🔴 Hewing timber using a Norwegian method. 

Upside down hewing is horribly hard work. Thanks for your great films and work. Long live hand-craft!

It could be that hewing will become the next trend in relaxing meditation for people who like being outdoors. Do you have a family member that knows hewing? all the best, Lucas.

Glad you enjoyed it sir, do you hew too?

Thank you Mr Kirkpatrick, for your recognition, I hope you find something useful for your work or pleasure. I find the wooden houses a very deep subject, such a fine balance of forces. Best wishes Lucas

Many thanks!

Thanks very much David. There are a couple very recent films covering the same subject, if you are a scholar of axe work, to be found on my channel page, all the best, Lucas

me too!

Thank you cabotbluegill, I like your films too and will sub. your channel, all the best, Lucas.

Thank You!

Du kan godt skrive til meg på Svensk hvis det er bedre, takk for komentaren, jeg kommer til å filme lafting etterhvert, Hilsen Lucas

Thank you for the reply, my wife is from Tromso, 20 yrs ago. I'm in Nova Scotia Province, at building site. Two months for learning English and my French "buddy " says "I'm good to go eh" We have 3 builds in the USA next month. Lafting , so much precision work to be good fit. I will keep " an eye out for you on here" learning English from a French guy eh! bye, hilsen Jed.

The one on top of the blue line.....

I'll give it a go, thanks. I have usually just put the axe in the stream for an hour. We have a seasonal humidity disparity here, it being particularly dry in winter. My Ash wood stash is under the barn so it holds whatever humidity is current. That's what I use to make new handles. There is a lot to learn in every small thing so I am forever a student.

Thanks

Well done Greg! This is a demonstration not a lesson. Don't try this at home! What you describe must be a lot safer, so stick to that.

Since none of those trees grow on my farm I seem to have escaped making a fool of myself trying to hew one of them. Thanks for commenting.

Lucas Richard Stephens sorry I mentioned it!

www.dahlmo.no Thanks for watching Ingmar, kind regards, Lucas

In North America I believe that two axes are used just as you suggest, even wielded by two different axemen. I am just doing it as I was taught, straight from the living 1000+ year tradition (which has developed at a slow pace). It took a long time to get good at it, and now that I can do it, I don't feel I need to experiment too much, when I need a hand-hewn log, I make one. It really doesn't come up all that often. Compared with the thousands of meters of milled and planed timber I have worked on for houses, the hand hewn timbers are few and far between. Thanks for watching, all the best, Lucas.

@@LucasRichardStephens thanks for the comprehensive answer! When I think about it I guess I am talking from a standpoint in quite a different tradition - being from Denmark we have very different building costums that of Norway, and is heavily influenced by Germany - I mean we used to rely on clay, mortar along with timber framing. I can see that in a country like Norway with mountains all over you cannot bring along a whole arsenal of specialized tools but will have to put a few general tools to the best of their use in this context

Did you want to watch me striping the bark twice? If the ground weren't so sloped I might have just moved the dogs to the other side. Lucky it was a small bit of timber.

Lucas Richard Stephens Can't see what you're doing on the other side away from the camera

The axe ("Laftebile" in Norwegian) was made by Jon Dahlmo. Is was an inexpensive axe to buy as the hard steel is stick-welded rather than forge welded the handle is not original, it being made by me. The handle has to be straight because it's primary function is "lafting" or cogging/notching the corners of log houses.

