Hewing for Homesteaders- Hewing a Five Inch Timber
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Hewing a white pine log into a five inch thick timber, tie hacker style again with a Jersey pattern felling axe. I am not certain yet if I will try and split this beam into two, so I won’t be hewing the other sides flat just yet.
Since there’s a lot more material to remove than with the cribbing, I am removing the bulk of the waste by joggling it off, then coming back and scoring before finally hewing to the line. The video makes this fairly self explanatory.
Very nice job! Love to see the use of only the felling axe and a great finish achieved.
Thanks Mr. Chickadee, its great coming from a craftsman like yourself. I love your video on different hewing methods on the same timber, and all your great content.
that is not a felling axe, if so, then felling would be very labor intensive and inefficient. A felling axe usually has a longer axehead with a bevel in the center, enabling it to dig deeper without getting wedged. The thin long head also allows better transfer of force. The head on the axe used here has a very different weight balance than a felling axe has traditionally.
From the looks of it heavier end head with a longer handle, head and edge design similar to a carpenter's axe on steroids :D The name of a tool isn't really important, maintaining the edge and how skilled is the craftsman holding it is :D
Mr. Chickadee came to say the same thing....should have known Mr Chickadee beat me to it by a year!
Very cool, just finished an 8 by 8 white oak. It was from a dead standing tree so not at all green.
It probably took 20 hours to do and the beam is about 14 feet long. Very gratifying though, can’t wait to try another.
This is a very satisfying video to watch. Thanks for sharing. You make it look so easy.
What a good eye. And this is only one beam, I can imagine building a barn
Excellet single axe technique and skill, very nice to watch. This video shows that extra gear is not necessary for rough hewn beams
I need to do that. Lumber is expensive. All I need it for is a little cabin shelter in the woods! Great job!
Skillcult sent me. Glad I came, this is good stuff.
Thanks again Mike. I do a really basic hewing style, but there are lots of ways to approach the job. If you look at my hewing playlist you can see a bunch of really top-notch work (not mine) I especially recommend Onsek's channel.
Wished i was right there with you brother i loved that kind of work im too old now but keep it long as you. Can build a dozen houses like that
A left handed man is dangerous with an axe! But this man is like poetry in motion!
Great video! That looks like such a satisfying process.
I know the expression "dull as a froe", but a froe is used to split logs. What would happen if you used a froe to knock those pieces off? Could you line it up with your marks, and get a clean split from the start? Just a curious beginner.
Thanks for sharing! Greetings from Norway! 🇳🇴👍🏻
Impressive accuracy on those second slash cuts. I've been watching some of your vids on the hewing playlist. I'll get started next week with a bit of hewing myself. Thanks!
I await them eagerly :)
Great video. If these beams are for a specific project, I hope you will be filming it.
Thanks Jim, I'm going to use them as the frame for a lean-to woodshed. I expect I will film it.
Respect👍good job
Really fine work. Thanks for posting.
Thanks and great work!
Thanks for this video, I was looking for a simple and clear video on how to hew logs, I have a plan to repair an old log cabin in Sweden. Great skills and love the fact their is now talking, or stupid music. Cheers and thank you. One question can you work on it directly after felling or do you need to let is dry a while?
Hi Michael, its better to hew while the wood is green, but it will stay green for quite a while in the round with the bark on, so you don't have to do it right away after felling. If you are in Sweden I recommend Lucas Richard Stephens' channel, and the Hantverkslaboratoriet channel.
Well done with a standard axe and not a hewing axe. The only question I have is that it looked like you started in the think end of the log and not the thin end? Starting with the top part of the log gives less unwanted weed that goes in to the log and gives less even surface. Fresh cut log as you have is to prefer.
I use to use a standard axe sometimes for the first round and then use the hewing axe for the final surface. If you want you can check my videos and see the very nice hewing axe I use.
Nice and steady, great upload.
Thanks Lucas, I subd your channel. I'm really interested in Norwegian lafting techniques, and there isn't a lot in English about it AFAIK. There was a book I was thinking about buying but I chickened out after figuring out how difficult it would be to import from Norway. I'm excited to dive into your videos.
Where do you all get these trees with no limbs. I’m hewing with knots every 18 inches. Basically Friggin christmas trees
I like hewing timbers, but side-hewing is dangerous and prone to destroying axes. Many antique axes have semi-circular cutting edges because they have inadvertently been used as hoes and the nicked corners have been sharpened away. I hew logs in a top cutting method that avoids the vertical side stroke. This is safer and less tiring. The chopper stands on the ground for the entire procedure.
Hey Tolba, I'd love to see a video of your process. I've tried a lot of different hewing methods, and this one is essentially the one that is most efficient for me. One thing that TH-cam has shown me is that there are lots of different ways to approach hewing and its fairly arrogant to say that your method is the best. I do not claim that my method is the best. Post a video and I'll put it in my hewing video playlist. I'd say all axes will wear more at the corners, and a moderate radius on the cutting edge is better to hew with than a straight edge to acheive a cleaner surface. Having hewn with many different axes and styles, I've found that it is possible to make almost ANY axe hew to the line. In terms of dropping the axe in the dirt? I prefert to build a very thick bed of chips under my hewing area, so if the axe does hit the ground it hits chips instead of soil. Good luck with your hewing and I await your video eagerly.
