Harvesting Material for Hardwood Wedges 

Wow..... I heard that axe ring a few times like it was hitting steel. We always called it ironwood. I did not know it was a beach. Thanks for all of these fabulous videos Dave.

Yup, we call it Ironwood here in S.E. Texas, will definitely test you. Dull a sharp chain after about a dozen 5 inch trees. But, we were using them for lashing projects with the BSA, You can build some really extraordinary projects with them, like using Iron pipe. And, they tend to have a pretty flat side on them which is great for lashing.

great tip on the blue beech and a side note, it was cool to see ya just being dave and rufus.. thanks my friend. ..bill

We always called it Hornbeam, or Hophornbeam here in KY, and that's one tough as heck stick! Blue Beech or American Hornbeam, is actually in the Birch family. It's name came from it's fruit's resemblance to hops (beer) and Hornbeam which recons back to a tree in Europe that was used to make yokes for cattle. Hence; "horn" for horned cattle and "beam" for the yoke itself. Hornbeam is what we always looked for when we wanted a good walking stick or livestock cane. Additionally, the little nut-things are completely edible. Just pull them down, and rub off the "hop leaves" between your hands. No real taste good or bad, you can eat them as-is, toast, or grind them to flour like acorns. +It's not free used motor oil, but you may want to get a bottle of Pentacryl wood stabilizer to test out. I got some because I needed something to keep my hand hewn bowl blanks from splitting in between carving sessions. Sometimes its weeks or months in between when I can work on a piece. I completely went into the purchase thinking it was just marketing ju-ju, and I was wasting my money. Lo and behold, the stuff is awesome. After a carving session, I re-coat the piece, wrap it in a trash bag and put it away. When I come back to work it is always perfect and ready to tool. On finished items I don't have any splitting issues either, even after years on the display shelf.

Rufus seems like a great trail dog. My boy Bocephus (aka: BoBo) was a great dog, beagle/spaniel mix, but I couldn't take him afield. Once his nose engaged, his brain disengaged and nothing could call him back. But, my boy was the best companion I could've hoped for and I miss him, still. May God grant you and Rufus many miles on the trail together! :) -tom

That wood is serious stuff. I bet that would make some nice handles for tools. Great series Dave. Can't wait for more. Ronnie,Texas.

My Ironwood, in the UP, has a bark that almost resembles cedar but has the same properties it sounds like in that it will sink and is really crazy hard. When I was a kid my mom loaded up the wood stove with a bunch of it in arm sized pieces that were in the wood shed and didn't know it wasn't maple until the sides of the stove turned orange and once it cooled warped and still has a crack. Another great video Dave.

Very informative and valuable tutorial thankyou. Being an Aussie we have some very hard hard woods which I use frequently like yellow box, Grey box and Red Gum. Spotted gum mat be used as handles but hickory wattle or Lightwood has been used effectively for handles over here. There is a tree over here called axehandle tree but that is more in New South Wales and Queensland. I appreciate your thorough good advice for green woodworkers.

Thank you for these videos and your time in making them. The quality and information is exceptional, as is your endeavour to preserve these skills that we should all have at least some understanding of.

Dave, this tree is the Eastern Hophornbeam (Ostrya Virginiana), .Making wedges out of this wood is a great use of this resource. I made a handle for my bushaxe out of this wood about 8 years ago and its still going strong.I also read that the Native Americans used the inner and outer bark to treat toothache, sore muscles, and headache. I'm going to find out more about that. Great Video, love that Rokon, saving up now to buy a brand new one.

we would use Ironwood to make stakes for the bunk of the shortwood skidder. They wore like steel! Madrone is about the closest thing we have out here to come even a little close to the density of blue beach, with the exception of maybe black locust, which is still not as dense as Ironwood. Great video Dave! Way to show the use of the vehicle and other elements of your "kit" in making these tools! Thanks!!

Ok my husband just showed me the first show in this series last night. And I'm totally addicted! I absolutely love this. And shared with an Appalachian page with over 30 thousand people. Hopefully you get some new views. Thanks for all you do.

Dave, I'm a big fan of mountain house foods. I camp hike here in Colorado and never leave home without at least one. If you cook it in the mylar bag it came in it's ready in less that 10 minutes, and your pot doesn't need cleaning. The rice and chicken is the only one I don't care for. What'd you think?

Thanks for all the videos. And that Rokon looks like a lot of fun. Have you ever made a pulley before? I know you've done videos on other forms of mechanical advantage. A pulley would require wood working and your forge. Seems like if could be cool to try and and old construction techniques are pretty cool. Oh yea, we have both beeches in PA as well. Awesome trees. -Krik

old river bottom fences usually had iron wood fence posts.

Another excellent video and Rufus looks like a great partner even if he won't eat rice.

Fantastic series!!!

you are just cranking out the video's like its no body's business! Wish I had the time to crank this many out on my channel! Love the videos brother. Cheers!

the hardest woods in the northeast are the hornbeams, which the "blue beech" is actually american hornbeam, it's also called ironwood, which most hornbeams are also named due to their extremely dense, hard wood.

Rufus looks like he really wants you to save some for him!!!! Nice dog!!

Good video Dave, I like to use the mountain house meals when I go hiking, I shared with my dog on 3 or 4 occasions over a period of about 6 weeks, then my dog got ulcers. The vet said it was most likely from eating human food. The MH was the only human food I gave my dog. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I look fwd to more of your videos .

