Visitors since August 2008
I photographed these at the Bois d’Arc Rendezvous several years ago. These appear to be a sturdy, simple design that can be made from scavenged lumber and a few bolts. I think the key to a good design is that the horse fits your body well and holds the material adequately.
A good workhorse that is purpose built for what you regularly create makes jobs much easier. There is a long history of creating benches and horses specific to craft occupations. These come in many sizes and shapes but I have never seen a collection of plans for the many various designs. Diderot’s Encyclopedia from the 18th century is a good source and inspiration for these types of tools.
The workhorse to the right was made from commercial 1x8” and 1x6” lumber. The arm and tread should be made from a stiff hardwood such as oak or hickory since they can be under an enormous strain. The head block on this one is offset to the left side to allow the bow staves to be inserted or removed from the side. The two pegs near the end of the table help hold the stave from moving side-to-side when carving the edges of the bow.
Another bow-maker’s horse I created for a friend. The body of the horse is constructed from construction lumber and the arm/pedal assembly is hickory. I made detailed plans for this I will scan and post here soon. In the meantime, here is a photo from my sketchbook of my basic plan. This is very modified now in my mind but gives some basic dimensions to work from.
I love woodworking and hope to make a web page of projects in the near future. For now, this is just an example of some things I make. Nothing fancy, just practical mostly.
A small box made from juniper.
I enjoy carving spoons as well. There is a long tradition of spoon carving in western Europe and notably Wales. These are Osage Orange.
This certainly isn’t a recipe on how-to make a horse, more of a guide. My early problems were finding the right dimensions for seat height, travel distance for the arm, and angle of the table. Look at other pictures and make adjustments as you build. The “I” beam of the bench is made from 2 x 8 top, two 2 x 4s for the web, and a 2 x 6 for the bottom. These were picked because after some experimenting, I found that the legs locked into this unit at about the perfect offset (see the picture).
This is a froe. It is like an axe on a different axis. It is used in conjunction with a maul or soft hammer to split wood. After it is driven into a stave, you can use the mechanical advantage to pry open the wood along the grain.
Nomad Furniture. A page devoted to functional furniture construction.
Pages in this web site:
Archery, Bow Making, Osage Bows, Arrows, Spearthrowers, Hide Tanning, Boomerangs,
Gourd-working, Flint-knapping, Chicken-Raising, Soap-Making, Tools/Woodworking, Music, Furniture,
and other skills for simple living.