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 Post subject: Splitting a Ten Foot Log
PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 10:25 am 
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How do I split a ten foot 8" diameter White Ash log with hand tools?

I want to make a pair of snowshoes from scratch. I need to come up with four 1" x 1"x 10' strips.

thanks

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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 10:31 am 
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Ask Scouter Joe ... he's the expert in working with logs.

My understanding (I stand to be corrected by Joe) was that they used to split logs using wedges, then reduced those pieces to smaller sizes with axes and froes.

See this page (scroll down a couple of articles) for a description of using a froe:
http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/mys ... ol03.shtml


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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 2:30 pm 
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The way I'd try it is to square off the log first with an axe to make a rough board, then try splitting off strips from that., using wedges and a froe. I've made rough boards this way with pine, just to try it, and it's soft enough to shape easily, but ash would probably be a lot harder and take a lot more time. Notches are first cut into one side and the excess wood chipped off to create a flat surface which becomes the first flat side. Then another flat surface is notched out and shaped 90 degrees to the first and so on.

This is the way I believe it was done with white pine to create the squared lumber that was floated down on log drives in Ontario, but maybe there's an easier way for something as hard as ash. There's also likely to be some waste as knots, grain twists, and other things might create problems. Weren't thin saplings used to make snowshoes rather than heavy logs... it might be a lot less work just to have the log cut up at the nearest sawmill.

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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 2:36 pm 
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Actually, rather than square off the timber using an axe or adz (lots of work) I believe the simpler way would be to pound wedges along the length to split the log in half. After that, split those halves in half again to make in quarters. After that, you can begin to split off boards from each quarter-section.

One advantage of ash is probably the straightness of the grain. We got a load of ash firewood once, and when you split it, the grain ran straight as an arrow down the wood. As you split smaller and smaller to get kindling, the grain meant that you could cut even small, thin pieces that were perfectly square in cross-section. Similarly, it would have been quite simple to split off thin "slabs" of wood from the pieces.

Any reason why you're wanting to do this by hand rather than having it cut and milled to size? Traditionalism and satisfaction aside, a table saw would make pretty short work of this :wink:


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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 2:54 pm 
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I fancy myself a bit of a modern luddite is all. However, I will admit that it is a matter of finances rather than virtues!!

Small saplings do not have a thick enough section of sapwood to use in bending. The grain should all face the same direction ))))) according to Gilpatrick's book.

He mentions the use of a poll axe, I don't know what this is or how to use one, but with it and some wedges it is apparently possible to split a 9" ash log.

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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 3:35 pm 
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Small saplings do not have a thick enough section of sapwood to use in bending. The grain should all face the same direction ))))) according to Gilpatrick's book.


Hmmm... I was thinking how native snowshoe construction might have been done, during precontact times when axes, saws, knives, etc, were unavailable. IIRC, some saplings will bend quite easily when green, especially if they're cut during the spring when the sap is running. Some were also soaked for some time to make the wood more flexible.

Once the sapling was bent and dried into shape, holes could be drilled for fastening and lacing and the babiche weaving also held the snowshoe together.

Richard, the splitting method does sound like it'll work, I suppose a hammer and a wide enough axe could be used to start the first split at one end, then wedges inserted to carry the split down the length of the log. But would the first split go straight through the log creating a more or less flat surface as the wood splits apart - split logs often won't do this. One of the reasons I suggested making a rough board first was because this might happen. Don't know for sure, really, never having tried splitting a ten foot length.

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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 5:12 pm 
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a couple of weeks ago i split a 8 foot piece of ash, i found the technique in a paddle making book . it probably only took me about 20 to 30 minutes and im sure i could do it a lot faster next time. all i used was a 2 lbs axe a smaller axe and some hardwood wedges made from the same tree. a small piece of cordwood about 4 inches around works well for beating the axe into the wood.


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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 6:38 pm 
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Richard wrote:
Any reason why you're wanting to do this by hand rather than having it cut and milled to size? Traditionalism and satisfaction aside, a table saw would make pretty short work of this :wink:

Splitting as you've discovered follows the grain and therefore, creates a piece when bent, that will have less tendency to break where as sawing will not follow the grain exactly and have edges of the grain exposed on the edges that are much more susceptible to split out when bent. (I hope I made some sense out of this explanation) And that's the whole reason behind using the splitting method.

