face, below the ledge, and the workpiece was still very
secure.

The fixed poppet is 2 1/4" wide and I can see an argument for making it
narrower. Conversely the swinging poppet is only 1 1/2" wide and it could
probably be a bit wider. I will wait for a bit more experience to tell me where
to settle these dimensions. Luckily this shave horse is so flexible you can
change things around easily.

Ed asked about the seat or, by implication, the lack of a proper seat. He is
correct, at 4 1/2 inches of width it is too narrow for any working comfort.
However, adding "cheeks" to the seat area will be another easy mod. I see from
Scott's pic that he has also faced this issue - http://users.snowcrest.
net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/horse3a.jpg">http://users.snowcrest.net/k
itty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/horse3a.jpg

My pics are here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/721
57645917373992/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72157645917373
992/ Scroll down to the last three pics to see how the handle was worked.

Bill