An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual
Using Axes, continued
Hewing
Hewing is shaping a log with an ax or an adz. The primary tools are the single-bit ax and the hewing or broad ax. The single-bit ax is used for scoring, a process of chopping cuts perpendicular to the length of the log down to a chalk line marked on the log. This line marks the edge where you want the flat, hewn surface.
Follow the scoring process with broad ax hewing. An adz is sometimes used for the final dressing of the hewn log. Hewing can convert a round log from the woods into a square timber or a partially squared timber called a cant. Hewing doesn't work well on dry logs, so hew green, freshly cut logs. Here is a summary of the steps to follow:
Remove the bark from the log using a drawknife (Figure 95), bark spud (Figure 96), or possibly your single-bit ax. Place the log crossways on two other short sections of log that have a V-notch chopped in them to cradle the log. The log to be hewn should be placed in these V-notched cross sections, called yokes, at a height that is comfortable to hew. The position should be about knee high or a little bit higher.
Place wood chips, a wood slab, or an old board on the ground underneath the log to keep the broad ax from digging into dirt and rocks. Clamp the log to the yokes with log dogs, big iron staples driven into both the yoke and the log at both ends (Figure 97). This keeps the log from moving from its proper position.
Figure 95--Removing bark from a green log
with a drawknife.
Figure 96--Using a bark spud.
Figure 97--Use a log dog to secure the log to the yoke.
Using a level or a plumb bob (Figure 98), scribe a vertical line on the small end of the log to mark the depth to which you want to hew. Then, to make sure the log is large enough, measure out the final end dimensions of the cant or beam you wish to create. Scribe this layout on the small end of the log first, because it is more difficult to fit it there than on the large end of the log.
Figure 98--Lay out the dimensions of the beam
on the small end on the log.
Now move to the large or butt end of the log and repeat the process of scribing the end dimensions of the beam or cant.
Snap a chalk line from the upper corner of the layout on one end to the corresponding corner on the other end (Figure 99). It is easier to do if you first cut a notch in the log with your pocket knife immediately above the scribed vertical line. Drive a nail into the vertical line just deep enough to hold one end of the chalk line. Run the chalk line up through the notch and along the length of the log (Figure 100). Then, holding the line tightly at the other end, snap the line by raising it straight up and letting it go.
Figure 99--The chalk line will mark the top
side of the hewn surface.
