This isn’t just about how the cities were built. This series is like a school teaching us how to be self reliant. How to live with our own 2 hands. Yeah it’s cool but I promise if you were out on your own and couldn’t build things like this you wouldn’t make it so easily. Don’t be so reliant on the concrete jungle you see before you today. The “major cities” are going to collapse and you will be on your own in just a few years. So learn as much as you can.
A couple of guys from Indiana who specialize in living history reproductions end up producing the best quality content on UA-cam. I’m not even American, but who can deny that these guys are true American icons. Honestly what would UA-cam be without you guys🙌🏽 Great job on this one, the videography and music was excellent. - girl from the Caribbean
3 years ago our family lost everything in a house fire and have struggled hard since. We truly appreciate videos like this that show us how to make things cheaply/free that can better our life. Thank you.
I hope this is real Im not trying to be rude it is just all thee people want attention and will make up sad stories But if this real im sorry for your family
@@boltfrog2900 thank you I truly appreciate it. I wish it wasn't real. I truly think people like you're talking about is why as a military family we can't find much help. However Semper Fi Fund has been helping us as they can. It was my worst nightmare come true. Seeing my kids go through this hell is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.
I built one from ash. I used hand tools from start to finish. It was one of the best experiences in my life. When the crew from BBC Ireland came to America to interview me, they all took a turn shaving spindles on it.
Seem many of these from the time I was a child, but rarely have seen anyone give instruction on building one from start to finish. Thanks so much. Really enjoyed learning how to build one of these amazing shop items. Thank you.
You’ll find that it works much better if you put like the legs pins and other such items by the fire to dry out this will cause them to shrink then when you drive it into the Greenwood and the Greenwood dries it will shrink around the Drywood giving you a stronger hold much like if you used glue
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed hearing that log split - it's such a great sound! I can't wait for the hot weather to break so I can get back to splitting firewood...
I love the way you show old skills in a way that they can still be relevant today. This complicated world is one of our own making, and simplifying in this way could be just what we to put things right again. Separately, I like to imagine that you used the old shave horse to form the dowels and other components used in the production of the new one.
I really have to say that this is my all time favorite channel. I love the video's on cooking but I hunger for knowledge on the cabin and tools need to be made on site as well. I can't get enough of this channel. Thank you very, very much for sharing
There's something really soothing about the sound of woodworking. If nobody has already done a "frontier-living ASMR" channel, consider that idea up for grabs.
I saw a guy from bushcraft make one of these, I’m impressed with how well both you and the bushcraft guy make and use these. I’ll be making one for the projects I have at home. Please keep making more of these videos
I made one of these in a folk art class at Maryland Institute, College of Art when I was a sculpture major there over 25 years ago. Little did I know it would be one of the first steps toward a lifelong passion for woodworking as a career path. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. As always, your videos are charming and informative.
I wish I could express how much I enjoy and learn from your videos! Have lived in Alaska all my life and love learning about how the pioneers used what was available to create really useful (but virtually unknown in this day) things for their everyday life. Thanks for all the effort and creativity you put into this, it's greatly appreciated.
Man it's so cool to watch you implement the way this was done back on the day.. Hopefully this stuff survives the modern age in case we need to go back to the basics.
Awesome video! I first saw one of these on The Woodwright's Shop on PBS, and was fascinated by it. The ingenuity of our forefathers was incredible. Thanks for sharing!
There are many, many good plans for both modern and traditional shave horses available on the web. Even knock-down models for people working in apartments.
@@AshleyBlackwater Shave horses are used for different workholding situations from normal woodworking vises. That's why there are many types of vise even on a single workbench. That's especially true for chairmaking. It was also faster and more permanent to build than a springpole lathe when you need something rounded but not necessarily circular. The same holds historically. Moxon's early 18th century book shows a plane stop, holdfast, twin-screw face vise, and bench hook. A century later, Nicholson's bench has a face vise, bench dogs so you can do edge planing, and plane stop. The "moravian" workbench of 18th century North Carolina is a portable bench that had a leg vise, bench dogs, and a weird vise I can't identify on the back. So historically woodworkers needed a variety of workholding tools to operate efficiently, even on the frontier. There are a lot of web pages and youtube videos that can give you a sense of why a woodworker with several vises and a workbench might also want a shave horse.
