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Has anyone out there ever hewn logs with a broad axe? I’ve been asked to match some log work. Unfortunately the old Swede who did the original work (it’s his house) has recently had a stroke and can’t remember how he did it. Do you work with or across the grain? Do work towards or away from the cuts you’ve already made? Any tips you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
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Sandy,try chopping a series of notches in the log every 12-16" along one side of the log. Then working parallel to the log split the slabs out between each notch.splitting the slabs out will go pretty fast-the grain is helping you. the notches are chopped to intersect the same plane and act as stopping cuts besides serving to rough dimension the stock.Roll the log90* and proceed with the next side and so on.It is possible to get the surface very smooth with a goosewing but usually the series of notches will be fairly obvious along the log.Even if the old swede was a real artist I bet you will find a similar pattern,however faint,on his work.
Have fun,stephen
*There is an old series of books called the "Foxfire" books that go into this in detail.Steve gave you the basics; good points all.........but you may want to get a lumberman's crosscut saw to make the kerf cuts and an adz to break them. The broadaxe is usually used for the final squaring. That's why the head is off set from the handle. So you don't skin up your hands truing up the log. Keep a sharp edge at all times. It's safer that way. A dull axe will deflect off the surface easier.Good luck, and don't bury the adz in your shin. I bought shin guards from Graingers. Ed. Williams
*The best book I've seen on old techniques is "Building With WooD" by John Rempel. He uses Central Canadian examples, but it's just a great book on working with wood, timber framing, etc. I just checked with Amazon, and it's listed as out of print, but they've turned up out of print stuff for me.Anyway, Stephen and Ed give good advice, but the look will be very different if you use an adze as against an axe. You see a lot of adze work around here as a lot of old builders put their boat building tools to work on houses. You'll have to detect what was used; most likely it was an axe, and then the procedure is as the other guys said: chop down at right angles to the grain ,(I usually see this every few inches, rather than 12-16 as Stephen describes), and clean up with the grain. Many of the notches that define the depth remain visible.I got my axes and adze by swapping a radial arm saw (HEAR THAT, BLODGETT?). Saved me formally converting it to an anchor.
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Jack Sobon's book "Build a Classic Timber Framed House" has detailed and clear instructions on how to hew with an axe. Its still available in paperback.
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Yes.
Use a broadaxe and follow Sobon's direction in the book that hotsawdust referred to.
You may need to find the broadaxe in an antique store. Forget anything made in the last 40 years.
Have fun. This is a great tradition, well worth some serious study and practice.
MD
*hehehehe Yeah, I hear ya bro, besides, what good would an anchor do ya if you don't have a boat? hehehehe
*Sandy,As a suggestion, you could try contacting Kathy Blodgett...I hear she is fairly handy with an axe.
*hyuck hyuck. well, I got a tablesaw. And a bandsaw. And a bunch of other saws. And I got some axes and an adze. I can MAKE a damn boat.Only thing I could make with a radial arm saw is a mess.
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Lee Valley/Veritas has a Swedish broad axe (actually made in Sweden!) in its 1999/2000 catalog. I can't tell from the picture if it has the authentic offset handle. At least it's a backup if you can't find an antique. BTW, you might try checking with the groups that do the shipbuilding for 17th/18th century ship recreations. Good Luck.
*Thanks for all your tips. I've tried what you have all suggested and got a look on some practice logs that is MUCH better than what I had been doing before. Still a long way off from the old Swede's work -- so consistent and neat. I'll be visiting the library soon for some more tips. As an added incentive, the old guy gave me his broad axe. It's a lovely old thing with the edge of the blade actually offset from the plane of the handly about ten degrees. In case anyone cares, I found the web site for the outfit that actually makes these axes and log building tools. Type in gransfors-bruks.com and you'll find out more than you wanted to know about axes. Thanks again for all your help.
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Steve:
I've never used a broadaxe but spent a great deal of time on an adze. Mine is a shipbuilding adze with upturned edges and looks like the head of a hammerhead shark. It has a pick on the other end, and is by far the heaviest adze I have ever run across. This is the main reason why I never needed to rough out the logs with a broadax first.
I usually left all my posts and truss members tapered and beams too when possible.
I learned that the greener the log, the nicer the finish. I once had to (decoratively) hew over 6,000 linear ft. of previously sawed 2x8 hemlock for an english tudor and wound up throwing it in the lake for three weeks before I could do anything with it at all.
A very nearly perfectly level working area is also essential. I used 8 x 8's either side of the log I was hewing to walk on .
The logs should be real straight before you start. Making crooked logs straight isn't worth the effort.
Climb cut. You will eliminate splitting and make your job much , much easier and faster.
Watch the grain pattern as you go and you'll be surprised how well you can hold your depth of cut and keep the log straight.
After your first pass, drive a nail in each end of the log, move in a couple of feet from each end and drive nails in the sides of the log, and one (in the same side) in the middle. String a dry line from the ends and shim up the line with chips thick enough to see how your first pass came out. Mark your high spots with wood chips hook your dry line under the side nails and get back to work. After you are satisfied, put the flat side down and repeat the process.
I can't remember which direction is easier, up the log or down the log, but it will become aparant.
If your logs were cut when the sap is running, peel them first. It is extremely dangerous to try hewing through loose bark. The easiest way is with a bark spud. I got mine, as well as my peavey, timber tongs corner mortising chisels etc. from Snow and Nealey in Bangor Maine. Dick Abbot ran the forge then, and personally tempered my tools. He's gone now, but I've heard that his son has taken over the forge, so hopefully the same tools are still available, made with the same kind of knowledge.
The adze should be sharp as a ship slick. I still remember the first time I saw a bunch of shiny, perfectly round, objects show up after a slice. I dug one of them out and it was half of a #6 shot. Probably put there by either me or my father while rabbit hunting years earlier.
If you can, pick something easy to hew. The easiest hewing stuff I ever used was lodgepole pine. It has a thin bark and cuts easily. Stay away from ponderosa, the bark is miserable.
If you are in the east and can use eastern fir, that is very easy to hew as well, followed by spruce.
From my point of view, there is no comparison between hewed and broadaxed beams. Its like comparing lumber in the rough with planed (hand planed) material.
At any rate. Good luck.
Clampman
*It doesn't add much to what has been said here, but you might enjoy the comments on the broad-axe at:http://www.broad-axebeam.com/beams.html#aboutthebroadaxe
*We were asked to make "hand-hewn" hollow beams about 12 yrs ago to fit over steel beams in a recreation room ceiling. We used red oak 1 x 8's 12' long, made a 3 sided box joined with lock miters clamped and glued, then took a power plane and ground the knives to take "divots" out of the wood. Back then we figured shop time at 30$/hr and after wood, glue, shop time and 3 sets of knives ( it took a few tries to get the right look) we made a profit of 7000$ on a 12000$ job. The bid was figured on doing the surface by hand, before we thought of the power planer, and had a 4000$ profit built in, if everything went right. The customer loved it.
*There is nothing lovelier than an adzed surface. I had a chance to work with some Haida and other northwest coast woodworkers for a while; they adzed every surface, and you can't beat it. It was also popular is some british arts & crafts furniture of the last century; one company, nicknamed 'The Mouseman' in Yorkshire, still has the craftsmen adzing every exposed surface in their oak furniture.
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Has anyone out there ever hewn logs with a broad axe? I've been asked to match some log work. Unfortunately the old Swede who did the original work (it's his house) has recently had a stroke and can't remember how he did it. Do you work with or across the grain? Do work towards or away from the cuts you've already made? Any tips you can give me will be greatly appreciated.