Good video--Hand Hewing: From Tree to Beam w/Dan Dustin

[esarratt]

I found this hand hewing video on YouTube.  It has been enlightening.  Hand Hewing: From Tree to Beam

I searched for forum, but did not see this posted.  I'm sure it has been though.

[barbender]

Cool video! It inspired me to saw beams on my sawmill instead of doing it by hand- looks like a ton of work!

[DonW]

Cool video! It inspired me to saw beams on my sawmill instead of doing it by hand- looks like a ton of work!

It's an understandable reaction but when I think of the mechanized route compared to this more straightforward approach, in other words the totality of each method it's the former that seems the more work. 

[barbender]

I definitely like the simplicity of making the beam "out if the tree"right where it fell.

[everythingwood]

It is a cool video but I take issue with two things.  First.  I don't understand why he is so particular about getting a perfectly square and uniform timber.  A few times he even states that if he cuts past the line on the top or makes some other mistake in his process he will "ruin the" beam... utter nonsense!  We all know that even band sawn timbers are not always perfectly uniform and square.  Even if they are from the saw, they may not be a month later when we cut the joinery.  If he is joining the timbers using scribe rule, timbers that are out of square or irregular will work just fine.

Second.  My back would last about an hour hewing like that... bent in half at the waist with the timber lying on the ground.  When I hewed beams for my house I rolled them up on horses to hold them around waist level and used log dogs to hold them in position.  That way you can juggle and score them on the upper surface without swinging the axe between your feet.  After scoring you roll the log a quarter turn, stand next to it, choke up on the axe with your upper hand, and work it almost like a slick.  That said, I have seen this method in more than one video and many books. It may be historically accurate, but the men who did it were certainly made of sterner stuff than myself :D

[DonW]

I definitely like the simplicity of making the beam "out if the tree"right where it fell.

What you say there about right where it fell is a huge part of the equation, as you could imagine. Then there is selection and staging and technique, (so true about that guys back breaking technique)... Well that about covers it ;)

[Tom King]

I needed a couple of hewn beams once, and after dropping a dead Silver Maple in a friend's yard, it turned out to be the perfect log to use.  Even if it wasn't dry Maple, I still would have cheated with a chainsaw.  Being a dry Maple, we almost Had to have some motorized help.

Sorry, the software I built this website with is no longer supported, and it dropped parts of the text, so it doesn't read well.  I'm in the process of changing to other software, but no telling how long it will take.  I can't edit this one to make any corrections.

structural

[DonW]

I needed a couple of hewn beams once, and after dropping a dead Silver Maple in a friend's yard, it turned out to be the perfect log to use.  Even if it wasn't dry Maple, I still would have cheated with a chainsaw.  Being a dry Maple, we almost Had to have some motorized help.

Sorry, the software I built this website with is no longer supported, and it dropped parts of the text, so it doesn't read well.  I'm in the process of changing to other software, but no telling how long it will take.  I can't edit this one to make any corrections.

structural

This is the attitude to conservation, or even restoration, I myself subscribe to, not going from the material condition of a structure primarily, but rather from the point of view of the humans who worked on that structure,and who were if anything pragmatists in orientation. But conservation after all is far from a settled matter and the one will rationalize one way and the other another. 

[Brad_bb]

I cheat and mill a timber 1/2" oversize on each face.  Then I score with felling axe and then use the broadaxe.  Finished look is no different from hewing from a full log, but you get to keep the sidewood boards with my method.  It's good especially if you're hewing walnut.  When I score, I have the timber up on cribbing ponies which brings the face up to about mid thigh height.  I score the top face because it's better on your body.  I roll the timber 90 degees and hew that face with the broadaxe.  I keep one knee on the timber(inside knee).  It's not hard on my back, but it gives your upper body a workout.  I'm too much overweight and almost 50, but I did 22 beams over the course of 2 months last year.

[everythingwood]

When I hewed beams I removed the waste by cutting down almost to the line every four inches with a chainsaw then knocked the blocks off with a felling axe.  After that I score and hew.

The axe he is using looks like a double bevel.  The one I have is a single bevel with a cutting edge that is nearly straight and probably close to a foot long.  I don't think it was every meant to be swung like an axe. It works much better used like a heavy slick.