Here she is. What a beast. How ya' like my little helpers?
Start with a hatchet, axe, or wedge driven into the end of the log with a sledge. Don't use your good axe for this. Mine is actually just an axe head with a short handle on it for me to hold while starting a split. Kind of a wedge w/ a handle :-) |
Drive a wedge into the split you started and then either continue on the same side with more wedges to the end of the log or roll it over and go from the other side. It depends on how she splits. This log let me avoid rolling by splitting all the way through from one side :-) |
Emmy's loving this! |
The kids are just amazed at all this. Here she is cracked open. Kinda knarly and twisty and had a few wind shakes but she'll do just fine after some steaming. She's got real thin rings too but I'll back the bows and they'll be OK too. |
I even got a belly split off one of the splits. Here's how you start one of those and then walk it down with thin wedges. |
And here's the product of all of our labor. I'll get 8 or more bows out of this! Don't forget to paint the ends to avoid checking! |