Object number
51/307
Collection
Description
Shaving horse, used by woodworkers as a vice. Used in the Middleton & Son's wheelwrights shop in Eddington, Hungerford, in the 1880s.
The shaving horse is a low wooden bench used by woodworkers as a vice for gripping wood to be shaved. The worker sits astride the bench, with the wood he is using lying in front of him, gripped at the far end by the clamp block. This block is set on a pivot joined to a footrest, so that by moving his feet he can hold or release the piece of wood being shaved. A quick grip and release are essential for shaving a round object. This shaving horse was used in the Middleton & Son's wheelwrights shop in Eddington, Hungerford, in the 1880s.
Physical description
1 shaving horse: wood; iron
Archival history
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'The shaving horse is a low wooden bench used by woodworkers as vice for gripping wood to be shaved. // The worker sits astride the bench, with the wood he is using lying in front of him, gripped at the far end by the clamp block. This block is set on a pivot jointed to a footrest, so that by moving his feet he can hold or release the piece of wood shaved. A quick grip and release are essential for shaving a round object. // This horse was in use in Middletons’ Wheelwrights’ shop at Hungerford when Mr. R. Middleton, who is now about 80 years old, was a boy.’
Production date
1825-01-01 - 1874-12-31
Production period
Mid-nineteenth century
Object name
Material
Associated subject
