Shavehorse Build

[pkinneb]

On 7/9/2023 at 8:41 PM, Chet said:

You are tougher then me, I'd have the worst case of heebie jeebies, would of been twitching all night if I left my bench like that.

Not gonna lie I was a little shocked when I walked in apparently i was really into what I was doing LOL

On 7/10/2023 at 7:10 AM, Chestnut said:

I really want to try out a shaper to see what they are like. I feel like for the little bit of CNC work I'd want to do they are perfect, but by no means inexpensive.

Also the bolt cutting trick is great. I never learned that for the longest time and getting the nuts back on was always a PITA.

Drew if you ever want to give it a try just let me know and we can set something up. Its pretty straight forward but still a learning curve for me. I am looking forward to the new Trace product since I spend a fair amount of time designing in studio it should streamline that process. Ultimately like any tool I just need to use it more hence the exercise today.

[Chestnut]

1 minute ago, pkinneb said:

Drew if you ever want to give it a try just let me know and we can set something up. Its pretty straight forward but still a learning curve for me. I am looking forward to the new Trace product since I spend a fair amount of time designing in studio it should streamline that process. Ultimately like any tool I just need to use it more hence the exercise today.

That'd be awesome. I'll have to think of something and then find some time. Will you be around sometime in 2040 probably mid summer. That's after Hazel graduates so I might have some more time . Joking i can probably find time earlier but it still might be a while.

[pkinneb]

On 7/10/2023 at 7:26 AM, Chestnut said:

That'd be awesome. I'll have to think of something and then find some time. Will you be around sometime in 2040 probably mid summer. That's after Hazel graduates so I might have some more time . Joking i can probably find time earlier but it still might be a while.

No worries totally understand, just thought I would through it out there. Consider it an open ended invite just give me a couple days notice and we'll work out a time.

Only got an hour today so not much progress. More work on the swing arm starting with cutting the tenon on the top using a router, BS, and hand tools to clean it up.

First I routed most of the waste off with a palm router (love these Makita battery units) clamping a guide on one side and using scrap on the other I worked in from the top to the guide block.

Then I cut the back side off before heading to the TS to cut the 15 degree angle off the top

Finally I cleaned it up with a couple of planes and a scraper

Next I need to cut the mortise then final shaping but I think I will work on the head first to insure everything fits well, so I started working on its layout.

Probably no update for a couple days as I have trap league tomorrow evening and client meetings Wednesday night.

 

[Mark J]

That's a lot of work done for just an hour!

[pkinneb]

More shaper practice...laying out the mortise in the head

BTW if you have struggled getting the backing off your double sided tape, I don't recall who put me on to it but this Spectape is amazing!

Getting better at this only took 45 min and I am really starting to learn some of the functions of this machine.

Next up I cut the 15 degree bevels

That should work

Now on to shaping of the head. I first cut the front and back 15 degree bevels on the ends then moved onto a 45 degree cut out that will be finished at the BS

After slicing down to the start of the curve using a fence at the BS I cut the curves , then cleaned them up on the spindle sander

That's as far as I have gotten...

Next up I need to cut the mortise in the swingarm for the head wedge. This will be interesting becuase we have both 6  & 15 degree bevels going on 

 

 

[Coop]

Thanks for the heads up on the Spectape! 

[pkinneb]

Ok lets cut this mortise already I have looked at a half dozen times to make sure its laid out correctly...

Front done now the back

I'm happy with that 

Now I will cut rest of the swingarm curves the same way I did the head. I did tape a piece of 1/4" ply at the top so as to not get tear out, then cleaned them up at the spindle sander.

Finally I drilled the holes and installed the adjuster

With that just final clean up and the swingarm will be done

Tomorrow I will fire up the lathe and turn the head blank and the pin handle. Should be interesting since I haven't turned much lately but these are pretty straight forward so hopefully no issues. 

 

[pkinneb]

Well it's definitely been a while since I have turned but got through it in what I would call usable parts 

First up I needed a handle for the adj pin so turned the blank to 1 1/2"

Once I got it turned I needed to drill a 1/4" hole in one end to accept the pin. Big problem found the chuck but couldn't find the dang key (since found) so I moved on to the Head hold down. This one I just needed an 1 3/4" round with 7/16" pins on each end. Not perfect but it will work

Getting there...

