HEWING DOUGLAS FIR

Has anyone had experience hewing Doug Fir?
I am interested in comments regarding the difficulty due to its more brittle nature and comparison of Doug Fir versus other species.
thank you,
Collin

have not hewn douglas fir, but just spent a few days hewing hemlock, which will be similar. Get your axe sharp as possible, and it will be best to have both left and right handed models, or be able to use your axe backwards, or use a slick. The grain has to be worked from the correct direction or it will blow out. Having some glue and finishing nails on hand might be a good idea....

Hi Colin

Fir hews pretty nicely when it's freshly felled. I'd say this is one of the biggest differences between hewing fir and other species...you've really got to get on it right away. If it sits around and loses it's free-water, then it becomes brittle and even hewing with really sharp tools will suffer some crossgrain tear-out. Another thing I've noticed is that the younger, 3rd-growth stuff is waaaaay easier to hew than the more mature fibre...mostly because there's so much more juicy sapwood I think. Happy chopping!

Hi Collin:
I couldn't help jumping in here as hewing was my favorite sport for quite a number of years.
As Mark said keep your axe as sharp as possible at all times not just to hew fir, it will give you better control, with less effort and will be more efficient.
We hewed quite a number of large hemlocks for a 3 bay barn, these were freshly cut, and squared 12 by 12 timber at 36 feet without any wane.
They worked well but you followed the proper proceedure of hewing ie: working from the top to the bottom on each pass.
We never did as Mark suggests using the axe backwards, I have no idea what or how this could be done safely, especially with a broadaxe's cutting edge bevelled one way, and we never used a slick during the hewing process, or glue or finishing nails, maybe I have missed something over the years!
I did though hew 50-- 8 by 8 timbers out of cedar and it was the toughest hewing of my career, cedar is a terrible wood to work with. I do know that many barns and log houses were constructed using cedar timbers, especially barns, I guess the extra effort paid off because of the longjevity of the timer being able to last the test of time. I can honestly say that I never hewed fir, but I do suspect that if it was worked green and in the proper orientation to the grain that it would not be too bad.
Well good luck--
The Northern hewer

Thank you Gordon and Northern Hewer for the informative comments.
I have been debating whether to use Douglas Fir or importing Red Oak for a upcoming project. It is a very large barn:40x60 plus sheds, etc. I recently tried hewing some of our Interior Doug Fir and it seemed quite brittle. I metered it at approx 28% moisture content which is quite dry. I am getting information that this is common for Inland Douglas Fir.
I am hoping to get the Doug Fir dripping wet/green as Gordon suggests.
Although I do fear being stuck hewing a unforgiving species on such a large endevor,I think that I may go for it. It goes against my grain to import wood from afar.
Wish me luck.
-Collin

the hemlock I was working with was fairly dry, hence the nails and glue....

What I meant by backwards broadaxing is this:
spin the handle 180deg and walk to the other side of the axe, keeping the flat back of the axe head against the wood(your hands are now above the blade, rather than below). In this way it's possible to do small bits of opposite hand hewing at the top of the timber, which is usually where you need it most. Having both right and left axes is a better situation.

I've been hewing Doug Fir all weekend at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk and it's not too bad for a softwood. I found that even though it had been felled a couple of weeks ago it was beginning to nip my axe as I worked it, the resiny fibrous nature of it was very alien to an oak man. I agree with Gord, you need to get right onto it and with a nice sharp axe. My Pennsylvania pattern worked pretty well on it but I was mostly using 18th cent. Austrian axes and the Gransfors 10th cent. Rosskilde repro (it being Sutton Hoo). I'd still rather hew fresh oak all day though! Have fun!

In the end I decided to go with Red oak for all of the hewn pieces in the barn. They are coming from Hocshtetler Mills in Ohio. They will dry out some on the way out, but I believe overall it will be a better choice. The rest of the frame: studding, rafters, etc will be rough sawn Douglas Fir.
I will be a lot better hewer after 15,000 board feet of it!
Collin