Thanks for the comment, I will add some of what I have been taught about Timber for Lafting, so as to help viewers understand better the pros and cons of what you wrote. The Blue discolouring "Blåved", is caused by a little beetle: an injected fungus meant to feed hatched beetle larvae. It is principally Pine that suffers this fate less so Spruce (as used in this film). The date for infection varies by latitude and altitude so local knowledge is important, here for example we should cut pine before summer solctice. You will be relieved to hear that Blåved does not damage the timber to any significant degree and the colouration, which is unsightly in new timber houses, bleaches in daylight (falmer in Norwegian) becoming undetectable after a period of time. So all in all Blåved is a minor problem and in the case of this film of no concern at all. The other aspect of your "rule of thumb" is that of the importance of low moisture content in timber for building, which is the main reason for winter felling. Frozen timber though, is NOT in the least desirable for hand debarking or hewing for that matter, especially not Pine. Spruce, as used in this film, should also be felled before the sap rises in spring for the lowest water content, but unlike Pine it can also be ring-barked, killing the tree and drying while standing which is speeded up by the branches. resulting in the wonderful combination for hand workers: "dry and fresh". Since air drying takes a very long time after felling the wood hardening all the while, it is less desirable. Mechanical drying is sadly inefficient. Much of the old knowledge regarding the preparation of timber for laftehus is sadly supplanted by the conventions for growing and harvesting timber for the saw mill and paper production. There are nevertheless many people here in Norway researching the ancient advanced methods for growing and harvesting timber for Laftehus, mostly working for the State or Museum milieu but also some house builders and restorers. I can recommend the writings of Jon Godal for very in-depth study of timber for house and boat building, not sure his work is in any other language than Norwegian but it is possible. He also lectures on the subject, well worth a look.

"low moisture content .... is the main reason for winter felling". Well, I've been logging timber all over Østlandet, particularly close to the Swedish border (Finnskogen) and I thought the main reason for winter felling is the advantage (or rather necessity) of frozen/snow covered ground or lakes to get the timber out. Especially in historic times when horses were used. Have you ever tried to haul timber on wet and soft marsh land in the summer? A modern 8-wheeled forwarder with boogies can do it, but that is hardly the reason why timber has traditionally been cut during winter season in Scandinavia. Besides that, "blåved" is sadly a defect that sends the logs directly to the P&P pile. I use it daily in my woodworking work and though its "not nice" to look at, structurally it's no difference. Finally, great videos and great topics. Def subscribed. (but what will you do now with those relic FM-headphones?? listen to the birds?)

What you say is true of course, about practicality of ice, but rest assured, if there was a building-technical reason to fell with the sap in, it would have been done. Just as in the past trees were grown under shade, despite the increase in growing time that results. Historically the quality of the timber was paramount, now quantity is the aim. It has been this way for nearly a hundred years already. Which is why ideal timber for lafting is increasingly difficult to obtain. There are other practical reasons for winter felling such as there being less to do on the farm in winter generally. I could plug in my telephone, the headphone have a aux in. I am quite fond of them, I have had the one pair for donkeys years.

I heard recently that the tree contains more sugar in the summer, making summer felled timber more susceptible to insect damage; yet another good reason for winter felling. There are surly more too, Jon Borge Godal is the man to ask... You can bark and hew frozen wood too, and woodsmen did in the past, but it takes a lot more effort so I avoid it.

Jostein Senumstad That's so the new growth doesn't start.

www.dahlmo.no/bandkniv.html

Hi BoS, this is particular as it has a curve in the x and y axis I call it a "skavkniv" and it is a type of "båndkniv", it is favoured for timber-house building as it is good for shaping the timber as well as for removing bark, regards Lucas.

Thanks for so quickly answering my question! I have been gathering woodcrafting tools for a while; I am definitely going to save for this in time! D'er mange ǿksarhogg, som eiki skal fella! (Hopefully that made sense, I don't speak Norwegian.)

"There are many axe chops that don't [or shouldn't] fell." It is not modern Norwegian but I think this is the meaning. I was wrong, "eiki" is oak (eik) not as I thought "ikke" which means not or shouldn't. So the translation would be then, "many chops will fell an oak".

@@howtoguro D’er mange ǿksarhogg, som eiki skal fella = Little strokes fell great oaks. It's not neceserly about chopping down a tree it's more about a difficult task, e. g removing a person/group from a strong position, or changing established ideas cannot be done quickly. But it can be achieved gradually, by small steps, a little at a time. Hope this makes it clearer

Maybe so, check out Mr. Chickadees channel, he has tried several methods.

