Hewin' in the mornin'

[Brad_bb]

Got one done this morning.  Boy it's been too long since i've done this and my body is going to feel it later.  It's a workout.  Only 16 more to go!


 

 

[Wudman]

Need me to send you a couple of Amish teenagers?  That's too much like work. 

Wudman

[Ed_K]

 That's some real accurate cross chops. Looks like to much work. At least you didn't have to start with a round.

[Southside]

Ya know - if you were to just run your saw through a mess of wire and nails in a log it would produce the same cut for you with a lot less effort, at least that is what mine has resembled at times after doing so.   ;D

[Brad_bb]

Each of the scoring chops are two hits with the single bit felling axe.  You can see the closest one is slight off on my second hit.  I hit the far side, then the near side.  When you get them exactly in the same line, it's nice.  Muscle memory will make that happen a lot.  Yes I started with a milled timber and am taking 1/2" off 3 faces.  Looks the same whether starting with round or milled timber.  I've learned that one common technique(in the midwest at least), was that they would rough hew the round to a rough beam to get the bulk of the waste off, and then score and hew like I'm doing.  

[Ed_K]

 I wasn't trying to bad mouth the milling before starting. From experience I remember how hard it is to chop all that wood off :(. Also trying to keep a straight line from end to end. String idea I kept cutting the string. Then I tried to use a 2"x4" that worked better ;D.

[tmbrcruiser]

Looks like a lot of work but well worth it, nice !  What type of wood is the beam?

[Brad_bb]

Black Walnut.  I just snap a chalkline and hew to the line.

[Brad_bb]

Oops I did it again- this morning.  Hewed another timber, not listening to Britney Spears I swear.



 

 

[Brad_bb]

Video.
Walnut hewing lesson Timber Time 27 - YouTube

[Brad_bb]

11 done, 9 to go....


 

[Brad_bb]

Scoring
Scoring - YouTube

[opticsguy]

That little red sawmill in the background does not work anymore?    

Excellent craftsmanship, thanks for sharing.

[Brad_bb]

The Orange Sawmill works just fine.  It's how I cut the timbers for the hewing.  This took some of the work out, but it was still a lot of work.

Today we finished the last of the 20 timbers.  I say we because I hewed them, and my buddy Johnny who works with me sanded them.  We wanted to take some of the roughness off to make them a little less prone to catch dust and webs.  He used a 60 grit belt on the 4x24 Belt sander, and then 80 grit on the 5" orbital and then finishing with 180 on the orbital.  Next is installation in the home - ceiling beams.


 

 

[DWyatt]

The practical part normally gets left out when people go for a rustic. By sanding the beams they are definitely more practical. They look great!

[YellowHammer]

Those look nice!

[Brad_bb]

Thank you.  It's definitely been a learning experience.  FYI, One face is left sawn as that is the face that will go against the ceiling.  I left them at 6.25 inches.  If the plan ever changed, I could hew the 4th face and still be at 6x6 inches.

[samandothers]

Quite the labor of love!  Great looking with the rough edges sanded.  Not only does this help with the dust and cob webs but gives it a look of being worn.  Good job!

[Bruno of NH]

Nice work
They look old for shure

[tule peak timber]

Your work looks terrific...........Rob

[tule peak timber]

Brad , how are you keeping your axes sharp ?

[Brad_bb]

Honestly I haven't done this much axe work before, so in the past I on my felling I just used the sandpaper sharpening method.  But when I started this, I started using a puck I bought a year earlier.  I've been using it dry.  Ever face or every other face I'd go over the hewing axe and felling axe.  I don't wait until it gets actually dull, but more frequent maintenance to keep a good edge on it.  I actually cut my finger on the last face I hewed when I was touching up the hewer.  I felt the edge with my finger and as I was moving away, the tip of my finger caught the corner of the beard and sliced like a razor. It was only about 3/8" long, but 1/4 deep.  I barely touched it.  I just do the puck in a circular motion.  It will roll up a little burr and then you go to the other side with a few circles to knock it off.  My stools that you see the timber on have a screw holding the plywood on the sides that I hit a few time and put a little nick in the hewer.  Took a little more stoning to get the deformation stoned down where it put a little nick in the edge.  That was early on.  The nick was leaving some marks on the wood until I had done enough touch up sharpenings with the stone that it wore back enough so it didn't anymore and most of the nick is gone now.

It's sort of like professional chef's with their chef's knife.  They have a good sharpening steel and before they put the knife away, they give it a few swipes on the steel.  With that kind of maintenance, it keeps it sharp and so it never gets dull.  I adopted this practice at home with my chef's knife too.  It's important to have good steel also.  A lot of the stainless steel knives people buy don't hold an edge well after they wear off the the initial sharp edge.  Buy good steel.

[tule peak timber]

I agree on the steel. I'm going to buy a couple axes from Woodland and I didn't know about sharpening methods . On a commercial fishing boat we all kept our personal blades tip top at all times. An axe for me is a different beast. Your beams are REALLY nice looking !  Thanks  Rob

[Mad Professor]

Great post and pictures/video.  That is a good workout, gets your calluses on the hand built up again.

I got to learn how to do this with Dick Babcock from logs.  Layout was just a compass/divider, chalkline, and plumb bob.  We did not have a hewing axe, just a good single edge ~4lb axe.

We started on each end making a "flat", scribing a circle, then running chalk lines to the edge of each circle. Each end was plumed to chalk line, then both sides scored and hewn.  Log flipped 90 degrees and things repeated.

[tule peak timber]

I love dog avatars........................ ;D

[Mad Professor]

A good dog may be your best friend come what may.  Much better than a Hitlery........

[Brad_bb]

Hewed another timber today.  An 8.25x8.25 x 17'.  Since I hadn't done it for 6 weeks, boy was I breathing hard the first day(first face) I hewed.  The second day was a lot better and I got the other two faces scored and hewed.


 

[jimparamedic]

Great looking timbers. Sure won't need a gym if you do that a lot.

[tule peak timber]

Brad, do you think the more expensive axes are worth the money? Your work looks great !

[Brad_bb]

Deleted

[Brad_bb]

Brad, do you think the more expensive axes are worth the money? Your work looks great !

I bought my Gransfors 1900 hewing axe from Forestry Suppliers.  I think they are the only vendor for them in the US.  They carry right and left single grind for $330.  Are you calling that expensive?  It's worth getting the right shape, and weight axe that works for you.  I like this one, so It's worth it for me. If I were charging someone for this kind of work, It wouldn't take long at all for that axe to pay for itself.  It's good steel.  

Thanks, I'm getting better each time.  We still need to sand this one.  It takes some of the roughness off but still has all the character.  I think they will end up getting oiled with Heritage Natural Finishes Oil.  I'm uploading a video of making this beam now.  Should be up within an hour.

[tule peak timber]

I will look forward to it !

[Brad_bb]

All of this footage is sped up to some degree in order to shorten the video.  Still it's a longer video than I usually like to do.
Hewing another Walnut Beam April 2019 - YouTube