Oxbow Farm- I did not say my method was best, just safer and more convenient for me. I have hewn pretty nasty logs and multiple scoring cuts limit the length of the slicing. Keeping the weight of the ax on the log instead of in the air next to the timber is less tiring. I can hew tapered and curved timbers, but alas, I am not photogenic. I am sure you can easily figure how I do it. Think of the broad ax as a large chisel, and you are chopping a mortise for a door hinge.
Good for you dude, make a video so people can tell you how to do it a better way.
very good job I understand the operation of a Hewitt, but can them first notches be cut with a chain saw? And then finish off with a Froe?
I'm not up to swinging a axe that long of a time
Very impressive work, appreciate your videos a lot! Could you roughly guess how many pain tree green wood can one handy man hew in let’s say 5 days? All the best!
You might want to think about an anti roll pin, ( a rail road spike on the same side as the dog, directly under it).
Yes, its annoying when they roll under like that, didn't really affect the line at all this time I don't think.
Oxbow Farm it didn't appear to.
Thats a great idea.
Or just cut a small v notch in the support log
i wince every time the corner hits the rocks..ouch
Nice work. I'm dying to do more hewing. Stuff here tends to be knotty unfortunately.
Knots definitely slow things down. I've got a longer log I'm about to do that has lots of knots, but it looks like they area mostly opposite each other so I'm planning on leaving at least one knotty side live edge and then only having a thin knotty face to deal with. I think because it was a forked, double trunk there were no branches on the inside and few on the outside face at that level.
It is said.... to use the knotty stuff for timber and the clear stuff for more important things. I like how clear stock hews, though. But knots are unavoidable, so when setting the joggles chop out the knots so you can split off the joggles with clear wood between the knots, pine is great for this as the whorls are nicely spaced and repeatable.
Our Douglas' fir has whorls of limbs with clear sections for the most part, but the interspaces are not always very long. It is all second growth, but with enough sun in most areas that there are a lot of sizeable knots. I'm dying to get through all of the woods here and limb everything up 20 feet or more to farm perfect logs over the next 10 years. Imagine the log cabin I could make then!
Our spruce does whorl patterns but then also had these foul odd branches in between. I have limbed a stand of white pine here on our farm, a waiting game. It will be interesting to see what OXbow comes up with for use with the timber he is working.
I will never put mi foot or legs on the direction on the swing of the ax and standing on a pole were you not stable but hey to that is me
What are those clamp/spike things that hold the wood in place called?
They are called log dogs. Also sometimes called spike dogs.
Cheers Thanks !!!!
Do you have a project planned for these beams? Love your videos. Thx
yes, eventually.
I've been trying my hand at some hewing, dry white ash actually. My uncle turned up with 4 or 5 adzes and just as many broad axes like, "hey, do you have any interest in these?" I'm looking forward to you squaring the timber but I have a feeling that's not in the cards for what you're doing with these timbers. What *are* you doing with these?
I can totally square up a timber if that's something you want to see. Its actually easier to hew to the line on a flat face, because your line is easier to see. I'll do it on the next one. Given that I tend to make small structures and hew timbers out of small diameter logs a lot, I've found it easier to leave live edge on face that you aren't going to put much joinery into, or don't need a flat face for attaching siding etc. I also am tending towards narrower, deeper timbers vs square ones (other than for posts) , being stronger in load. I'm thinking about doing a book review of Ben Law's "Roundwood Timberframing" book, and maybe loop that into my personal ideas about the practical aspects of quick-and-dirty homestead timber structures. I think leaving live edge on is a good idea from a strength and efficiency standpoint but it isn't worth making a fetish out of it, which I think Ben Law does. I also hate his ideas about layout and joinery vs traditional timberframing. Its easier to layout on a timber with a flat reference face, and traditional joints are proven over time. Traditional bent joinery also has many advantages in simplicity of erection of the structure vs his crazy system of cranes and circus rigging. But it really depends on what you want to do with your timbers. I build homemade sheds mostly. I'm working up to replacing my barn. But I'm not trying to replicate timbers to historical/cultural accuracy or create a home with a specific "look". Those considerations would affect your choices.
Oxbow Farm I like your style, Tim. And I agree that more timber is stronger than square timber. Is that roundwood book worth getting? It's been on my wish list as a reference for about three years. I look forward to more.
IMO, its worth reading but not worth buying. Get it on interlibrary loan, don't buy it. There are some good ideas in it, but its pretty much useless as an instruction manual to his technique. There are pretty pictures of really interesting buildings, and I think with some modifications, his A-frame cruck is a very interesting structural bent design for certain types of barns and other buildings. The diagrams of the joinery are TERRIBLE, and the details of almost all the unique aspects of his system aren't actually explained in the book. Its basically a coffee table book that is aimed at getting people to take his workshops and/or buy his DVD. (just my opinion) You can get some ideas/inspiration from it, but not a practical jumping off point to build your own roundwood structure. Its possible that the DVD has lots more detail, but how can you know that till you see it?
what are you using to pin the log in place?