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PostPosted: October 19th, 2004, 7:15 pm 
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You have most of the method already explaned to you . Ash is actually one of the easier kinds of log to split . Start by driving an axe into the centre of one end of the log and then drive wooden wedges into the resulting crack on the side of the log . Follow this with a few more wedges into the lengthening crack . As the crack gets longer you can use some of the first wedges as they loosen . Done with care you should be able to split it right in half . Then you can repeat to quarter them .
I did enough cedar to make a split rail fence at our place . Cedar is quite a bit harder to do because of the knots and spiral grain .
Give it a try . You should be able to conquer it . scouter Joe


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PostPosted: October 20th, 2004, 7:25 am 
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Sounds like this'll be easier than I thought.

If I don't have to spend money on tools like froe then all the better!

Will report back.

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PostPosted: October 20th, 2004, 8:26 am 
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One thing that I didn't notice any one mention is to carefully check the log you're going to start from, the bark on the outside should have very vertical grain and there should be no sign of growth from branches or knots. If you don't have one already and plan to havest a tree yourself, the best bet is to go back into a mature hardwood canopy and look for an ash that's second tier growth. Ash will grow long and straight with few branches when it starts as a sapling in a mature forest. It will invest most of the growth into reaching for the sunlight and not waste it on lower branches. Trees growing like this will have few knots and a very straight grain that will be much easier to splt than ones that grow at the edge of a forest where they will spread out more. Trees are always individuals so it's hard to make generalizations, but you'll probably find that the log will be easier to split if the bark has been peeled off and the wood has had a chance to dry out. I'd leave it air dry out of the weather for a summer before tacking it, but sometimes it doesn't seem any more difficult to split ash when it's still fairly green. If you get the right piece of wood, ash will be the easiest of any to split.


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PostPosted: October 20th, 2004, 8:47 am 
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One of the other attractions about splitting an ash, other than not worrying about the grain wandering off the edge, is that you can work it green. The shoes I made from rough cut lumber were diffcult to bend. Few pieces had the grain entirely contained, every piece I bent where the grain ran off the edge would split along the grain. Also, being dry increased the splitting problems. I finally had success by picking the best of the pieces, then submerging them in a the creek by my house for at least three days before steaming.

Tony


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PostPosted: October 20th, 2004, 10:51 am 
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The shoes I made from rough cut lumber were diffcult to bend. Few pieces had the grain entirely contained, every piece I bent where the grain ran off the edge would split along the grain


When I was steaming and bending the stems for my cedarstrip, I found that quarter-sawn strips will bend more reliably than flat-sawn. Quarter-sawn wood has the grain running at about a 45 degree angle to the strip in cross section while flat-sawn has the grain running more or less parallel. The flat sawn would usually have some gradual grain runout across the outer surface being bent and this is where the splitting off and breaking would occur. Grain runout is what you refer to in grain running off the edge.

Grain runout is less likely to happen when splitting off pieces of wood from the log, but then the sides will still have to be squared off by sawing or planing, which again raises the possibiliuty of grain runout if the grain is parallel to the outer surface being bent. Maybe I'm heh, splitting hairs here, but the best bending wood strips might be those with a quarter-sawn cross section.

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PostPosted: October 20th, 2004, 11:27 am 
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If your bending wood after it's been steamed, you need to act quickly, in seconds not minutes to get that board inshape, and use a backer board to keep the stress in tact on the board being bent. Let the backer board crack!

As far as spliting the log, sorry, I do not have an answer for that. Just responding to the other comments about cracking.


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PostPosted: October 20th, 2004, 11:23 pm 
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I split 20 ft lengths of ash last year to frame a tarp-shelter woodshed.

Sure, start the split as has been explained, but sometimes the split leaves the center and starts to run out one side. There IS a way to deal with this, and that's to start with a longer pole. As Rolf said, select and fall a straight, clean white or green ash. Make sure the bark doesn't show a spiral pattern or the grain will too.

Find a forked tree, or 2 growing quite close together. Put the butt end of your pole in there. Start the split at the other end (it'll tend to run out less). Use a froe to widen it.

As the split leaves the center, stop. You can bring the split back to the center if you bend the thicker part of the pole away from the spit, ie. if the split starts to run out to the left, bend the right half away.

Image

This might be done with hand pressure, or with a helper, or with a small tackle to another tree. With a long pole you get more leverage, thus it's easier than a short one. If you use a tackle, don't apply too much pressure. Just use some, then use the froe to move the split along while you watch where it's going.

When it's back in the center ease off the pressure. It's really no different than splitting a twig or a spruce root.

This was a standard way to work wood in the medieval days before sawmills. Wood was "riven". Large trees were cut in such a way as to encourage saplings to grow from the still-living rootstock. These grew very fast and straight --something like the way willow does if you cut it. Then the poles were used for many purposes, usually split at least once.

This growing technique was called coppicing.


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