Bodger's bench
Dave Mount, northeastern MN
>Took some time this past weekend to complete a long half-finished project, a shaving horse. Built from Drew Langsner's plans in his chairmaking book. Got an oak log from a neighbor (the real impetus for getting this project done) and went to work riving and shaving out some parts for ladderback chairs.
Construction of the horse was straightforward, although the angled mortises are interesting. Couple small things I'd do differently if I were doing it again, e-mail me if you're interested. Made of white oak (seat, legs) and hackberry (ramp, pivot arm, dumbhead), cuz' that's what I had. Mostly hand work, although I killed a few electrons here and there, particularly in the initial stock prep.
Was going to get a couple pics of the results (chair parts and shavings), but the camera batteries crapped out before I had a chance. Will do that later. Some of the material is visible on the ground by the horse.
Riving the blanks is an interesting, if sometimes frustrating process. If you rive too close to final size, you risk the split running out and ending up with nothing but kindling. If you rive the blank too big, you've got a lot of drawknife work ahead of you.
SWMBO is hoping I tire of chairmaking quickly -- she's already asked if she can set it up on the wraparound porch and put potted flowers on it. Grrrr.
Dave