Wood & Logs

SPLITTING LOGS:
Stand behind a large log with feet well apart. Swing down to cut the side away from you.
DO NOT CHOP DOWNWARD:

To split a smaller log, angle against another log
DO NOT PUT YOUR FOOT ON IT:

Alternatively, hold smaller log against cutting edge of axe and bring both down together on to a larger log. (Not to be tried holding too short a log for safety!) If in doubt split larger logs with a wedge and rock.

DO NOT EVER HOLD WOOD UPRIGHT IN YOUR HAND AND ATTEMPT TO SPLIT WITH AXE.

Logs are usually split by the use of wedges. But it is possible to split them by the use of 2 axes.
To split with the axe strike it smartly into the wood at the small end and so as to start a crack, then sink the axe in the crack.
Next take the second axe and strike it in line with the first one. If this is done properly it should open the crack wide enough to release the first axe without trouble which may then be struck in the log.

In this manner it is possible to split a straight grained piece of timber without the use of wedges. The first axe should be struck at the smaller or top end of the log.
To split a log with wedges take your axe in your left hand and club in your right hand and by hammering the head of your axe with the club drive the blade into the small end of the log far enough to make a crack deep enough to hold the thin edge of your wedges. Make this crack all the way across the end of the log.
Put two wedges in the end of the log and drive them until the wood begins to split and crack along the sides of the log, then follow up this crack with other wedges until the log is split in half.

While ordinarily wood splits easily enough with the grain it is very difficult to drive an axe through the wood at right angle to the grain .
By striking at an angle the blade of the axe will enter the wood, whereas in the first position striking the grain at right angles it will only make a dent in the wood and bounce the axe back.
But care MUST taken not to slant the axe too far or the blade of the axe may only scoop out a shallow chip and swing around DANGEROUSly & seriously injuring the axe user or some one else.

If it is desired to chop a log into shorter pieces, REMEMBER to stand on the log to do your chopping.
This will do away with the necessity of rolling the log over when you want to chop on the other side.
Don't forget to make the second notch the same as the first; in other words the distance across the notch should equal the diameter of the log.
If you start with too narrow a kerf or notch before you finish you will be compelled to widen it.

TO FLATTEN A LOG:
To flatten a log you MUST score and hew it. Scoring consist in making a number of notches C D E F G H J etc. to the depth of the line A B.
Hewing it is the act of chopping off or splitting off the pieces A C & C D & D E etc leaving the surface flat which was known among the pioneers as puncheon and with which they floored their cabins before the advent of the saw mill & milled lumber.
Perhaps it would be advisable to the amateur to take a chalk line and snap it from A to B so that he may be certain to have the flat surface level.The expert axe man will do this by what he calls "sensation". (By feel!)

It might be well to say here that if you select wood with a straight grain and wood that will split easily you will simplify your task but even mean stubborn wood may be flattened by scoring and hewing.
If the ridges and furrows of the bark run straight up and down the wood will have a corresponding straight grain but if they are spiral the wood will split waney or not at all.
In the Main the woodsmen are adept in making shakes, splits clapboards or shingles by the use of only an axe and splitting them out of the billets of wood from 4 to 6 feet long.
The core of the log is first cut out and then the pieces are split out having wedge-shaped edges.

In making either the boards or the shakes, if it is found that the wood splinters down into the body of the log too far or into the board or shake too far.
You MUST start at the other end of the billet or log and split it up to meet the first split or take hold of the split or board with your hands and deftly tear it from the log ,an art which only experience can teach.

We caution the reader against chopping firewood by resting one end of the stick to be cut on a log and the other end on the ground and then striking this stick a sharp blow with the axe in the middle.
The effect of this often is to send the broken piece gyrating into the air as shown by the dotted line and many a wood chopper lost an eye from a blow inflicted by one of these flying pieces. Many men have been blinded this way so BEWARE.

USING A FLEXIBLE SAW:
ALWAYS use a flexible saw so that the cut opens up rather than closes tight on the saw, causing it to jam.
At all times keep the wire taut pulling it in a straight line, at an angles. With two people the rhythm MUST BE CAREFULLY maintained.
If a kink is produced in the saw it may break. It is usually easier for a single person to cut a log by pulling upwards.
Support the log to keep it off the ground and give it an angle to keep the cut open. Alternatively, to remove a branch pull down from above the head G. THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS.

TREE FELLING:
Before beginning clear the tree of lower limbs and remove the underbrush from around the bottom of the tree. This is to ensure that the axe is not deflected during the swing.
Check your distance form the tree to AVOID under reaching or overreaching.
Overreaching can result in breaking the axe handle and under reaching in a cut foot. Take up a comfortable stance MAKING SURE that both feet are firmly set.

