Make A Pole Lathe & Shaving Horse

Over the five days you will make a pole lathe and a shaving horse, designed to be dismantled and taken with you at the end of the course. Time permitting, there may be the opportunity to use your new equipment to make some additional items as well, and to hone your turning skills. The lathes and horses that you will make are similar in principle to the ones shown on this page except that, in order to make the course of more craft value, we will be starting with suitably sized logs instead of pre- machined timber. This way we get more of a chance to practice green woodworking techniques during the course and end up with a more traditional end result.

The lathes that you make will use a bungee cord for the return mechanism as we find that this is the most popular solution: it makes the lathe more portable and more easily stored or used in a confined space. However we will also show you how to assemble a traditional sapling pole return mechanism too. The shaving horses have removable legs for the same reasons - portability and ease of storage.

The Master-Class offers an opportunity to get a more in-depth understanding of green woodworking than our shorter courses and spending five days in the woods is an even more relaxing escape than the short courses.

Tools are also supplied for your use during the course within this price.

The days run from 9.00 (tea and coffee) for a 9.30 start and finish at approximately 5.00pm. As well as stopping for lunch, we break for tea, coffee, biscuits and cake during the morning and afternoon. We promise not to work you too hard! It's a really good, simultaneously relaxing and productive time.

We aim to down tools at approximately 5.00 p.m. on all days. If you are arranging to be collected then any time after 5.15 is good. However, at the end of day five we like to sit down for a glass of something ... so rather than miss out, it's best to plan for 5.30 onwards on the last day. Of course, whoever is collecting you is welcome to come down to the woods, any time after 5.00.

Full directions are supplied on booking.