With that complete I needed to drill a 3/16" hole for the stop pin

With that it was time to trim the ends off

Next up was to plane the flat on one side

First I tried the #4 - to big, then a block plane - to small, finally the #3 - aah just right

That's it for today. Now that I found the drill chuck key I can finish the handle in the morning and then turn the stop pin. After that I will make the brackets for the stop and that will finish up the head. Getting pretty close now after the above just some clean up and the seat to go.

 

[Mark J]

What's the diameter measuring gizmo?  I've not seen that before.

[pkinneb]

On 7/15/2023 at 9:33 AM, Mark J said:

What's the diameter measuring gizmo?  I've not seen that before.

I used it last year at my Windsor chair class and thought it worked well, not the cheapest thing but is much quicker and more accurate then the calipers I have used. Here is a link:

https://www.petergalbert.com/tools-for-measuring-and-sharpening

[Mark J]

Wow, definitely a first world tool, but then I bought myself a Monarch bandsaw tension guage, so....

[pkinneb]

I found my lathe drill chuck key and its now back where it was supposed to be the whole time supposed be 

First up today was to drill a 1/4" hole an 1 1/2" deep

After that I turned it to shape, then using rasps and sandpaper finished up the last little bit, and finally cut the end off with a handsaw

Then using two part 5 min epoxy I glued in the handle. One note I used a flat tip screw driver to gouge a small mortise in the side wall of the handle so that epoxy would fill that and hopefully lock it from turning inside the handle.

Then I did the final clean up on the swing arm and that piece is complete

Back to working on the head. started on the pin holders but learned quickly I needed a 9/16" drill bit so after layout they got put to the side

Then I used a 6 degree angle block (taped to the bottom) to cut the rebates into the head for the pin holders. While I would not recommend this I really didn't feel like cutting these by hand and it worked out fine. FWIW I cut all four cuts using the same block.

...and here she is at the end of today... getting there

 

 

 

[pkinneb]

So picking up from yesterday when I needed a 9/16 drill bit...on the way home from the store with my new $15 drill bit it dawned on me I have a Shaper so needless to say the drill it is going back. Just glad I didn't make an extra trip to get it.

Look at that a 9/16 hole 

Then some quick shaping on the ends at the sander and they were ready to go

I do need to cut a mortise for the limit pin so not quite finished but close

Then I went to work on the treadle, first another mortise on the shaper...I did try out the Autopass extension now available and will probably buy that. its pretty nice to not have to reset the depth each go around. You just program the final depth and the software determines how many passes to take.

 

Then I chopped the angles into it at the bench and went for a test fit

With that done it was time to shape it; first some bevels at the TS, I put on my taller fence for this

...and lastly cut the curves at the BS and cleaned them up on the spindle sander but apparently no pic of that. Here it is as it stands today

I need to clean up the treadle and finish the head then I will move on to the seat.

 

 

[Mark J]

You're definitely gonna have to sign & date this. 

[BillyJack]

Turning out nice..

[pkinneb]

Only an hourish today but was able to finish shaping the remaining parts for the head.

First step was layout which would have been waaay easier had I done it before shaping the parts

Then I cut the 1/4" deep mortise with a mortise chisel and clean up with a bench chisel 

Turned the stop pin

Fit to the hole by beveling the end with sandpaper

Now all that's left is to drill for the screws that hold the pin to the head, final clean up of the entire head, add the leather and apply finish... regarding finish what do you guys think? I figure I would go with the same oil mix I used on my workbench...thoughts?

[wtnhighlander]

Oil finish sounds quite appropriate. That will make an outstanding piece of work even more beautiful.

[pkinneb]

Finished up the head tonight

...here it is all cleaned up

Then I cleaned up the treadle

And with that just the seat and finish left

Down to these three parts to shape and cut to size

Should be putting finish on this and the latest Windsor rocker this weekend. 

[pkinneb]

Time to make a seat.

