The branch stub enclosed by new growth reminded me of a story I was told a couple of decades ago by an old fella who'd worked at a lumber yard when he left school, in the second half of the 1940s. It was his first week on the job and he was still learning what was where rather than being trusted on how to do anything. They had a big band saw that was used to saw trunks and thick branches into boards, a steam-powered monstrosity with chains and cogs and leather belts driving the wheels that turned a 30-foot spring-steel saw blade so fast that it cut through three feet of Baltic pine like cheese. In the middle of a cut all hell broke loose: the saw band snapped and flailed off its wheels, throwing broken teeth into the side of the building and slashing through the main drive belt. The thick, heavy leather whipped out and brought down a wooden column supporting the colonnade roof, showering tiles everywhere. The steam engine ran into overdrive, no longer having any resistance to fight against, and started venting at high pressure. Everyone dived for cover. It was chaos. They were lucky no-one was hit by the saw or the drive belt, and nor was anyone hit by the pine splinters or badly hurt by the falling tiles. Once the steam engine had been shut down it was safe to go back in, and they tried to work out what had happened. Eventually someone found an odd rock amongst all the mess, a palm-sized disc of flint half-embedded in heartwood. The foreman reckoned that the saw blade had hit it, that the flint had sheared off the teeth and propagated a crack along a micro-fracture in the blade. It seemed that the most likely way that the flint had got there was if some kids at least fifty years ago had been throwing stones at a tree and the comparatively narrow and sharp piece of flint had got stuck in the bark. No doubt the kids would have been impressed!
@@RexKrueger Thanks, but if there's a prize it should go to the old fella. I only met him because my dad was buying a lathe off him, so I and his son had the joy of lugging a 150lb iron frame up the slope from the car on the road, all the way through the garden, and down to my dad's shed. After Dad died my brother moved the lathe to his workshop; I never asked how many people he roped in for that, but I hope it was a lot.
You nailed it. Do it with a like minded friend. Make it fun. Loved seeing you two (no offense intended here ) nerd out on woodworking. Can't wait to see the rest of the videos. Neat format. Good job having the guts to change things up. Hope viewership keeps up!
I split out a red oak log a year or so ago and I feel much better about myself after watchiong you 2 fellas. I bounced the wedges out more times than I can count.
I've always wondered why "they don't make them like they used to" - part of it seems to be that we simply have easier ways now, but it also seems very much like each individual component is going to be stronger when the logs are split like this, taking the entire fibers rather than cutting them to force a perfectly straight board. Really cool to see. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
I am an engineer. The reason the score works is because the introduction of a crack creates a stress concentration at that location. Thus, less force will cause the crack to grow in that location as opposed to a location further away. This allows the crack to propogate through the material.
Fun fact, a little scratch in any material of whatever’s thickness makes it weaker, than intact material with respectively less cross section in the first place.
Exactly how i have been told it. Also why you start to split from both ends and score the entire longside if you try to split straight boards from twisted logs like we did when i helped build a forest-sami hut from 3 metre pine logs
As an arborist it helps but it won't cut fibers if it did not grow straight wood is just a bundle of really small straws thats why you can split it, your just separating the fibers (straws)
my grandfather had me make a chair out of a log about45 years ago. Now all my nieces and nephews and kids are too old for it now, it is waiting on grandkids. It is a rocking chair with arms.
Rex, that was awesome! I was blessed with two Sycamore and two English Maple logs from a friend's garden a while back, and had to teach myself to do what you guys have just done. Got some of it right, some of it wrong, but ended up with some beautiful timber that I could never have afforded to buy (mostly quarter-sawn - after cleaving, I ran it over my tiny DIY surface planer to get one flat face, then in the tiny table saw to get a right angle etc, etc, etc... Have since been given two 6" x 6" red oak gate posts which a friend thought I might like and save him taking them to the tip ?!?! Learning to split/cleave wood opens up a whole new world of timber sourcing, and if you tell people about your trials and tribulations, you may get lucky with gifts of really good timber that most people would view as rubbish (trash on your side of the Great Pond). Keep it coming; you're a star who knows REAL stars - people who know genuinely useful stuff and are generous enough to share it for free. Life is sweet when we get it right, thanks!
It’s good seeing you make more videos like this. This video format feels more like a paid for class then a normal video. I am enjoying the deep dive and step by step process.
I love this kind of woodwork! so satisfying to make things out of a tree. We had a few big trees cut down recently near the house and kept the logs and diyed a tent for our wedding out of a parachute, me and a mate made a load of hefty stakes for the guy lines by splitting some metre long logs repeatedly and then shaping with axe/draw knife. Also used the same technique for making fence posts and whilst a bit time consuming it's super fast compared to using a rip saw. One thing I learned is exactly what you were saying about froes not being useful until the stock is relatively thin - I kept on breaking the handle and then when I made one from a strong handle actually bent the froe blade a couple of times until I learnt my lesson. Once you're down to a size you can work with them though they're a great tool. Unusual riving brake you had there, I think the advantage of the traditional ones where you insert the work piece parallel to the floor and have the jaws attached to some hefty posts knocked into the ground is you can use your body weight and gravity to get a lot of force on there, also a good tip for keeping your hands out of the split when using a riving brake is to just insert a piece of timber into the top of the split at 90 degrees and then push down using that - you can just use a wooden wedge or whatever is lying around
That’s what young apprentices are for! The older, more experienced woodworkers guiding the younger men through this kind of jobs! Great video! Thank you.