@ 13:55 iron dogs at each end
That's a nice axe! Do you know the length of the handle? A longer handle can be nice for standing on top, but can get in the way for hewing. Great job!
I don't know off the top of my head, but I'd say its in the 30-32" range.
This is so nice. I had hoped you'd put up a vids on hewing, and here I've somehow missed that you've got several.
,,, hard to explain to someone how one can become sleep-deprived from watching axe-porn.
Did you notice the log move towards the end after you anchored it, while you where standing on it?
Btw, thank you so much for doing a demo using felling-axe only. You can guess which log I had planned to practice this technique on, and why.
Yes, trollforge and I discussed the rolling below, and possible remedies and whether they are worth it. In my experience, the rolling mostly happens on short logs, because they lack sufficient inertia. Its simply not an issue on a timber above a certain size.
That would probably mean I'd need to wedge/pin mine, since it's pretty thick (~12-13" I think,, at least,,, thicker than my chest :P) , and a heavy spruce. I'd want it long, but sadly I don't have such a lovely beast of burden like you. (,,, just a lill'bit jealous)
I noticed you mention in another comment about steel-toes, and standing on the log. All my shoes suck for standing on logs, so I planned to skip that, and joggle it mostly on the top, standing on the side, then lever it over to a new side with another log (and/or winch as shown in Sherpa's vid.).
You think I could use joggled pieces for the cordwood-challenge if they're big enough, or is that most likely considered cheating?
You might want to check out my "Quality Hewing Videos" playlist. It more or less demonstrates that you can essentially get the job done many different ways. Joggling the top of the log is not something I've tried, but I'm sure it would work.
Joggled pieces count in my book. They're wood chopped with an axe. I'm sure Steven would have zero problem with that. Chips are traditionally burnt as firewood, it was a traditional perk in the shipyards in the Age of Sail, that the chips belonged to the workmen as a perquisite.
I'll definitely binge-watch them before I begin. What little of your content I've been able to watch so far is really good, so of course I will :)
@@oxbowfarm5803 I just cut a small v notch in the support logs, works for me
Man you must be strong, my back hurts just watching you do that finer hewing work with that monster. Is that thing like 5lbs+? It looks like it pretty much falls through wood.
Its actually only 4 1/2#. So for a felling axe its on the heavy side but compared to your average broad axe its fairly light. I feel like hewing tie-hacker style like this is easier on your back than some other styles, especially using a short handled broad axe with the log cribbed low, THAT is a back killer.
nothing like a sharp jersey!
Yes, its my favorite axe.
It can chop, split, and hew. My favorite all around axe also
No hewing axe?
Yes, I own 5. I just like using this axe most often. Hewing is a process, you can use a specialized hewing axe if you desire, but any axe can be used to hew a timber.
@@oxbowfarm5803 what kind of axe is that you are using?
@@kpxoda1 Its a 4.5 #(originally) Jersey pattern.
My weapon of choice is an adze, much easier on the back, just as fast and I don’t need to balance on the log and lean over.
I'm really skeptical on the "just as fast" comment John O. You need to make a video showing your technique. I own a couple adzes and I don't consider them a hewing tool at all.
I just spent the best part of today squaring logs. I use a shipwrights adze, has the lips on the ends, I use a chainsaw to score the log, takes 3 blows to bevel down to the score at each end then I chip out the center with a couple more blows. I then use a 6” power plane to smooth the log. I am 69 and to work with my back twisted like that is hard for me, also I can do this on the ground. I am a retired shipwright.
life is always easier wth power tools.
Lots of ways to hew a log.
@@johno6861
~"faster"
~"chainsaw"
HOLD UP
you, sir, are an arteest!
Crocs? Really?
Muck Boots actually. Your point being?
Clearly the latest crocs are THE shoes to be seen in whilst hewing this year.
I must get a pair.........its croc hate - i get it - OXbow have you tried barefoot? ive just done a bit myself and it feels good (feet need to toughen up)
Why don't you guys just appreciate his carpentry skills, instead of taking the piss!
I hew my timbers in Crocs. Might lose a toe some day but I'll be comfortable until then
Beautimus 🤭👍
It looks like there will be nothing left to use.
OK?
Maybe I should post a picture of my missing fingers to help drive home the point.
It sounds like you think I should be wearing some kind of steel toe? I respectfully disagree that that makes things particularly safer. Every steel toe boot I've ever had, and I have a bucking video where I'm using them, has a stiff shank of steel or fiberglass etc. This makes standing and balancing on a log more difficult in my experience. When you are standing on a log, good footing for balance is a more important safety concern than having a steel cover over your toes. In any case, having steel toe footwear is an incredibly recent phenomenon, while hewing logs with axes has been going on since time out of mind. I feel extremely confident of where my axe is going to go when I take a swing. Hopefully we can agree to disagree on this one.
Don’t show him the traditional Japanese hewing videos....