Shaving horse

Typical usage of the shaving horse is to create a round profile along a square piece, such as for a chair leg or to prepare a workpiece for the pole lathe.

[2][3][4] The shavehorse provides a rapid and sturdy clamp, which allows the operator to use their legs and upper body weight as additional "power" for work.

Skilled operators can produce very fine results with a drawknife and shavehorse, requiring minimal lathe finishing.

Straddling a shave horse while carelessly using any dangerous power tool, such as a circular saw, may result in the operator suffering serious bodily injury.

Shave-horses are commonly workshop-made by their user and entirely wooden, though modern screws, washers, metal sleeves and threaded bolts with locking nuts are a very welcome and practical innovation, allowing re-tightening or capability to be knocked-down as necessary.

"[6] Mike Dunbar was widely criticised for this commentary and indeed in the original blog post where it was written, he turned off the 'comments' option to minimise this.

Shaving horse
Shaving horses in use
Simple French example, with a stick in place for working
A Black Forest pattern, with more precise clamp
Use of a drawknife and shaving horse from De Re Metallica , a sixteenth-century work on mine technology