I started laughing as soon as i saw his safety shoes. Im wearing the same pair as i watch this. For some reason my wife doesn't find it quite as funny.
Best idea of all is working with a buddy and taking classes alongside your buddy. It's fun, gives you a workout, promotes self growth, and ( most importantly) allows you to exercise safe practices/ mitigate injuries.
"No part of me in the way" is great advice. Back in the 60's my eldest brother was splitting wood using an axe from a friend who was a lumberjack. The axe was extremely sharp and my brother glanced the axe off a knot and through the toe of his boot cutting off his great left toe.
Many woodworkers do not realize anymore that wood actually is a piece of a tree. When I saw and plane a piece of a log, every time again I am amazed by the transformation of tree into wood.
@@urhor Well maybe it was a bit exaggerated when it concerns woodwoorkers. What I wanted to express that as a woodworker one moment you you have a piece of a tree in your hands. And after resawing and planing it has become ... well ... wood. The same happens at a certain moment when you work the wood and suddenly it is not wood anymore but a piece of furniture. This two moments in a project amaze me every time again.
If you told me yesterday I was gonna spend half an hour watching two fellas split a log, I'd have laughed at you! :D Can't wait to see you two go at the billets and make a chair.
Earplugs when you do metal on metal so you don't get tinnitus. Just like blacksmithing. I've found an Engineer's hammer (small sledge) is as good as a sledge and better then the smaller hammer you have. Score the length with the hatchet too. I've split 8' red oak w/ a few hatchets & those wide firewood wedges. The hatchet handle makes it easy to pull out & move further down the log.
I live in the sameish part of ohio as you and I have been heavily contemplating making furniture with this method. That makes this a well timed and educational video .
Glad to see you working on the stuff I was working out two years back: now I get to find out where I went wrong. The fro cracking jig is something I never bothered with: you seem to have the same success with it as I had without it. But I'm enjoying you going through the process. Thanks Rex!
I tried this a few years back in my journey to turn fallen trees into lumber out in the forest. Eventually decided that the way the fibers pull across the split was leading to far too much waste as it would sometimes go in about an inch or so into the "good" wood. Now I just snap a line and freehand the cut with a chansaw. It saves so much wood!
I remember learning from my father when we were splitting a downed tree that when you get those connective fibers inside the split, you should use a small hatchet to sever those fibers to ease the split. They dont look like they are doing much, but they carry a lot of tension across the split. You could make your life A LOT easier if you had taken a minute to sever those fibers earlier.
Always fascinated to see old timey methods explained. If you ever see old lumber techniques it’s amazing to see human ingenuity. Necessity is the father of invention.
the froe I had was made from a broken main spring off the back of an F-150. I put a full sledgehammer handle into the eye. I used it to work open cracks in firewood that I split with a hydraulic, manual kinetic splitter or just split with an axe, maul and wedges.
Super excited. This notification came in earlier today while I was building some dog gates onsite for a customer and I hit watch later. Finally able to kick back and watch. I'm glad it's a long one! Thanks Rex and Rob
This is excellent content, the kind all homesteaders need to see. Thank you! Now I hope you see this to its logical conclusion and capture it on video!
This was great! I'd love to see more! A couple of years ago we had to fell a fir tree that had some sentimental value for the family. We planted it when we bought the house in 1989. It has now seasoned for nearly a full 2 years, and I plan to make the most of it. I need a workbench and while not ideal I will aim for that. I have axes and splitting wedges, draw knife and saving up for a broad axe to make flattening the boards easier before moving to hand planes. If the wood is not up to it (grain too twisted or wildly uneven) then it would be great to have backup project ideas! Also, never split large logs before so I may make a mess of things :) Backup ideas warranted :)
FWIW, I think they have referred to "Make a Chair From a Tree" in this series. In this video, there is a photo of the chair they're making and they call it a Jennie Chair because its the one made in the book.
It's a long time since I've done any green woodworking but by recollection when using the free you can steer the crack by the direction you lever it. By what I could tell you seemed to be working in both directions. I did have the advantage of taking a course. Even more shaky is my recollection of which direction you move the handle but I think you move the handle in the opposite direction to which way you want to steer the cracks (almost as if you were steering the blade as a blade cutting)
I am glad that you are getting back to this series after the detour that you took. Traditional methods to make traditional furniture is becoming a lost craft.