Jon, You and Brandon are amazing. It is very satisfying to watch you create; whether it is a new 18th century food dish or the foot vice today. Thank you for creating this fantastic content every week.
Sir this is one the best traditional builds around! Built a shave horse a while back, handy as 2 elbows on one arm. Thank you for your time and dedication.....ATB
Shave horses are among my favorite breeds! When well-made, they are generally tractable and productive. Were I to relive my active retirement (we owned a good amount of suitable land), I would have practiced just these skills. A shave horse would have come right after the buck horse! At the time, I was doing heavy landscaping (by pick and shovel and main strength.) The idea was major gardening! My grandchildren and my son (we lived purposely very close to them in retirement), would have really enjoyed participating in these projects. I could easily have purchased a good sawmill or hired one in to process selected trees in my stand of pin-oaks, red oaks (with a Yaupon Holly understory.) So...choices have to be made based on who we are and what we know at a given point in time. THANKS FOR A GREAT VIDEO!
Jon, first thank you and your crew for these videos. I can remember pre-internet days where we had to depend on someone writing a book to read so we could learn the old ways. Then we were hoping that they got it right. I sincerely hope that everyone is paying attention because we are about to need these old ways again.
My fiancee's uncle literally uses so many tools from this series it's pretty cool. Also if you bore holes into the bench you can hit metal stakes in like a type of clamp for smaller pieces
This is one of your best videos ever! I have always thought that a shave horse was about the most useful thing for a homestead. I may try to make one myself!!
I still have my first shave horse, it's 23 years old. I am currently looking for a log to make one with the English style clamp. I will need it for scarfing clapboards and the dumbhead is serviceable but makes it more difficult. Thanks for this and so many brilliant videos!!
This was a horse of a different color and so well done! Your insights and instruction on tools for the frontier just gets better and better. Thank you Jon & Brandon for such a great series, your skills are surely being made manifest in every new project you undertake. I eagerly await each new episode as the frontier unfolds before my very eyes.
I made a shave horse back in 1983 as a wood shop prod, and had it till about 15yrs ago and a friend of mine has it now still in use!, And I made it the same way, but used hand plains to smooth it out, made mine out of red oak,
smoothing and de-barking would have gone a long way to make the original more durable and rot-resistant along w/ a bit or tallow. Just a lot less surface area to water and micro-organisms to stick to. But being ash and out in the sun, there's a limited life anyways. Taking 2-3x longer to build something to last 25% -50% longer may not be worth it.
I am enjoying this so much:)!!! Me, my husband and sons built homes and my Grandfather and Mother were great carpenters/builders and I have always enjoyed the fine craftsmanship that went into building during colonial times and forward:)! Very educational:)! Thank you:)!
Great video Jon! Here in SE Pa. Pennsylvania Dutch country, the bench is called a "snitzelbunk" and it was called a sheeps head instead of a dumb head. So the old term block head or dumb head, we know where these terms came from. We probably even know some folks that would fit these terms, including ourselves at times, eh? And by the way Jon, I cook up my oat meal every morning with cinnamon and nut meg, some honey, resins and or other friend fruit. And I think, here's to Jon Townsend, a fellow lover of nut meg and cinnamon. It's a flavor that takes me back to the 18th century. Many Thanks to both of you and your staff! It is a pleasure and a joy to learn and watch with the Townsends! Love, Light and Peace! DaveyJO in Pa.
You make it look so easy and simple to build, while I set here sipping coffee at my desk watching you build it in 11 minutes ! Very interesting video, as always !
It's a little known fact that the Public Communiques Act of 1795 required that hand tool woodworking videos on UA-cam have an acoustic guitar soundtrack. I'm glad you guys followed all the rules. Great video, I loved it! Reminds me of the work by Peter Follansbee. I'm surprised you guys used what looks like dried, seasoned wood rather than green wood as was often used on the frontier, and that you didn't use a froe for splitting. It's amazing what you can do with even just an axe.
This reminds me of the wooden quail traps my grandfather made for me when I was about 10 years old. The body of the trap was made out of commercial 1"x1" lumber but he hand carved all of the triggers himself. They worked perfectly and were simple to make.
This is great. I am a few days away from nu vacation and building this was already on my list. This simple step by step video is perfect as a guideline. I have already a log in mind. Cannot wait to get started
I have so many of those hand tools! When I get my homestead (am looking for the land now), I am going to have to start using (well, practicing with) them.