The first cut should be made on the side of the tree facing the direction of the desired fall often decided by the lean of the tree. This cut should be not more than half-way through the tree.
The back cut should be started slightly above and opposite the first cut. It is SAFER to cut the tree off not over a foot above the ground. (Below 1 feet)
ALWAYS keep the axe handle low and parallel to the ground where the blades strikes the cut.
When using short handled axes or hand axes bend carefully at the hips or kneel on one knee.

When splitting wood do not lay the piece to be split on the ground but support it so as to AVOID chopping into ground, thus blunting the axe or prevent injury to leg or feet.
Check overhead for dead branches, which may fall and injure you, and for hornet's nest. Clear the branches or creepers which could deflect your blows.

If roots or the bole spread out at the bottom build a platform to reach thinner-diameter trunk and reduce the effort of chopping. Ensure such a platform is stable and that you can jump off it quickly if the tree falls the wrong way!
Work at a comfortable height and try to cut downward at 45 degrees, although every now and then a horizontal blow is needed to clear the cut.
Cut from both sides of the tree, first chopping out a notch an angle of about 45 degrees and another on the opposite side at a lower level, on the side to which you want the tree to fall (a).
Do not cut through more than half the tree BEFORE starting the other notch.
If two people are at work on opposite sides this is particularly important.

A leaning trunk or a tree with most of its branches one side will fall in the direction of its weight and the placing of the cuts will not affect it.
A steady rhythm of blows will cut more effectively than trying to make a fewer big blows.
If you put too much effort behind the axe your aim will suffer and you will soon tire. Let the weight of the axe do the work.
Alternating the angle of stroke will prevent the axe from jamming. Too steep an angle will cause the axe to glance off the trunk Dead on will make it jam, or be inefficient Aim for 45 degrees.

DON'T STAND BEHIND A TREE AS IT FALLS:
For the boughs may strike those standing tree causing the butt to shoot back or kick an many a woodsman has lost his life from the kick of falling tree.

Before chopping a tree down, select the place where it is to fall, a place where it will not be liable to lodge in another tree on its way down. DON'T try to fall a tree against the wind.
Cut a notch on the side of the tree facing the direction you wish it to fall and cut it half way to the trunk. Make the notch or kerf large enough to AVOID pinching your axe in it.
If you discover that the notch is going to be too small cut a new notch fix some inches above your first one.
Then split off the piece between the two notches and against make the notch and split off the piece until you make room for the axe to continue your chopping.

When the first kerf is finished begin another one on the opposite side of the tree a little higher that the first one.
When the wood between the two notches becomes too small to support the weight of the tree, the top of the tree will begin to tremble and waiver and give you ample time to step to one side before it falls.
(It is good to yell Timber specially if there are people around so as to warn them of the falling tree.)

If the tree is inclined in the opposite direction from which you wish it to fall.
It is sometimes possible to to block the #kerf# on the inclined side and by driving the wedge over the block force the tree to fall in the direction desired but it is DANGEROUS, and if the tree inclines too far this can not be done.

There was a chestnut tree standing too close to my log house and leaning toward the building. Under normal circumstances felling this tree would cause it to strike the house with all the weight of its trunk and branches.
So I asked a old woodman who looked at it for several days doing zip until one day he brought out his old trusty axe and made the chips fly by. Soon the chestnut was lying prone on the ground pointing away from the house.
What this old backwoodsman did was to wait until a strong wind had sprung up blowing in the direction that he wanted the tree to fall and his skilful chopping with the aid of the wind placed the tree exactly where he wished it.
Fig...(?) shows how to make the cuts on a standing tree in order to remove the bark which is done in the same manner described for removing the birch bark.

FELLING A TREE ADDED NOTE:
Make a cut in a form of a coin as low as possible and on the side that you want your tree to fall.
This cut MUST attain and overpass the hearth of the wood. The depth of the cut will serve as a rotation point for the fall of the tree.
Thus its orientation has a VERY GREAT IMPORTANCE specially for big trees.
Now do a second cut on the opposite face of the trunk and a little over the first one.
When this cut will be sufficient the tree should fall by itself. Timber. This second cut can be advantageously done or replace by a saw cut.

NEVER STAND BEFORE OR BEHIND A FALLING TREE, IT WOULD BE YOUR LAST.

TO REMOVE BRANCHES:
If it is desired to cut off the limb off the limb of a tree don't disfigure the tree by tearing the bark down, trees are becoming scarce.
If you cut part way through the limb on the underside and then cut partly through from the top side, the limb will fall off without tearing the bark down the trunk, but if you cut only from the top, sooner or later the weight of the limb will tear it off and make an ugly wound down the front of the tree which in time decays makes a hollow and ultimately destroys the tree.
A neatly cut branch on the other hand when the stub has been sheered off close to the bark will heal up leaving only an eye-mark on the bark to tell where the limb once grew.

Cut off branches from the outside of the forknot the inside.
Very high branches can be removed by attaching strings to the saw toggle to give extra reach. This is DANGEROUS.

Keep your eye on the branch and be prepared to jump out of the way.