What do I use to hit a froe?

[Chris Atzinger]

Hi,

We are planning on taking down a big white oak tree in a few weeks and milling it up into a variety of boards with a portable sawmill. After reading Making a Joint Stool from a Tree I want to take a section of the trunk and split it by hand with wedges and a froe to get straight grain stock for that project.

Froes, I have. Something to hit them, I don't have. I was planning to make a mallet/beadle out of some osage orange, if I can find some. My question to the group, is should I make it like an oversized joiners mallet (rectangular head), or an oversided carvers mallet (round head)? What are the pros/cons?

Does anyone know where I can get a sizeable chunk of osage orange? I have tried my local turning store and woodcraft.

Thanks!
Chris

[Charlie Stanford]

Hi,

We are planning on taking down a big white oak tree in a few weeks and milling it up into a variety of boards with a portable sawmill. After reading Making a Joint Stool from a Tree I want to take a section of the trunk and split it by hand with wedges and a froe to get straight grain stock for that project.

Froes, I have. Something to hit them, I don't have. I was planning to make a mallet/beadle out of some osage orange, if I can find some. My question to the group, is should I make it like an oversized joiners mallet (rectangular head), or an oversided carvers mallet (round head)? What are the pros/cons?

Does anyone know where I can get a sizeable chunk of osage orange? I have tried my local turning store and woodcraft.

Thanks!
Chris

A Dogwood root maul.

[David Posey]

Cut off a bit of a limb after you fell the tree, then make a handle on it with a hatchet and drawknife. Froe mallets are going to get chewed up no matter what they're made of, so make it cheap and easily replaceable.

[Scott M Perry]

I have a maul that is literally a cut-off branch of some local hardwood. Primitive, but effective. I'll see if I can't shoot a picture tonight.

Less crude, I turned a short-ish, bat-shaped club from some ash once. Works fine, but lacks the heft and authority of the other maul.

[EDIT] Here's a photo:

[Bob Glenn]

Mine is just a piece of hickory that I pulled out of the firewood pile. Nothing fancy. I just hewed one end into a handle with my ax.

[seth lowden]

A Dogwood root maul.

That's what I use.

[Rodney Walker]

What David Posey said. A straight section of oak limb will get the job done and if you chew it up it'll be easy to get another.
Rodney

[Jim Koepke]

Most of my froe whackers are made out of pieces of fire wood. One is made out of about an 8" diameter section that was put in the lathe to turn a handle. Use it a while and the bark comes off all by it self.

Here is one with just a handle turning and bark removal on the lathe:

Big Whacker.jpg

Made another just using a hatchet and a spoke shave.

Here is a picture of it:

100_4609.jpg

The spoke shave used was round bottomed.

Made one that likely has gone up in smoke in the fire place with just an axe.

If the piece is tapered, keep the big end for striking.



jtk

[Mark Wyatt]

I use something like Jim has in his picture. Side note: don't let ash dry to a low moisture content and then try to split it with a froe. Ouch!

[Chris Fournier]

A wooden maul that is sometimes referred to as a "commander".

[harry strasil]

A Commander is a 15 lb hammer looking thing that was used to drive the timbers into their mortices when timber framing.
The best is a root maul, because the base of a small tree where the roots come out has no grain, its all whichway which prevents splitting. I have a froe maul made out of osage orange when I was just starting and I found out quickly that using it on the edge of a froe it tends to seperate rather easily and quickly like hickory does when they pound it to peel strips for making chair seats.

[Jim Koepke]

I found out quickly that using it on the edge of a froe it tends to seperate rather easily and quickly like hickory does when they pound it to peel strips for making chair seats.

My big one is made from a piece of alder fire wood. It tends to chip out after awhile. No problem, toss it in the fire place when it has past its usefulness.

My neighbor told me the other piece is a kind of wild cherry. Still learning the local trees. They are different than the ones of my California days.

jtk

[John Coloccia]

I use whatever short chunk of wood I happen to have handy. It's usually a piece of 2X4.

BTW, splitting won't necessarily give you straight grained wood. It will just reveal what has runout and what doesn't. If you really want no runout, plan on having a bunch of wasted wood unless you get lucky. Definitely go for the longest pieces first.

[Chris Fournier]

A Commander is a 15 lb hammer looking thing that was used to drive the timbers into their mortices when timber framing.
The best is a root maul, because the base of a small tree where the roots come out has no grain, its all whichway which prevents splitting. I have a froe maul made out of osage orange when I was just starting and I found out quickly that using it on the edge of a froe it tends to seperate rather easily and quickly like hickory does when they pound it to peel strips for making chair seats.

I stand corrected!