A timber for hewing

Square_peg · Oct 18, 2012

Today I brought home another log to hew. This one is an 18" diameter Doug Fir 12 feet long. It was a bugger to get loaded on the trailer by myself. I had to lever it up on blocks until I could back the trailer under the front end. A timber weight calculator figured this one as 990 lbs.

Once I got the nose on the trailer I winched it in with a come-along.

This part was pretty easy.

I brought it home and set it up on blocks for hewing.

The key to doing this by myself was the log lifter. These are available commercially but I just made my own. It's basically just a peevee with an 'L'-shaped handle. I forged a hook and clamp ring out of stock I had on hand. The scrap pipe and angle steel was also from scrap on hand. All I bought was some nuts and bolts.

It will be a while before I have the time to hew this one but I'll take WIP photos to share on the forum.

Edit: To see the restoration of the broad axe used in this thread see these links.
Restoring a broad axe
Making a broad axe haft

John Frankl · Oct 18, 2012

Looking forward to it!

schmittie · Oct 18, 2012

Sweet

daizee · Oct 18, 2012

"It's big, it's heavy, it's wood."

Peg, what do you do with these logs after hewing them by hand? And how long do you expect it will take to turn that into... well, whatever you turn it into!

-Daizee

CedarEater · Oct 18, 2012

Nice! Very interested in seeing this thread pan out.

bjp · Oct 18, 2012

CedarEater said:
Nice! Very interested in seeing this thread pan out.

me too. I can't wait to see the progression on this one. I was looking at my pitiful little hand-hewn timber this afternoon, thinking about how much I need to practice!

-ben

Steve Tall · Oct 18, 2012

Thanks for the pics. That's a beast alright.

markv · Oct 18, 2012

Square_peg
man that is awesome. i definitely like the homemade cant hook
and the pictures tell the story of a one man struggle to get the log aboard
all good
i like it

buzz

Square_peg · Oct 19, 2012

daizee said:
"It's big, it's heavy, it's wood."

I wonder how many of us will get that. One year my daughter got 'Log for girls' as a gag Christmas present. We did the wig and make-up and the whole deal. Good memory.

daizee said:
Peg, what do you do with these logs after hewing them by hand? And how long do you expect it will take to turn that into... well, whatever you turn it into!

I'm not super experienced at hewing. This thing is probably gonna take me 20 hours of labor to turn it into a beam. I'm not sure what I'll use it for but I'm thinking it might be a part of a new smithy. I need a covered shed for blacksmithing. Right now I just work in the back yard. The forge and anvil sit under BBQ covers in the winter, waiting for a clear dry day before they get used.

Here's a photo of my forge and anvil with my buddie's daughter working at the forge. This forge was built for next to nothing out of scrounged parts. Sometimes I bring home buckets of coal picked up along my local river for forge fuel. It's good practice to learn to make do with what's available.

Square_peg · Oct 19, 2012

markv said:
I definitely like the homemade cant hook.

Thanks, Buzz.

My favorite part is the clamp ring that attaches the hook to the handle. If I loosen the bolt I can slide the hook up or down the handle to adjust for the size of the log.

daizee · Oct 19, 2012

Square_peg said:
I wonder how many of us will get that. One year my daughter got 'Log for girls' as a gag Christmas present. We did the wig and make-up and the whole deal. Good memory.

"It's better than bad, it's good!"

There's a downed oak over the wall and you're giving me ideas...

trailmaker · Oct 19, 2012

Good stuff Pegs, can't wait to see the progress. Your posts always inspire me to get to work.

moosecreektrails · Oct 19, 2012

Nice ,also love the forge

Square_peg · Oct 19, 2012

I reset this log on better blocking this afternoon and began barking it with the adze.

Once it was barked I flattened the top slightly to give me a better footing for the next phases of work. I also knocked off a few knots with a broad hatchet. The next step will be to lay out the ends and snap lines for juggling.

For those interested here's a cool little article about hewing railroad ties. I think I've posted this one before.

http://cedarriverforge.com/Photo-index/axephotos/Barnickol-RR Tie Hacking.pdf

Steve Tall · Oct 20, 2012

Square_peg said:
...
For those interested here's a cool little article about hewing railroad ties. I think I've posted this one before.
http://www.foresthistory.org/publications/FHT/FHT1997/Barnickol.pdf

Great article. Forest History a quite a site, with lots of historical photos, and back issues of "Forest History Today":

Here's an old safety flyer found on that site, no caption needed:

G-pig · Oct 20, 2012

I have a 6X6 white pine beam sitting out in the yard, around 10 feet long. I think it probably took me about 4 hours to do the whole thing, but a lot of that was just fiddling around. I hope I can get it down to 2 hours a beam someday.

Bull Mountain Custom · Oct 20, 2012

Looking forward to this thread progressing.

rjdankert · Oct 20, 2012

Square_peg, neat thread. Thanks for documenting your progress.

I'm looking for a pair of log/spike dogs. Can you give any info on yours? thanks, Bob

Double Ott · Oct 20, 2012

Log dogs. I haven't done it yet, but I've been thinking of making a set of them from 1/2 inch rebar. Grinding the ends to a point, then heating with a torch to bend the ends on them in a vice.

Just a thought, Double Ott

rjdankert · Oct 20, 2012

Double Ott said:
Log dogs. I haven't done it yet, but I've been thinking of making a set of them from 1/2 inch rebar. Grinding the ends to a point, then heating with a torch to bend the ends on them in a vice.

Just a thought, Double Ott

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing, but it would be nice to know if this would work. On the other hand, it wouldn't take alot to give it a try.