I have one you could buy

Axes slip after hours and hours of use and the change of the seasons, thats my experience after 26 years using them at work. Good advice though your comment is, the interior anatomy of this axe is excellent. Welcome to the channel and the 140+ films I have made about the work I do.

www.dahlmo.no but I don't think importing hand made axes from Norway to USA is economical, we have the worlds most expensive labour.Get a local smith to make you one.  REPLY

@@LucasRichardStephens you make a logical response, that said, some of us , who want to demonstrably show our support, want to spend our money in support of trades that deserve preservation., also I, truly feel the old ways will sustain us.

Think Global act Local. The smiths want commissions everywhere. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yEpng3UPjF0.html here are some new tools made in Norway by a different smith.

Hi Peter, it is made by a company called Dale (pronounced da luh) I have a couple of them, they may be from the late 1980's. They still make things very similar but maybe in more trendy colours.

Here in Norway they used a "småøks" which is a hatchet with a long narrow head. Like the one in this film; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ngt_nrZOUg4.html

I made a blunder, I thought you were commenting on a different film I posted. The correct answer is not the småøks. Before the chainsaw this work was done with two different axes one more normal axe for the juggling and the broad axe to do the hewing. You can use the broad axe for both but it is a bit broad so it doesn't penetrate so well across the grain. A case in point is that I broke the handle of this axe just recently chopping a tree (across the grain) after I got my chainsaw trapped/pinched, simply because the broad edge jarred so hard on the timber.

should I have used moss and load-stone?

Jeg gjør det ja, liten verden hva?

@@LucasRichardStephens Nei den er ikke stor.

or mAd

this is the film description; "Real time video, following Lucas Stephens hewing of a piece of timber, ready to use in the restoration of a building locally near Jevnaker, Norway. I have had to make timber by hand like this a few times, it is not that much slower than using a chainsaw mill, since there is less to set up. The chain saw is just used to make clear guiding lines and instead of juggling, which helps with the speed of the work with the axe."

thanks for watching!

no it is spruce

It is Norwegian spruce; slow grown at 400 meters over sea level.

I think it is safe to say they are, yes, generally. The axe I use here is called a Laftebile and it's primary function is cutting corner-cogs on timber houses, the hewing is secondary. Though I am no expert on the variations to be found here.

This kind of short handle is particular to the Telemark region, it is very ergonomically formed with a hook-like end. With longer axe handles the timber should be lower to the ground when hewing. I have used this axe for over 20 years so it is on it's 3rd or fourth handle, I seldom use it as a crowbar these days....Mostly I use this axe for notching the corners (lafting) it is ideal for timber up to 9inches any larger and a longer blade would be needed. I may make a video of lafting sometime. We usually have timber delivered with the sides milled so the hand hewing is only generally for small scale repairs. Even a fairly small house take about 1000 meters of timber (log) so it would be excessively expensive, and strenuous to hand hew, but perfectly possible, I do like this finish of a well hewed log better than the planed surface we deliver in the modern market.

Hi Vita, most timber houses in Norway, 100 years and older, are built with one or other variant of a saddle notch. We don't use chinking. My other videos show more details about restoring the old houses. New timber houses don't use dovetail cogging. Dovetail cogging was sometimes used for 40-60 years from about 1880, in my area mostly for stables and cowsheds "Fjøs".

I think it is because line-scribing the logs is tricky and not all the settlers were so skilled, or had the exact knowledge needed to create an air tight timber house. It took me 1000 hours to learn the basics from a master and and few years of experience before I could build a timber house efficiently. Add to that the uncertainty of using different timber types than spruce or pine which is normal in Scandinavia. If folks arrived in an area late in the year they may have had to get something built quickly and cut a few corners.

vitavinivideo Yes there are many regional variations. Our oldest houses using this technique are 700 years old and in good condition. They don't need to be treated, I usually recommend my customers not to paint or tar them. Homes are more carefully made so as to be airtight. Stables don't need to be and are so humid inside its good to have some drafts.

Never heard of no chinking. I'll have to check out your video on that.