You can still get these scotch eyed augers.. some on amazon, shows how these are time tested tools still have a place even in modern day. Pretty amazing.
@@rosemcguinn5301 Not definitively. Eric Sloane researched and wrote A MUSEUM OF AMERICAN TOOLS (1964) which included fine drawings of many tools from the mid-1700's until about 1840. The book is still available in a Dover reprint. Sloan was interested in design and working surfaces more than size and variety. He does say he is surprised that a single man could turn some of them. Etsy and EBay offer a very few 'antique' augers and sets: diameters include 1/4-inch, 1/2-inch, 3/4-inch, 1-inch, 1 1/2-inches...to 2 inches. Provenance provided is thin to non-existent.
Awesome video, makes me miss Roy Underhill and the Woodwright's Shop! I've used shaving horses for years, so handy with a draw knife! You can rough out wooden spoon blanks in no time! Love it!
Glad to see the change of plan from the metal pins on the riser brace for a complete commitment to all-wood dowel construction. The carriage bolt on the old one was an eyesore.
I know you've said in the past that the location of the homestead precludes it ever being a public commercial site, but maybe you can consider holding things like frontier woodcraft or other frontier skill instructions there for re-enactors or other interested parties.
There's a rich supply of hand-tool woodworking sources on UA-cam and in the real world. PBS's Woodwright's Shop is a good place to start. Also see work by Wood and Shop, Paul Sellers, and others on UA-cam. Lost Art Press is a small publisher specializing in traditional woodworking (run by former Popular Woodworking editors Christopher Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick); also see Mortise and Tenon magazine. They all link to one another and many other experts like David Charlesworth and Peter Follansbee. Many of these sources include citations for historical manuals on woodworking such as Joseph Moxon's (17th century) or Andre Roubo's (18th century). Despite being separated by a century, the techniques explained are very similar. They're also very similar to the living hand-tool woodworking tradition of Estonia, and to archeological reproductions of woodworking techniques of the Roman Empire. The particular style used for frontier woodworking is called vernacular woodworking, and there are several excellent books on the furniture itself and the techniques used to make it. While the style and construction of furniture used for the upper classes varies quite a bit by era and nationality, the countries of the West were surprisingly consistent in vernacular pieces used by the common man. Prestige pieces of the 18th century are still greatly prized by collectors, and there are many, many good books on the styles of each country and fashion. For English styles, see the works by Adams, Chippendale, and Sheraton.
What's nice is how sustainable it all is. You get a useful tool out of it and when it's too old to use anymore you can simply leave it for nature to reclaim.
I have learned of this tool first on the Woodwright show. There, a tree crotch was used for the dumbhead. I've been meaning to build myself one for about 4 years now. Your youtube lesson will be quite helpful too. I might fashion a dumb head like yours and another out of a tree crotch and see which is better or if there is an advantage with one or the other. Cheers Townsends.
One thing this video reminded me of is the downside to homemade wooden mallets like those: you have to keep making new ones as the old ones get chewed up by work. Good thing you've got a lathe!
Im envious of your shaving horse. Lol i began building one back more than twenty years ago as i always saw them at living history places being used and i always watched the woodwright shop on pbs and my dad and i always just build things like that ourselves and so it didnt look that hard and the nice thing is ya can customize it for your own applications however you want. Anyway, i built some of the sections of it but due to jobs and other responsibilities for doing work for family i never got time to finish making it. Now as ive seen your shavehorse design, i think i had built my main base beam too short, and i may have to re-do that board again....or just modify my design to make it more compact to fit in a vehicle if i need too, but have it still be effective enough. Great video. And now i also realize i need to get a large flat chisel, like the kind they use for tenon and mortise beam work. i bought a huge antique curved gouge that is awesome but i think i need to spend the money on a larger flat chisel than the one i already have. I also now want a big auger after watching your shows. Lol i have a big brace that was my great grandfathers and have several bits for it, but i realize the hole auger would be very useful. I may have to look for a three size set ive seen around on tool sites.
I find it a cool coincidence that just this morning while reading Home Building and Woodworking in Colonial America by: C. Keith Wilbur, they show this exact thing, "the shaving horse" on pg 26 - 27 and how to build it. It's truly amazing the tools and techniques they used. Even though I enjoy the modern tools we have today, it would be a lie to say I wouldn't mind being stuck doing the old way, if I had more knowledge of it. One reason I love this channel.
