[Regia-NA] Shave Horses

[J. Kim Siddorn]

So I did the obvious thing and phoned the custodian at West Stow whom I
naturally know fairly well.

Oh dear.

He has no provenance for pole lathes other than the "tool rest". The man
that set up all their woodworking stuff was a pole lather of note as well as
being an archaeologist & no-one has given it much thought since, but Alan
did know that the only evidence we have is turned objects and a "tool
rest" - no iron dogs (pivots), no footplates. They might only have had bow
lathes, although the Romans certainly had PL's.

The Association of Pole Lathers is next.

Watch this space.

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

"Spring in the air?"
"Spring in the air yerself !"


----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Priest-Dorman" <capriest@cs.vassar.edu>
To: <list-regia-na@lig.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Regia-NA] Shave Horses


> Roll wrote:
>
> >I have to say that we take the shave horse on trust from places such as
West
> >Stow in Suffolk.  [snip]
> >I've never thought to ask them for their reasoning. It's just one of
those
> >things that we've not questioned yet.
>
> At the risk of sounding like I'm challenging Regia standards.... ;P
>
> My husband's been asking this particular question about the association
> between lathes and shave benches for a good many years.  (For you SCA
> types, he made his first shave bench at Pennsic 21 and brought his first
> full-size reciprocating lathe to Pennsic 22.)  Along the way he's become
> very disappointed by, for example, Carole Morris's work with the Jorvik
> materials in that it seems to owe so much to 19th century information
> rather than being informed by a knowledge of medieval technology.  One of
> the things he's questioned is reproductions incorporating a "tool rest"
> based on the Norwegian discovery sometimes identified as a lathe tool rest
> but identified by some textile archaeologists as a heddle bracket for a
> warp-weighted loom.
>
> I'm not sure he's seen the West Stow lathe, but I'll show it to him and
get
> his more direct input into this thread.  Just off the top of my head, the
> lathe looks pretty good to me.  (I can't tell exactly from the photo
angle,
> but it seems to lack the "tool rest," which I think is a good thing.)  But
> I have noticed that the working height is somewhat lower than that used by
> my husband.  On his the working area is closer to chest height than to
> waist height, which makes it less strenuous for him to get his shoulders
> and upper back involved in the work.  His working posture is similar to
> that in the 15th century drawing in the Mendel Brothers housebook of
> Leinhart the lathe worker.
>
> My husband's come to the working conclusion that a flat bench with small
> bench dogs is less obtrusively out of period for us than the later, more
> elaborate, foot-operated clamping design.  Is the shave bench at West Stow
> that flat form that's in the foreground of this picture?
>
> http://www.angelcynn.org.uk/living-history/richard-polelathing3.jpg
>
> It doesn't look like it to me, because it seems lighter than would be
> required.  (Maybe it's a table for setting out partially finished
> work?)  But still....  Or is there some other photo somewhere of the shave
> bench at West Stow that I could show him?
>
>
> Carolyn Priest-Dorman              Þóra Sharptooth
>   http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/thora.html
>
>
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