First I needed templates, but I did not want to cut up the set of plan's, so I used tracing paper and then transferred that to pegboard.

Next up I needed to flatten the blank. Luckily it was flat enough I could do it on the drum sander since it was wider then my planer

Then I transferred all the layout lines to the blank and drilled two 7/8" deep depth holes.

After that Fired up the shaper and engraved my initials and date on the bottom of the seat using the shaper plate. While it was out I added it to the chair as well but had to use tape on that one.

I cut the front of the seat blank out at the BS and cleaned it up at the belt sander. I left the back in place, for now, for clamping. Following that I traced the templates onto the blank

Next up I excavated the deepest part of the seat using a scorp

**** Sorry but this will be a short journal break becuase the clamp was not holding the blank tight ****

Solution: A new dog hole in the bench

**** Now back to our regularly scheduled program ****

Once the deep stuff was cleared out I switched to the baked potato and slowly enlarged the circle and then started heading out to the front of the seat.

No dust but hand tools still make a mess 

Lets give it a little test feel, heading in the right direction but needs more work

Not sure how I missed pics of the travisher but after it was roughed out I started cleaning it up with that and then finally a scraper

With the seat shaped it was time to start on the bottom edges first the front. I hog out most of the material with the draw knife

Then move to a large spoke shave working half the seat at a time

With the front complete it was time to cut the back off at the BS then clean it up on the belt sander

Again using the drawknife and spokeshaves to get the profile I was looking for

Next I mounted the riser block, then drew some lines on it and took it to the top of the TS to flatten it in line with the seat. I will glue 220 sandpaper on as a final step that will keep the seat from moving on the rails.

Finally I attached the seat fin

And with that I am calling this project construction complete!!

I still have a little clean up but other then that its just finish to go. I will be doing the seat and the chair at the same time so I need to do final clean up on the rocker before I start the finishing.

Another PSA -

All the mortise clean up on this project was done with a Narex 1/2" mortise chisel and I have to say I was impressed, and for what they cost quite astonished at the quality of cut I could get with it.

I'll post finish pics when complete, as well as follow up with a section I'll call bloopers and blunders! I will share what went wrong on this project and how I recovered with the hope that folks  might learn from my mistakes and avoid them in their own work. 

[Coop]

Two tools I’ve never heard of, Scorp and Baked Potato . 

[Mark J]

Paul, do you plan to sand the concave seat surface at all?

[pkinneb]

On 7/22/2023 at 7:37 PM, Coop said:

Two tools I’ve never heard of, Scorp and Baked Potato . 

To be clear while the first is truly a Scorp the second is a Travisher this one is referred to as the baked potato becuase of its shape 

On 7/23/2023 at 8:38 AM, Mark J said:

Paul, do you plan to sand the concave seat surface at all?

I will raise the grain in an effort to get some of the sap/pitch out of it during the finishing process so I will have to at that point but just a light hit of 150 or 220.

[Immortan D]

This shave horse is a work of art.

[pkinneb]

So after seeing the seat for a while I decided it needed to go on a diet, it just seemed to chunky to me sooo

There now I'm happy 

Then a coat of finish on all the ash except where I taped off to glue on the leather and sandpaper 

I'll finish this with one more coat tomorrow while I clean up the rocker and then start the milk paint process on both the shavehorse seat and the rocker.

PSA don't buy these they suck!!! Like a t-shirt my a$$ they leave lint everywhere. FWIW these were purchased at Menards

[pkinneb]

I will be painting both the shavehorse seat and the rocker (2 different colors) at the same time since its a bit of a process. First up was to heat the seats to get the resin/pitch to rise to the top on the pine seats. I do this twice then a light sanding to knock down the grain that was raise by the mineral spirits I used.

With that they are ready for paint so I mixed up the base colors baby poop brown for the shavehorse ( I really hope I don't regret this) and barn red for the chair.

I will mix about every 20 min for about hour then again before bed and again in the am. It takes about 4-6 hours for the paint dust to be absorbed by the water. I keep them covered so they don't start to dry.

Tomorrow the painting will commence and the second coat of oil mix went on the the rest of the shavehorse this morning so I will reassemble it.