Last year i thought yea it’s cool to see how they did things 200 years ago, 2020 I’m thinking i need to pay attention we all may be doing this tomorrow!!! thanks for sharing.
I always find that back then they did things properly, these days we are so reliant on just buying things that channels like this are important for as you say, perhaps the need to embrace some of these skills may be need soon!.
Northern Embers Camping and Cooking I have worked overseas and have seen what a experienced man and a few simple tools can accomplish, it may be ugly like only a mother could love, but it works well. With fire , hammer, chisel, file, and a drill. Nothing like seeing a man show up to work on a drill powered Bicycle use the same drill all day, pop in a fresh battery, and zoom home.
its hard to believe that almost every major city in America and Canada was started with these building techniques...truly amazing
And pretty much every town and city in the world! 👍
I watch this the other night and I am building one for myself. I just got the big log split today
Especially in Canada. Really wondering how people kept up with the sort seasons and not freezing to death.
except... you know... where there are no trees. which is like 69% of america
This isn’t just about how the cities were built. This series is like a school teaching us how to be self reliant. How to live with our own 2 hands. Yeah it’s cool but I promise if you were out on your own and couldn’t build things like this you wouldn’t make it so easily. Don’t be so reliant on the concrete jungle you see before you today. The “major cities” are going to collapse and you will be on your own in just a few years. So learn as much as you can.
A couple of guys from Indiana who specialize in living history reproductions end up producing the best quality content on UA-cam.
I’m not even American, but who can deny that these guys are true American icons.
Honestly what would UA-cam be without you guys🙌🏽
Great job on this one, the videography and music was excellent.
- girl from the Caribbean
I'm mad because his store is in the state just north of mine, but it's like a 5-hour drive one way. I might do it anyway!
A Smith Get some friends or family together and make it a day trip!
They’re in Indiana?
Ethan Lundeen Go to their website. They have a big store with all kinds of amazing stuff. They make a lot it on site or locally.
3 years ago our family lost everything in a house fire and have struggled hard since. We truly appreciate videos like this that show us how to make things cheaply/free that can better our life. Thank you.
I hope this is real
Im not trying to be rude it is just all thee people want attention and will make up sad stories
But if this real im sorry for your family
@@boltfrog2900 thank you I truly appreciate it. I wish it wasn't real. I truly think people like you're talking about is why as a military family we can't find much help. However Semper Fi Fund has been helping us as they can. It was my worst nightmare come true. Seeing my kids go through this hell is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.
"How dead is that tree?"
"That's a dead ash tree"
Dead ash tree.... very first thing that came to my mind as well... it’s definitely dead....
Unfortunately, all of the ash trees are dead. The emerald ash borer is everywhere. Virginia in northern Ohio
@@playme129 They got all ours in Tennessee.
Wow! That's terribly sad!
@@playme129 - Indiana, too. We still have the trees, but most, if not all of them, are dead.
The time and craftsmanship you put through all of your videos is always amazing
I built one from ash. I used hand tools from start to finish. It was one of the best experiences in my life. When the crew from BBC Ireland came to America to interview me, they all took a turn shaving spindles on it.
Seem many of these from the time I was a child, but rarely have seen anyone give instruction on building one from start to finish. Thanks so much. Really enjoyed learning how to build one of these amazing shop items. Thank you.
Shavehorse: wiggles like crazy, barely not falling apart from a lightest of touches.
Townsends: "it rattles a little bit"
Its channels like this that make UA-cam amazing!
For a second I thought the title said “how to shave a horse by hand”
Haaaaah!!😆
First, get them in the corral....LOL
😂 This literally made me Lol!
I don’t think they’d let that video on UA-cam
Damnit your making me look that up now
You’ll find that it works much better if you put like the legs pins and other such items by the fire to dry out this will cause them to shrink then when you drive it into the Greenwood and the Greenwood dries it will shrink around the Drywood giving you a stronger hold much like if you used glue
You make a good point sir.
Great idea 💡
Very insightful! This wouldn't make the Greenwood split as it shrinks over the drywood?
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed hearing that log split - it's such a great sound! I can't wait for the hot weather to break so I can get back to splitting firewood...
Always impressed by the skills shown in these videos and the ingenuity of the time period.
I love the way you show old skills in a way that they can still be relevant today. This complicated world is one of our own making, and simplifying in this way could be just what we to put things right again.