Used Dewalt lithium battery sawzall and brought my hardwood back to the shop to use a wedge and table saw to make my wedges. Not very Mors Kochanski but now I have my wedges in various sizes. Whoo hoo.

I like the square edge you made with your ax , neat

they use wedges in the granite quarry trade to halve off multi ton slabs its amazing to watch little cracks turn into huge slabs . my pb terrier likes his food to cool off too ! rufus reminded me of that !

God Bless ruefuss. Seems like such a sweet puppy.

also named hornbeam. another very hard wood is hophornbeam. ( has flowers that looks like hops) grows to a larger size than hornbeam. good videos.

Thanks for the video. I really enjoyed the fact that it showed you having some fun.

Thanks Dave, for addressing harvest impact. At this time of year, the bark should be slipping easily. What a person could do is take a scion ( the current seasonal growth at the tip of a branch) from one of the limbs being trimmed off and make a T- Shield or Chip Bud graft onto the remaining stump, with a bud harvested from the scion. Or you can harvest a scion from another tree of same species in January, wrap and store it in the fridge crisper until spring and do an Inlay, Rind or Cleft graft in March, on the same stump. That way if new shoots do not arise from the stump, there will be something to continue growth.

A shaving horse would be a good project for making dimensional lumber with the drawknife.

I had no idea that was a type of beech. We always called it ironwood in WV. I always thought it would make a good bow but I never tried.

I love the videos that have you and the dog just hanging out lol :) the simply things in life, a man and his dog :) but these are really great videos for the likes of me who re fairly new to wood craft

This is a very interesting series. Thanks for your work.

Wow, that wood is not for the easily frustrated. I would have glanced off with the axe one time too many and would have tossed that piece as far as I could. The axe would probably follow shortly after and possibly a garden chair as well. ..which would definitely surprise me because I don't own garden chairs.

ha... that axe rings like its hitting a stone with every hit

in New England at least, American Hornbeam is most commonly known as Ironwood, which avoids the misconception that it is a type of beech. Two very different woods both with useful properties

Name was changed. Watched again. Good work (Again) Dave, Highfive!

quality work as usual

Nice bike, too expensive for my blood. Thinking of a Tote Goat but can't seem to find one. Liked the video.

What breed is Rufus? Seems smart and sweet. Looks like a healthy breed.

latex paint will help wood to slow drying process to Dave paint any end grain and you can slow the drying process down to

Old Rufus was just pumped to eat some of that food

I was just wondering, what is the scientific name for this tree? We've got a couple here (the Netherlands) that look a bit like this one, called Carpinus betulus and Ostrya carpinifolia. Both very hard. Especially the Carpinus has a very muscular appearance. We don't really utilize the wood, other than for firewood. Very informative, thanks!

you should get/make a trailer for your rokon, that way you could have taken the whole length of straight wood out if you wanted to without having to drag it.

you mension using any oil when soaking your projects. understandably you use your readily available motor oil at your forge. wilderness living provides me with birch oil refined from birchbark. would that work just as well?

IM SO PUMPED FOR THIS SERIES!!! :)

Hi Dave, was wondering where you got your pot? been looking for one made from stainless that size and have yet to find one. They are either a lot bigger or to small.

Outstanding

Would a single bevel hewing type hatchet work for these carving tasks as well?

Dave, I've got a woodworking project: Wooden Dog Dishes! I mean, they're the same as regular dishes, but you get the idea.

Do you chamfer the tops so the wedge itself doesn't split if you hit the edge?

Would you consider this wood harder than Osage orange, or black locust? I've never worked with it before.

I always heard those either called iron wood and water beech

Would that Blue beech be better handle material than hickory?

is it just me or did you record with a different camera ????

Would Fire harden it any further?

what a nice video and he is such a nice dog. Is he part pit bull? It's too bad our football team here in PA thinks it's ok to hire a dog killer 😞

Y'know, if Rufus, wouldn't eat that stuff, I don't know if I would.

Good stuff, thanks Dave. I made a couple of wedges from hickory and as I got to the final taper on one, a streak of heart wood appeared in the core. I saw that one of yours had heartwood at the core as well. Does it affect the ability of the wedge to hold up?

Why are some trees hardwood or softwood? What are the benefits for a tree to be one or the other?

Dave where dose the beach trees specie's gets its name from?

more with rufus !

hey dave how good would that beech wood be for making a bow stave???

would that be a good wood for a long bow?

With ever hit it sounds like your hitting it agains a ball peen hammer. Need to find some of this wood and try er out. Favorite series by the way.

nice

What breed is Rufus?

Yep Rufus agrees Mountain house is not food.

Sounds like ironwood

my Grandpa used to soak the boards of his maildove coup in motor oil and petroleum to to make it weatherproof only from the outside he but the boards in a tin bucket and bruhshed it from the outside till it wouldnt soak anymore =)

Nice dave:)

Iron wood indeed!

Rufus seems dubious toward mountain house.

Hi

Always trust a man who'll eat from the same bowl with his dog.

really struggling to learn American. Always thought this was called Hornbeam.

trust me Dave, mountain house is just overpriced rice-a-roni ,by the way, what breed is rufus, looks like a lab mix

Dave why didn't u just use a small chainsaw

Stop spitting so much, it doesn't look very personal on camera. Sorry bro just had to say it.