I think I need to make a shavehorse. 

After reading about drawknives here I picked up a few here and there. What an easy to use and easy to control tool!  Now, impressed as I am with drawknives, I need a fast vise to hold material while I make it smaller.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what makes a good shavehorse? I saw the drawing on Scott's website.  Has anyone made one of that design? Any pictures? Room is limited, so that is a consideration.

Chilly

   Depends on your work of course.
A single shave horse will not serve all purposes at peak performance. That's why they make a couple of styles.

  Start with a shave pony. See if you want one at all.
Its a portable devise that you clamp to a bench or table and stand up to use. Its not as good as a full horse but its quick and cheap to make. And it beats nuthin with a big stick!
I made this one for a couple of brothers in upstate NY who carve Lacrosse sticks.
 


My buddy Leon makes bows (and arrows) so he needed a long support tongue for working thin whippy stock.   Usually a ladder head is most suitable for short stock,
since you have to thread your stock though the ladder. He decided he wanted this design anyway.
You can make a ladder head with nothing but dimensional lumber, which makes it easier.

  Everything went well for Leon,  until his basketweaving wife and her friends found out you don't have to lay rushs over your thigh to scrape them clean, if you have something else to hold them for you.
Guess what the something else is.
        
 

Personally I like a dumbhead horse. Its the most versatile for me.
I got 26 years out of the one you saw on my homepage. It died though and I had to replace it.  Here is mine



This is what dumbhead means. Its open to the sides for quickly grabbing long stock but you have the full width jaw across the front for grabbing short stock.
   


yours Scott

Hi Chilly.  I like Scott's Pony and especially his dumbhead.  Very creative and artistic, Scott.
Here's a model of one I saw somewhere and really liked the design.





When my work space got limited I went small








hehe.   Ralph

Sweet little legs you got there Ralph 
The horse is great.
 
   But you can't be sneaking in a brass spokeshave style scraper on me without the story!
That thing is killing me!

yours Scott

Scott - I really like your style. Whimsical, classical elements, and great function. In my world it's a perfect combination.

More perfect little minitures from Ralph. I'm consistently impressed with your craftmanship and willingness to share.

Between the two of you I think a museum could fill a wing.

I don't know if I could operate a shave pony, but I think I might try. I might have to put a stand or something next to it to keep me from tipping over. Maybe I could make it knee operated?

I'll make something and let you know what happens, unless I break myself somehow.

Chilly

Hey Scott,  Yeah, I stylized the legs some - turned em, shaved em, and waxed em as one should.  :) 
I don't remember where the idea for the brass spoke shave came from.  It might have been from you.
You do have quite a collection, and I have borrowed ideas from you in the past.
Sometimes I improvise a little to make it work at my 1/4 scale, and this one turned out to be a nice worker.

After a second look at your Pony, I think that I've got to have one.  See?  There you go inspiring me again.

Thanks Chilly.  I think that Scott could fill a museum all by himself and comment at length on any sort of tool.
I often think that nothing is final till it has his stamp on it.

Ralph

Again, I open the pictures here and its Awww, darn.   I bought a nice  drawknife on a garage sale and was about to add a picture of it, but its store bought so I'll just nix that idea.   A guy I show with at times has a shavehorse I have used,  and realize I need one, bad. 

For more info & ideas, have a look at: https://www.bodgers.org.uk/bb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=813&sid=29c835e5593f4f1bd763158e9aa731cd