Hi samzeppelin øxa heter laftebile på Norsk, Jon Dahlmo lagde øxa mi.. han er ennå i arbeid tror jeg og hvis jeg huske rett har han vebside, hilsen Lucas

tack! ska kolla upp

www.dahlmo.no/bandkniv.html

Interesting to see someone actually using the norwegian Laftebila. I thougt it was mainly used for hewing the ends before cutting a knot. (I dont know how to translate "halsa innan man slår upp knuten".) Is this one "saxslipad" or are you using the common balanced grinding?

Okej, läste de andra kommentarerna och ser att du redan svarat på min fråga. Förstår att jag kan skriva på skandinaviska också - kul att se hur du jobbar i alla fall!

During the thousand year tradition for building wooden timber houses in Norway there have been many different tools developed and introduced. Amazingly the axe is still an important tool for doing the work and has been all along. I wonder if the chainsaw will still be with us in a thousand years, or even the axe? maybe we will use water jets or laser beams to cut future log houses.

@@LucasRichardStephens , now thats a class act answer, YES, the revolution of tools was made possible by folks who got tired of ''the old way'', thank goodness for chainsaws, steak knives, tractors, jet airplanes and the internet, i would have never seen the other side of the world, and never met you either, Thanks for your time here.

@@benscoles5085 Thanks for watching Ben!

I might make some for fun, I like the ones that have a threaded section for adjustment, which is very useful when building new log houses. But consider the flexibility of the plank and nail, when this job is done they can be re-purposed, while dogs are dogs. Quick and simple is sometimes the order of the day. Thanks for watching!

Mr. Chickadee makes lovely films, I've seen several, you can read his comments about this film further down in the comments list.

Norwegian method is absolutely fine, I know several guys that uses this method here in Denmark. To me it looks like this method is "better" chopping position, but if you can do sideways better, I guess you should do it!

Nice to hear!

Looks dangerous doesn't it. I have cut myself on this axe many times, but usually just bumping into it when it is not in use, I did that just this week. I didn't make up this technique, it was taught to me, it is old, maybe even a thousand years or more. The point is that this way eliminates the danger, and if you watch other hewing films of people taught in a tradition, the same will apply. Dangerous ways don't become traditions in hand-work. At 32:16 notice the drop in the level of the handle for the heavy blows, the force is pointing further away from the body so when the knot is cut through the power is not pointing at my leg but the ground. Having a short handle the arc of the follow through swing brings the axe back round quickly, the force being spent though, the control is not lost. It is the most dangerous aspect of this technique and one should not let concentration slip. It is the whole reason for the timber being at this height , any lower and the danger of injury is much higher (with this axe).

Great video for showing technique, I wonder how many of the commenters have ever tried themselves? Good point, that it's what works and doesn't kill anyone, that becomes method! Incidentally I hewed one side of a log, not even half that length and was exhausted, I'm hoping my method improves with my fitness....

The bark is removed from the top and bottom. The flat faces are just on the sides.

It holds the chalk line longer

It sounds like you have confused the term Norwegian with the term Viking? Certainly the roots of this tradition are straight out of the "viking" culture but there has been a steady development of tools since that time and although you don't need any more tools than they would have used even today, I work in a contemporary building/construction job, not some historical re-enactment.

@@LucasRichardStephens I'm pretty sure that was meant more as a joke

@@aumann0452 I think you are right

Maybe You missed that bit

@@LucasRichardStephens I know I'm very late for the comment, but he has a point. If the whole point is to show the traditional hewing, mmmmmmmmaaaaaaybe it would have been a good idea to also do the starting cuts with traditional tools for THIS particular timber; I'm fully aware of the time that it would have taken, but you could have just timelapsed it - or even started them with the traditional tools, then put a "now that we've shown how it was done, lets speed things up" screen card and finished the work with the chainsaw off-camera (I've personally used that latter approach on live demostrations of medieval armouring, punching a few holes manually before moving to the power tools for the remaining 9001 holes of the work). I know you mention "this would be done with chisels", but WATCHING how they would have done it with chisels would have been mighty interesting.

