Re: Monday
Not much to this answer. The bench name is a �clave�. Gary gets the gold forehead star today.
CLAVE. A stool 14 inches high, made of elm, and supported by 4 legs; the top 6 feet long, 2 or 3 feet wide, and 8 inches thick at each end, and only 4 inches thick in the middle, in which the shells (blocks without sheaves) are set up with wedges for making the sheave-holes.
www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/.../Steel(1794)_p151.html
Page 118, �Building the Wooden Fighting Ship�, James Dodds and James Moore ��the roughly shaped block was wedged in a work bench known as a clave�. See illustration.
Note that in -any- case, the wood being morticed should be securely held,
preferably in something heavy. Any effort that makes the wood or workbench
bounce around is energy that is -not- being spent doing useful work. I use
a 'blockmakers clave', which is a 24" section of 12" diameter hardwood tree
limb with an 8" wide, 4" deep square notch cut in one side. The log has
four legs, and the work is held in the notch with wedges and spacer blocks.
The nice thing is that it supports the wood on three sides, with wood on
all touching faces. Even if you mortice through the piece, your chisel
simply strikes more wood, and is not damaged.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/woodworking-msg.rtf
A clave today could be useful in the woods or camp using a chain saw to shape the body, a drawknife to smooth, and a brace and bit for the leg holes. Aside from it being used for heavy work it could also serve as a seat.
