Hello,

I,m new to this group and very new to hewing. I have a single beveled hewing axe and also a double beveled one (1900 Granfors model i received by mistake..kept it as it looks very nice). Since the single beveled one is not ready yet (minor reshaping and sharpening needed) I decided to start with the double beveled model. I do my scoring and juggling with a scoring axe and the hewing qwith the hewing axe. However, it is very hard to make a flat surface with the double beveled broad axe. Rather it leaves a scalloped surface that i find very attractive. the scallops are very shallow. It looks rather like a sculpted flat surface, rather than a totally flat surface. However, is this totally non desirable? It is not as smooth as what i see that gets done with the standard broad axe, but I like the effect. Please some pros and cons.

By the way, I am totally new at this, and nobody in my family has any experience with this. So I've browsed a lot, read a lot, bought a few books on general axe work and beam work and will gladly take any advice. In the meantime, i consider my work as practise and the beams satisfy me for the time being. Luckily, from beam to beam, I see my improvements.

Thanks,

francois

the nice thing about hewing IMO is that the beauty lies in the eye of the hewer .
I've hewed a few pcs now that some people might look at and think I have no clue what I'm doing (and that might be the case from certain angles)...but to me an my GF they have the look we're after so we're happy

I know the look you are describing, and while I haven't seen anything quite like it on old timbers around here, I too think that it looks nice.

pros -- looks nice, uses the tool you have

cons -- perhaps may not be completely authentic for matching a specific style of hewing. (But unless that is what you are trying to do, who cares?)

The funny thing is if you find a critic you can always get them to hew a log for you and see if they have any comments left! I think a double bevel would be inefficient. Check out McRaven's book and I think you really cant go wrong with a hewn timber

Hi Francois:

I have included a reply in your other post that might help you form an opinion about what a hewn timber should look like in my opinion, and from the many hewn timbers that I have observed over the years.

I will post some hewing pictures on the "Historic buildings" thread you are welcome to drop by for a look



Good luck

NH

that is the finish that axe produces. i like it too- it makes the timber look sculptural. i think it's a good axe for a last, finishing pass- that's how i use it at least. being able to get your hand right up under the beard of the blade allows alot of control and you can get a really fine cut out of it. the gransfor axe seems harder to work for a first pass on a log though.

in terms of detractions from a scalloped finish, it means that it's necessary to used housed joints or at least plane the area around the joint flat, and that it's tough to use a circular saw in cutting the joinery. but then, if you're doing all that chopping a little push push with the handsaw feels like an easy time!