Separately, I like to imagine that you used the old shave horse to form the dowels and other components used in the production of the new one.
Well isn’t this perfect timing. I need one for handle making with a new draw knife I got. You saved me the effort of finding a video haha. Great video
So glad to see this video, I am preparing to make one myself and this is so helpful...
I built a shaving horse a few years ago to use in shaping three hunting Bowes and several other projects. It was very useful and a pleasure to use!
Soothing; no generators , no power tools screaming as they cut through the wood. Excellent 👍
I really have to say that this is my all time favorite channel. I love the video's on cooking but I hunger for knowledge on the cabin and tools need to be made on site as well.
I can't get enough of this channel.
Thank you very, very much for sharing
There's something really soothing about the sound of woodworking. If nobody has already done a "frontier-living ASMR" channel, consider that idea up for grabs.
I saw a guy from bushcraft make one of these, I’m impressed with how well both you and the bushcraft guy make and use these. I’ll be making one for the projects I have at home. Please keep making more of these videos
I made one of these in a folk art class at Maryland Institute, College of Art when I was a sculpture major there over 25 years ago. Little did I know it would be one of the first steps toward a lifelong passion for woodworking as a career path. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. As always, your videos are charming and informative.
I wish I could express how much I enjoy and learn from your videos! Have lived in Alaska all my life and love learning about how the pioneers used what was available to create really useful (but virtually unknown in this day) things for their everyday life. Thanks for all the effort and creativity you put into this, it's greatly appreciated.
Man it's so cool to watch you implement the way this was done back on the day.. Hopefully this stuff survives the modern age in case we need to go back to the basics.
wow, how they came up with these tools always mesmerizes me..........
Where there's a will there's a way.
Also:
necessity is the mother of invention.
From knapping flint in a cave to landing on the moon...hope we can still manage that kind of ingenuity still.
@SeriousName it works well enough! used ash to clean bonfire snacks grease off my hands once or twice
Jon and crew- You make what I know to be hard work without power tools, look easy! Much respect!
You've assembled a great team at Townsends. I enjoyed this very much.
Awesome video! I first saw one of these on The Woodwright's Shop on PBS, and was fascinated by it. The ingenuity of our forefathers was incredible. Thanks for sharing!
As a long time fan of The Woodwright’s Shop, I cant get enough of these types of videos. Thanks for putting forth the effort!
You make it look so easy. I've been working on a shave horse and splitting the original log was such a pain. Keep up the content!
The sound of that log splitting...so cool! Good stuff from y’all as always! Thanks.
It would be handy to have one of these for rehandling my grandfather's old tools. Appreciate the how-to.
Chop with Chris made his out of more available stock
There are many, many good plans for both modern and traditional shave horses available on the web. Even knock-down models for people working in apartments.
Tbh unless you are super strapped for cash then you can get vices pretty cheap, like $10 or $20
@@AshleyBlackwater Shave horses are used for different workholding situations from normal woodworking vises. That's why there are many types of vise even on a single workbench. That's especially true for chairmaking. It was also faster and more permanent to build than a springpole lathe when you need something rounded but not necessarily circular.
The same holds historically. Moxon's early 18th century book shows a plane stop, holdfast, twin-screw face vise, and bench hook. A century later, Nicholson's bench has a face vise, bench dogs so you can do edge planing, and plane stop. The "moravian" workbench of 18th century North Carolina is a portable bench that had a leg vise, bench dogs, and a weird vise I can't identify on the back. So historically woodworkers needed a variety of workholding tools to operate efficiently, even on the frontier.
There are a lot of web pages and youtube videos that can give you a sense of why a woodworker with several vises and a workbench might also want a shave horse.
@@crafty1098 I see, thanks for the info
This series on the homestead is wonderful! Really this is riveting stuff. I'm really enjoying it, thank you!
Jon, You and Brandon are amazing. It is very satisfying to watch you create; whether it is a new 18th century food dish or the foot vice today. Thank you for creating this fantastic content every week.
