Anyone have any tips on how to set up the log to be hewn so that it does not shift or turn. I have been quick notching 2 of the cutoffs of the same tree and laying them perp. to the log to be hewn and rolling the log into the notches, then hammering a dog at each support end, laying out and then trying to hew two parallel sides before rolling the log to hew the other two sides. Most of the work has gone well, except that I am having trouble keeping the log from shfting out of plumb and even sometimes the whole assembly(log and supports and dogs)is shifting. Its been difficult to keep sides parallel and timber square. Am I missing some important detail to setup that would avoid this shifting, rolling of the setup? With the amount of force and frequency of axe strikes that this setup takes there has to be a way of keeping it stable. All of my experience has come out on the forest floor where the conditions are less than ideal but I would think this is most common scenario for a hewer of fresh timber. tb
