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Medieval / Ancient Bowyer tools?

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Heiner:
Now, I found something s.h.-related. There's a 16th century book called "De Re Metallica" by german scientist Georgius Agricola. In it is a picture of what seems to be a simplified version of the "dumbhead" shaving horse construction. It looks quite like it, but without the option to work the piece in any position but plain horizontal. See attachment no. 1.
On another page I found pictures of a pretty old dumbhead-shaving horse. While that surely isn't of medieval times, it might help understand the dumbhead-construction better fopr those who are not familiar with it:







That leaves us with pictorial evidence for a very simpel shaving horse in the 16th. For earlier ages there seems to nothing kown, so unfortunately we still have to get along without a s.h. for most of the middle ages...

Heiner

P.S.: Links to the pages I found this on:
http://www.motherbedford.com/Cooper.htm
http://www.bloodandsawdust.com/sca/horses.html

DBernier:
There is reference in this link   http://www.bloodandsawdust.com/sca/horses.html

To shaving horses in publications such as De Re Metallica dating to 1556 and even earlier with sketches. Would not be a stretch to push it back a few hundred years, But without documentation?

Dick

Dane:
Good info and thougts, Heiner and Dick. I like the page on Viking woodworking tools especially, though that is familiar data already. My adze and bearded axe are repros of those finds, and really nice tools.

Ideally, I'd like to use only proper tools that are documented depending on what kind of bow I am working on. I'm making an 80 lb. longbow right now for a Viking reenactor, using Osage instead of yew (too pricy for me now), and it would have been more satisfying to use strictly 700 - 800 age tools.

Dane

markinengland:
Franco,
Surely picture four shows a draw knife being used?
From what I have read it seems the guilds of both bowyers and fletchers were highly organised and fairly standardised. Arrows seem to have been to a basic common length and performance. Bows also seem to have been failry standardised within basic limits. Standardisation is necessary if you are buying bows by the thousands, seperately to arrows by the million and strings by the barrel. Even if measurements vareid between countried and times, there were common measures in place and enforced. Sadly, very little was written down, apart from toxiphilen which is a pain to read!
Mark in England

mullet:
  I thought so myself Mark.But at the bottom of the picture it says harness burnisher.I gues for shining leather.

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