Hi Jim,
good thread there on the workhorse, you are no doubt from the old school, with the legs splayed out alittle for stability, and the overhang (slightly)--that is the proper way to construct horses.
My comments were directed mainly from timber horses that we copied from old picture drawings of about early 1800's researched at UCV a few years back. They (the legs)were not splayed out at all and their construction was quite easy to take note of. We reproduced them at that time using 3 by 3 inch squared pine, and I must say they were beautiful to use, quite solid, and the height seemed to be right on--about 22 inches. The horses also had a shelf built into them between the legs, about half way from the ground up to their tops, and what a wonderful place to lay your chisels and other tools that you were using. The legs were set slightly into the top chord with a shouder, and pegged with wooden hard wood dowling, which stood up very well. the legs also had a spanner mortised into them that the shelf laid on, and after the whole thing was assembled the shelf was held in real tight without any nails. I highly recommend them as a project for class construction-it will make the students scratch their heads alittle, and will marvel in their usefulness and sturdiness after they are done
NH