Sir this is one the best traditional builds around! Built a shave horse a while back, handy as 2 elbows on one arm. Thank you for your time and dedication.....ATB
Shave horses are among my favorite breeds! When well-made, they are generally tractable and productive. Were I to relive my active retirement (we owned a good amount of suitable land), I would have practiced just these skills. A shave horse would have come right after the buck horse! At the time, I was doing heavy landscaping (by pick and shovel and main strength.) The idea was major gardening! My grandchildren and my son (we lived purposely very close to them in retirement), would have really enjoyed participating in these projects. I could easily have purchased a good sawmill or hired one in to process selected trees in my stand of pin-oaks, red oaks (with a Yaupon Holly understory.) So...choices have to be made based on who we are and what we know at a given point in time. THANKS FOR A GREAT VIDEO!
Jon, first thank you and your crew for these videos. I can remember pre-internet days where we had to depend on someone writing a book to read so we could learn the old ways. Then we were hoping that they got it right. I sincerely hope that everyone is paying attention because we are about to need these old ways again.
My fiancee's uncle literally uses so many tools from this series it's pretty cool. Also if you bore holes into the bench you can hit metal stakes in like a type of clamp for smaller pieces
This is pretty fine basic woodwork, and a good reminder that it doesn't take highly finished tools to do highly finished work.
This is one of your best videos ever! I have always thought that a shave horse was about the most useful thing for a homestead. I may try to make one myself!!
I still have my first shave horse, it's 23 years old. I am currently looking for a log to make one with the English style clamp. I will need it for scarfing clapboards and the dumbhead is serviceable but makes it more difficult. Thanks for this and so many brilliant videos!!
This was a horse of a different color and so well done! Your insights and instruction on tools for the frontier just gets better and better. Thank you Jon & Brandon for such a great series, your skills are surely being made manifest in every new project you undertake. I eagerly await each new episode as the frontier unfolds before my very eyes.
I made a shave horse back in 1983 as a wood shop prod, and had it till about 15yrs ago and a friend of mine has it now still in use!, And I made it the same way, but used hand plains to smooth it out, made mine out of red oak,
smoothing and de-barking would have gone a long way to make the original more durable and rot-resistant along w/ a bit or tallow. Just a lot less surface area to water and micro-organisms to stick to. But being ash and out in the sun, there's a limited life anyways. Taking 2-3x longer to build something to last 25% -50% longer may not be worth it.
Love these homestead videos!!! These tools could be the future for primitive homesteaders! Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz
I am enjoying this so much:)!!! Me, my husband and sons built homes and my Grandfather and Mother were great carpenters/builders and I have always enjoyed the fine craftsmanship that went into building during colonial times and forward:)! Very educational:)! Thank you:)!
Great video Jon! Here in SE Pa. Pennsylvania Dutch country, the bench is called a "snitzelbunk" and it was called a sheeps head instead of a dumb head. So the old term block head or dumb head, we know where these terms came from. We probably even know some folks that would fit these terms, including ourselves at times, eh? And by the way Jon, I cook up my oat meal every morning with cinnamon and nut meg, some honey, resins and or other friend fruit. And I think, here's to Jon Townsend, a fellow lover of nut meg and cinnamon. It's a flavor that takes me back to the 18th century. Many Thanks to both of you and your staff! It is a pleasure and a joy to learn and watch with the Townsends! Love, Light and Peace! DaveyJO in Pa.
You make it look so easy and simple to build, while I set here sipping coffee at my desk watching you build it in 11 minutes ! Very interesting video, as always !
One of the best shave horse tutorials I have seen. Keep up the good work..
The ingenuity to build these things, is just awe inspiring.
It's a little known fact that the Public Communiques Act of 1795 required that hand tool woodworking videos on UA-cam have an acoustic guitar soundtrack. I'm glad you guys followed all the rules.
Great video, I loved it! Reminds me of the work by Peter Follansbee. I'm surprised you guys used what looks like dried, seasoned wood rather than green wood as was often used on the frontier, and that you didn't use a froe for splitting. It's amazing what you can do with even just an axe.
I thought the same thing but then they mention they used what was available, an axe and surrounding wood. A froe was probably a luxury!
I have been wanting to build one of these for a long time. Thank you for the clear demonstration!
This reminds me of the wooden quail traps my grandfather made for me when I was about 10 years old. The body of the trap was made out of commercial 1"x1" lumber but he hand carved all of the triggers himself. They worked perfectly and were simple to make.
This is great. I am a few days away from nu vacation and building this was already on my list. This simple step by step video is perfect as a guideline. I have already a log in mind. Cannot wait to get started
I have so many of those hand tools! When I get my homestead (am looking for the land now), I am going to have to start using (well, practicing with) them.
