Horses

It's been too cold to do much bowmaking, I work in my garage which isn't heated, although some of the heating pipes run through it and the boiler is the other side of a brick wall, so it doesn't actually freeze.
Anyhow, I'm going to be making a few longbows now my Yew (from last February) is nearly seasoned. Working on long staves is really awkward, so I've started to make a shave horse.
That's a bench you sit on with a foot operated clamp to hold the work piece, the sort of thing the old beech bodgers would set up in the woods along with a pole lathe when working green wood.
It's coming along nicely so I'll post some pics later.
I looked at various pictures and article on the internet before starting on the project, I even drew it up on the computer, but of course once you start it all loos different and the plans change...afterall, you don't really need legs made of 4x2 do you?!
I've been tinkering with one Yew stave which is a bit of a challenge, it has some twists and turns and it had a couple of small splits, but as I'm slowly working it down it's looking very promising. It's giving me a feel for that batch of wood which seem very nice. I can hardly wait to get it on the horse and press on with it, that's assuming the freeze eases off.