@@notfeedynotlazy There is a lot of info in the comments. My films are not "how to" films, just films for entertainment. In this film, no attempt was made to create a filmic narrative, I just put the camera down and it captures my process of quickly making a piece of timber for a wall repair, that I carried out the same day. No time was wasted, every action counted directly towards the finished result. I could not have done the work faster by any other means. The final wall repair matched the hand made hundred year old wall perfectly.

@@LucasRichardStephens That explains then why you couldn't waste time doing work with the chlsel 🙂

Oh? The reason I filmed myself working, was that I felt that this short handled axe method was not well documented elsewhere on youtube. You being Sweedish are likley farmiliar with short handle axes but they are not so common outside of Scandinavia.

@@LucasRichardStephens we here in Czech Republic and Austria have them even shorter - 40 cm and less

@@Lukas-eq1ol Post A film on using them and the knowledge will spread

@@LucasRichardStephens I saw Mr. Chickadee using them as well. I have got just photos of me hewing. But video seems like good idea. Thank you. Also your video is really nice, I like that there is shown full process of hewing. And I love that Norwegian style hewing axe, I want to forge it one day but I haven't got time unfortunately.

@@Lukas-eq1ol check out the axe junkies facebook page

The axe handle on this axe is dictated by it's versatile function, it is not a hewing axe per se but a laftebile, and is a tool for building log houses. Hewing is one of the functions it performs well, once mastered. Hewing axes are, however, very often short-handled as well, in this tradition, the height and dimension of the work piece dictating exactly which length the handle should have. Long handled axes are used in Japan for hewing, I have also seen a Frenchman hew like them; standing atop the work-piece. This system like those, is ancient, I didn't invent it and I wouldn't change anything. I have made several handles for this axe over the 25 years I have had it, and it has never occurred to me it needed lengthaning.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-u9dBHGz2mMU.html

Lucas Richard Stephens thanks for vid

They are all just tools, the purpose is to make timber for restoring a rotten wall, I am not pretending to be in the olden days or something. The axe does a good fast job without fuss, the saw cuts quickly and easily a guideline for the axe, which can then be used faster and with greater accuracy and give a finnish in keeping with the wall it is destined to fit with. Also the chainsaw cuts across the fibers, facilitating fast hewing. If I had been a museum worker recreating an historical technique then I would have worked with just an axe. If I had more than 10 or 15 meters to cut I would likely use a chainsaw mill and a power plane. No purpose has been defeated. This is a professional situation not a hobby or an act.

That makes sense. Great answer Lucas. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Personally, I like to avoid power tools because of the noise and dust, but if practicality is the primary consideration then it makes sense to use what is best for the situation.

I think razor sharp is good enough for this piece of wood.

Yes, razor sharp is OK. But it looks like an old kitchen-knife. :-)

What may not be clear for someone who has not done this themselves is just how lightly the axe is being used, the aim is to make a flat surface so some cuts are attempting to remove just a couple of millimetres with a very light stroke, the speed of cuts on the other hand stays the same. Maybe that is why it can appear the axe is not sharp? When I hit a knot I have to hit much harder, and this is knotty timber.

Now I looked the video for the third time and it looks indeed like you explained. But it´s different to japanese hewing videos. May be thats the reason why I thought, your tools need to be sharpend. Please excuse my mistake.

you're mistaken

Yea its called free health insurance DUH...

Not free in Norway, we pay a lot of tax.

Our bears are quite small and live a long way from where I live. More chance of being struck by lightning.

@Fon Hollohan ;)

ok

I tried a new axe. Not better just different, move your focus away from the tool and onto your skill level.

don't try this at home

ha ha, I love the blend of new school and old school. Thanks for the post. My Amish grandfather built timber frame barns (in Indiana) with no blueprints, just all in his head, and he also didn't have any 'blade safety'.

I think this looks perfectly safe, since he is aiming for the ground in front of him. Not the end of the timber behind hes knee...

Niklas Sarri I noticed all his "power" chops, the handle stays parallel to the ground, or even handle slightly down, which would direct glances outwards, not arc back towards the leg. Lighter chops (some that do turn the blade edge towards him) are short and controlled with minimal follow through or overtravel, so not a particularly hazardous technique as far as axe work can be called un hazardous.