Jon, are you making poor Brandon use the old broken down shave horse at the end there while your using the brand new one?😊
Jon's the boss. 😁
RHIP
The name of that horse is Nutmeg
Perhaps Jon needs to make two new shave horses. And maybe a bowl horse and a spoon mule too.
Had to use something to finish up the pieces for the new one.
Hello from Southeast Missouri, I always love watching your vids!
You two did an amazing job and made it look super easy. Such a remarkable piece of ingenuity. Great video Jon
Please keep doing these segments like this. I mean don't abandon everything else. But this here is really interesting.
I love these homestead videos. I make a lot of my own tools and a shave horse is next on my list. I built a pole lathe four years ago.
Love that auger! All of your tools fascinate me. TFS
SCOTCH EYED AUGERS! Homesteaders needed tools like that...in varying diameters.
You can still get these scotch eyed augers.. some on amazon, shows how these are time tested tools still have a place even in modern day. Pretty amazing.
@@erasei The better tools are the timeless ones, aren't they?
@@jamesellsworth9673 Any idea as to how many diameter sizes there may have been at the time?
@@rosemcguinn5301 Not definitively. Eric Sloane researched and wrote A MUSEUM OF AMERICAN TOOLS (1964) which included fine drawings of many tools from the mid-1700's until about 1840. The book is still available in a Dover reprint. Sloan was interested in design and working surfaces more than size and variety. He does say he is surprised that a single man could turn some of them. Etsy and EBay offer a very few 'antique' augers and sets: diameters include 1/4-inch, 1/2-inch, 3/4-inch, 1-inch, 1 1/2-inches...to 2 inches. Provenance provided is thin to non-existent.
You always make things look so easy. Simple and attainable. Thanks. Love seeing the process.
Awesome video, makes me miss Roy Underhill and the Woodwright's Shop! I've used shaving horses for years, so handy with a draw knife! You can rough out wooden spoon blanks in no time! Love it!
Glad to see the change of plan from the metal pins on the riser brace for a complete commitment to all-wood dowel construction. The carriage bolt on the old one was an eyesore.
Those were to mark where to drill, so the holes match up for the dowels.
I can't believe it took me so long to find your channel I am in love with all the work you put into everything
I know you've said in the past that the location of the homestead precludes it ever being a public commercial site, but maybe you can consider holding things like frontier woodcraft or other frontier skill instructions there for re-enactors or other interested parties.
There's a rich supply of hand-tool woodworking sources on UA-cam and in the real world. PBS's Woodwright's Shop is a good place to start. Also see work by Wood and Shop, Paul Sellers, and others on UA-cam. Lost Art Press is a small publisher specializing in traditional woodworking (run by former Popular Woodworking editors Christopher Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick); also see Mortise and Tenon magazine. They all link to one another and many other experts like David Charlesworth and Peter Follansbee.
Many of these sources include citations for historical manuals on woodworking such as Joseph Moxon's (17th century) or Andre Roubo's (18th century). Despite being separated by a century, the techniques explained are very similar. They're also very similar to the living hand-tool woodworking tradition of Estonia, and to archeological reproductions of woodworking techniques of the Roman Empire.
The particular style used for frontier woodworking is called vernacular woodworking, and there are several excellent books on the furniture itself and the techniques used to make it. While the style and construction of furniture used for the upper classes varies quite a bit by era and nationality, the countries of the West were surprisingly consistent in vernacular pieces used by the common man.
Prestige pieces of the 18th century are still greatly prized by collectors, and there are many, many good books on the styles of each country and fashion. For English styles, see the works by Adams, Chippendale, and Sheraton.
You might also check out living history sights such as Sauder Village in N.W. Ohio. They offer classes.
I see the old shave horse had steel bolts in it and the new one was all wood.............impressive. I love this kind of stuff, thanks.
This channel has had a huge impact in the way I think of things. Although I feel kinda sad that this way of life is gone.
Thanks for the weekly reminder I'd be dead in several days if thrown in the wilderness.
But just think of how many wild animals can feed of your carcass and survive.
@brown bird it's sterile.
I love watching men with a little bit of knowledge and skill work... Reminds me of my father working in the garage....
Everything about this was very pleasant, thank you the awesome video.
What's nice is how sustainable it all is. You get a useful tool out of it and when it's too old to use anymore you can simply leave it for nature to reclaim.