What I noticed, and probably no one else noticed, was that the original score line went at about 90 degrees to a crack line already in the log, so when you quartered it, the crack line was already there. this is common with most logs. Some times the crack on the other end of the log matches at least fairly close, and some times it is at 90 degrees to it, which means the grain can be spiraling. With the red handled sledge, which I think is an 8 iron, the first thing I do to all of mine is to cut at least 1/3 of the handle off. I have driven enough wood and steel stakes in my 30 years of doing concrete work to go to the moon and back. If you leave the handle long, it either gets your shins or your family jewels..... All of your other sledges have the shorter handles. Personally, I liked a 10 iron. It was big enough that none of the other guys on the crew would 'borrow' it..... I did have some London Plane rounds, about 40 inch diameter by 12 inch thick. I couldn't move them, and wouldn't take the chainsaw to them cause end grain chainsaw work is nasty. I could get the splitting wedges set, but one good hit to drive them in, and they would fly up into the air. I found out I needed to get them set, come back an hour or so later, and then drive them in some more, and repeat till the log split. Pain in the butt.... This looks like a fun project....
I fudged my way through a couple of chunks of eucalypt a couple of years ago. Made a heck of a mess of it too but I learned a couple of things about the nature of it and I loved the sounds and smells that came out of it. Now, about that comment about getting old... you're making me feel bad fella.
Those wooden wedges look very steep. We used about the same angle as the starting wedges when i split out boards from 3 metre pine logs. The low angle is were all the magic lies. You make it longer so they hold up to the beating.
Love the focus on raw/green woodworking (especially as someone ignorant enough to split an 8’ elm log) Is there a low angle wedge that you recommend? Might be a good add to Compass Rose
Rex the sound quality is excellent. I remember how you installed dampening panels in your workshop/studio. But here I don't see any. Still there is no reverb or hollowness in this recording. How did you do it?
If you want a decent wedge get a shaft and cut it into 12 to 18” lengths, heat them and flatten the ends so you have a long fine wedge. As it is splitting you can use them to cut through the wandering fibers without having split it so far as to make it too late. Use a two pound hammer. I just made some more wedges from 1 1/4 dia torsion bars.
After scoring my line I like to start my split at the corner with a boy's axe or hatchet. It's nice to be able to manipulate it with the handle and the splits definitely start easier at the corner. But you can tearout some wood that way if you aren't careful or the wood isn't cooperative.
Haven't split one both that long and thick; each dimension separately yes. I usually use my froe for the scoring; two whacks and I'm done. Saw PF do that once on TWWS. I also find that with some species (like cherry) splitting the bark really helps. Sometimes the split will disappear under the bark. I have a camping hatchet that I use for that; I think Roy Underhill suggested not using one's sharper/better tools for that in one of his books, due to the bark collecting grit.
I'd be interested in a follow-up to see what a decibel meter app (NIOSH Sound Level Meter App is good) reports as the max for those hammer on wedge blows. Probably spike above 100?
Before the winter I helped my brother in law split up a huge pile of logs from 2 foot diameter logs and have to say that it was extremely difficult and heavy, heavy work. I am really out of shape and was hurt a few times. He was using wedges with huge amounts of mushrooming and like a dope I wasn’t wearing safety glasses and I remember him hitting a wedge and a hot sliver of steel hit me right below my eye. I felt the heat of it. It could have easily blinded me. I was closing my eyes as he hit these things but I am sure it would have gone right through my eyelid. Moving the logs around was back breaking. The combination of the heavy work, the sharp edges, flying debris and tripping hazards are things that an out of shape guy like me would not recommend to anyone who has health issues or is uncoordinated. But, it’s a great workout. I probably lost 5 pounds in sweat. And a few ounces of blood.
It might be apocryphal, but fits the person. Apparently Peter Follansbee once was at a woodworking show, where a speed sawing and stock prep competition took place. He used a small axe to split and plane the stock...
Thank you for doing this, so that I don't have to! The JA design is so elegant in it's use of wood - but this work is so inelegant and these days I lack the strength!
Btw nice oak like that you usually can split the quarters into thirds if you want. At least we did it a lot at the cooperage i worked at (but we had a lot of oak and all were nice european oak)
Could you imagine if that log was full of ants and they scattered thru your house.😬 I split a lot of wood outside and get surprised sometimes. Great vid!
Whew, I'm exhausted! Just watching and I feel like my arms are gonna fall off. I recently tried to do something similar with a shorter walnut log and had to take two naps before I finished! Great video, I wish I'd seen it 4 months ago. I also noticed that you used an antique model 1860 marking pen. Did you have to go all the way up to Milwaukie to find one?
I wonder why did you score the log across the center? Wouldn't it be better to scrap the core from the start so you maximize the output of good wood wih less strain? Yes you got many radial splits, but having some tangatial splits would be a nice bonus.
This is my favorite way to get lumber, period! I think it’s faster and easier than my chainsaw mill, and requires almost no infrastructure, like bandsaw mills.
I’m dumb and would take the challenge either way but is it possible to use the wave grain branch inclusion for the chair back? The swing out at the seat.
Having growing up on a farm and having a wood burning furnace(I am 78), we split a lot of wood. Never have I seen to newbies act so foolish. Stand the log up, so you can get a full swing with the sledge hammer and you would have been done in a few minuets.
What about a maul ( wood head ) instead of a sledge , thats what I’ve used . Not keen on hardened metal on metal. Got to be a big maul, but you can make easy nice and heavy. O