Dragging out the shaving horse
Don't be scared by the name "garden hurdle." There's no jumping required.I love it when I get a chance to use my shaving horse. It is not often there’s a project needing it. There is just something very satisfying about its use. How fun it is to create that pile of shavings.
My daughter is a very active gardener/teacher and occasionally requests woodworking support. “Garden hurdles” is a common request. Years ago, my first batch of hurdles used Scotch Broom (an invasive plant) that I extracted from the nearby Berkeley hills. This time, I’m using Eucalyptus from a very large tree that recently fell in my neighborhood. I had no experience with this material, but my research confirmed that this species is good for outdoor furniture.
You may be wondering what garden hurdles are and how they are used. Here is a picture of a small hurdle. Often they are used to line a walkway and manage the greenery encroachment.
Here is a photo of my hurdles installed along the garden walkway.
I’ve settled on a construction based on an English garden gate as shown below. I especially like those diagonal braces as they provide much structural support.
Thus, here is my SketchUp model of three different sizes.
Here’s my setup outside the shop.
Here is the final production, all in freshly cut eucalyptus.
Tim
Comments
Long ago I spend a happy week in a Cumbria coppice wood (in NW England) learning how to make various items from ash, oak, lime and other native trees. One such item was the hurdle. Here's some pics attached.
The usual style was that shown in this article but there were other styles ... and various sizes. The main use was by fell-farm shepherds who would use the hurdles to create temporary pens when dosing, marking or separating sheep in the fields and up the fells. They were also used by gardeners and others to delineate ways and paths.
There are many British wooden gate styles, some made via coppice work and others from dried timber. See next post.
Years later, I was at the annual local summer "show" at Gorsgoch, West Wales when I spotted some auld lads from Talgarreg, not far away, showing various things they made in the old fashioned way.
The things were numerous, with hand-made ropes being the most fascinating. But they also had a board showing gate styles in miniature. All sorts! See pics.
Lataxe
Lataxe, thank you for that information.....
Tim
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