I have learned of this tool first on the Woodwright show. There, a tree crotch was used for the dumbhead. I've been meaning to build myself one for about 4 years now. Your youtube lesson will be quite helpful too. I might fashion a dumb head like yours and another out of a tree crotch and see which is better or if there is an advantage with one or the other. Cheers Townsends.
This is some great frontier engineering here! Such a simple but effective idea, thank you for showing us this process.
Excellent shaving bench, John. I have wanted to build one, but I am going to do it out of pressure treated 2 by 6.
I am getting to see this video fresh after producing it. Great work Folks.
That was a truly incredible video. Thanks for the great watch!
I've built about 10 of those things over the years. I use it for axe handles, bows, hammer handles, bucket staves and such. it's fun work.
Been wanting to make one for my projects. Thank you both for the easy instructions.
One thing this video reminded me of is the downside to homemade wooden mallets like those: you have to keep making new ones as the old ones get chewed up by work. Good thing you've got a lathe!
Im envious of your shaving horse. Lol i began building one back more than twenty years ago as i always saw them at living history places being used and i always watched the woodwright shop on pbs and my dad and i always just build things like that ourselves and so it didnt look that hard and the nice thing is ya can customize it for your own applications however you want.
Anyway, i built some of the sections of it but due to jobs and other responsibilities for doing work for family i never got time to finish making it.
Now as ive seen your shavehorse design, i think i had built my main base beam too short, and i may have to re-do that board again....or just modify my design to make it more compact to fit in a vehicle if i need too, but have it still be effective enough.
Great video. And now i also realize i need to get a large flat chisel, like the kind they use for tenon and mortise beam work.
i bought a huge antique curved gouge that is awesome but i think i need to spend the money on a larger flat chisel than the one i already have.
I also now want a big auger after watching your shows. Lol i have a big brace that was my great grandfathers and have several bits for it, but i realize the hole auger would be very useful. I may have to look for a three size set ive seen around on tool sites.
Really love these woodworking/building episodes! Y’all are so skilled you make this stuff look easy.
I have wanted to know how to build one of these for YEARS!! Thank you!
I wish more people would watch this stuff. Might be living this way for a while after 2020.
That was a pleasure to watch. Thank you Mr Townsend.
Educational and easy to watch, as usual for Townsends.
As always, you make me glad that I'm a reenactor!
I find it a cool coincidence that just this morning while reading Home Building and Woodworking in Colonial America by: C. Keith Wilbur, they show this exact thing, "the shaving horse" on pg 26 - 27 and how to build it. It's truly amazing the tools and techniques they used. Even though I enjoy the modern tools we have today, it would be a lie to say I wouldn't mind being stuck doing the old way, if I had more knowledge of it. One reason I love this channel.
Always interesting,informative and fun . Keep up the great work ladies and gentlemen,and thank you .
This channel is strangely addictive
Beautiful shave horse! I am looking forward to the tools and furniture you make by using this wonderful vise.
Excellent! I can imagine the satisfying feeling of splitting wood and hammer dowelings to perfect tight fit.
I have wanted to build a shaving horse for years, but I never got around to it. Now round tuits are virtually free.
I admire that so much, it makes 'the making of things' into something that is not a mystery … we can do that, too! Humans are so clever.
Always feels so good using a wooden mallet to drive home a wooden joint you've made!
watching the wood scraps pile up is so calming
Wow, I can see I have really been overthinking my shaving horse design. That is AWESOME!
I just love your historical videos, my favorite are the cooking ones, especially the one in collaboration with English Heritage❤️🌹
Reminds me of splitting rails for fencing. One of the hardest and most satisfying jobs I’ve ever done. 🇺🇸
What a great piece of equipment and so inventive.
Last year i thought yea it’s cool to see how they did things 200 years ago, 2020 I’m thinking i need to pay attention we all may be doing this tomorrow!!! thanks for sharing.
I always find that back then they did things properly, these days we are so reliant on just buying things that channels like this are important for as you say, perhaps the need to embrace some of these skills may be need soon!.
Northern Embers Camping and Cooking I have worked overseas and have seen what a experienced man and a few simple tools can accomplish, it may be ugly like only a mother could love, but it works well. With fire , hammer, chisel, file, and a drill. Nothing like seeing a man show up to work on a drill powered Bicycle use the same drill all day, pop in a fresh battery, and zoom home.