Bob Slade has redesigned the traditional shave horse to produce a design that you can use standing up and that packs away into the boot of a car.

This staple of the Green Woodworker's toolkit has been around since the 16th Century and we have been using the same design in the UK since the late 19th Century; but Bob Slade, Chair of the Forest of Avon Wood Products Co-operative, wasn't happy with it. He wanted one that you could use standing up. So he built one.

Its not just a case of making it taller, though. A traditional shave horse depends on the power of the user's legs pushing forward from a sitting position to clamp the workpiece in place. When you stand up and use only one leg, you can't apply anything like the same power. 

Bob redesigned the clamping pedal - adding a horizontal arm and a diagonal brace - to generate a 1:25 clamping ratio and enable the user to hold the workpiece firmly in place with one foot. He then created a detachable, collapsible frame. The whole thing now fits in the boot of an average car.

The image to the right shows Bob with both adult and junior models, compared with the image below of Bob sitting and working on a traditional shave horse.

Bob says 'Its perfect for people who move around doing shows and demsontrations, and for working woodsmen - its more compact and very easy to assemble and if you use it next to a pole lathe you are always working at the same standing height, which saves wear and tear on these old bones!' 

Mike Abbott has taken delivery of a Stanford Shave Horse and will be testing it at his woodland workshop in Herefordshire, with a view to writing a review for the next edition of Living Woods magazine.

You can see the Stanford Shave Horse in action at the Westonbirt Fetsival of the Tree this August, where Bob will be demonstrating the new design and where you will be able to try out both the adult and junior versions.

For more information, please contact Bob Slade at robertstanford822@btinternet.com