advice on splitting a cedar post?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:41 pm
Seems like to me there are more than a few wordworking experts here at JEM forum, so I thought this a good place for my question. I have split lots of sticks before, but only for burning, never before when I actually cared much about controlling everything about the spilt.
I have 2 cedar posts, which I have had for over 15 years, they have dried (and therefore shrunk somewhat in diameter) during that time, amazingly which no checking. When I first bought them (I used to carve knick-knacky things from them), if you knocked on it you got a dull sound and it felt soft - it was so soft only the sharpest tools would make a nice clean cut - NOW after all these years, a knock yields a nice clear sharp sound and eben the outer layer of the wood seems hard.
Now I think I want to split one of them to carve thwarts and (tiny) breasthooks.
So I need advice on splitting a cedar post -
Can I simply start by giving it a whack on one end and trust it to make a nice straight split?
or must I use the methodically careful approach of gradually inserting little wedges along where I want the split to occur and hope to get the split I want?
(note- I have no access to a band saw or sawmill, and rely on hand-held tools for this kind of thing)
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Les
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMRWhmqJwHc
I have 2 cedar posts, which I have had for over 15 years, they have dried (and therefore shrunk somewhat in diameter) during that time, amazingly which no checking. When I first bought them (I used to carve knick-knacky things from them), if you knocked on it you got a dull sound and it felt soft - it was so soft only the sharpest tools would make a nice clean cut - NOW after all these years, a knock yields a nice clear sharp sound and eben the outer layer of the wood seems hard.
Now I think I want to split one of them to carve thwarts and (tiny) breasthooks.
So I need advice on splitting a cedar post -
Can I simply start by giving it a whack on one end and trust it to make a nice straight split?
or must I use the methodically careful approach of gradually inserting little wedges along where I want the split to occur and hope to get the split I want?
(note- I have no access to a band saw or sawmill, and rely on hand-held tools for this kind of thing)
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Les
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMRWhmqJwHc