Latest hewing adventure...

[ChrisGermany]

This was my first real attempt with the new double-beveled axe from John Neeman. It's taken a bit of getting used to, but I like it better than a single-bevel now.



 


 


 


 


 

[ChrisGermany]

 You can see the knobby knees of my big helper there in the background. That's my wee boy. He's about to turn six, and loves "helping" daddy. He swings his little broad-hatchet like a pro.

I still haven't gotten the hang of that nice, even wave pattern like TW and others display. But it looks nice.



  

 

 

[Axe Handle Hound]

Nice looking work!  The last photo in the first post makes it look like you planed the log after hewing. 

[ChrisGermany]

Thanks, bud. It's just a forgiving wood. The water oak I've hewn splits easy and leaves a clean surface even for novice hewers like me who are still developing our stroke.

[dukndog]

Great job Chris!! It's always fun when the kids hang out with dad. Enjoy it while you can....they grow up too fast!!!

[ChrisGermany]

Yes sir. I was going through some pictures from a couple years ago just the other day. It blew my mind how much the kid's grown in that short time. He's lost that "baby" look and turned into a little man. I asked him the other day if he was going to be a log-hewer like Daddy when he grew up, and he gave me a very serious face, and said ...."No, Dad. I'm going to be a knight. But I'll still hew logs with ya."

[D L Bahler]

What wood do you have there? From here looks sort of like ash...

I'd like to see some more pictures of this axe too. Is it a Finnish or a Swedish style?

[nebruks]

What wood do you have there? From here looks sort of like ash...

I'd like to see some more pictures of this axe too. Is it a Finnish or a Swedish style?

David, It is a finnish/baltic style broad axe. We have designed it after research of baltic and finnish historical broad axes.
William, have you used only that broad axe for all the hewing process? Looks perfect surface.

[ChrisGermany]

It's water oak, sir, a wood very similar in grain to red oak. I used the same axe for all three steps, from notching and rough-hewing to the smooth finish.

On the spots that weren't perfectly smooth, I used the axe as a hand-chisel and shaved off small pieces. It's a wonderful tool.

[TW]

That looks good. When you have gotten that far you will very soon learn the pattern. You are more than half-ways towards learning!

If you now turn your back towards the round part of the log straddling the log and work your way backwards you will be there. The opposite way to American-English hewing practices. If you place the cuts one above the other and hew a complete"wave" across the entire face of the log before moving to the next "wave" you will get very close to the "rough hewing" pattern found in old buildings around here.

If you want  to go one step further in Finnish-Swedish hewing you could then go back to the way you stand now but take much lighter cuts than you presently do from the already rough hewn log. You place the cuts one above another and hew a wave at a time. That is our "smooth hewing" practice for smoothing the stacked walls of a house.

If you want to reach the ultimate apex of smooth hewing there is another even more advanced technique that produces a fish bone pattern of light cuts. I have not yet managed to reproduce it fully and the last men who knew it died in the mid 19th century but I will report back once I find out how it was done. I have a few clues to follow and likely I have a job on the way that will include it.

I prefer a felling axe for cutting the cross grain notches. The short thin blade of a felling axe works better in cross grain that the long thick blade of a broad axe.

GOOD LUCK

[D L Bahler]

Here's some of our work from the past couple weeks...



 


 

[ChrisGermany]

Thank you kindly for the description of that method, TW. I'm going to give it a try and see how it turns out. Would love to see pictures of the fish bone pattern you mentioned, if you happen to figure it out. I'll bet that was very attractive and hard to manage.

And I'm jealous, Mr. Bahler. Would love to have a nice pile of logs to hew! The hewing part of things is nearly over for my little man's cabin project. Got to notch and fit next.