Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: heavydraft]
#28092
02/09/12 09:42 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 306
Cecile en Don Wa
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Hi, By way of coincidence I was just looking at a post in the barn that is needing a new section spliced in and it has scoring marks facing down though I cannot say if this is representative of any standard practice. I don't think so though because there will most likely always be scoring markes in opposite directions unless, as sometimes is the case hewing was done by right and left handed hewers or someone with extraordinary ambidextrous skills.
Greetings,
Don Wagstaff
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: Cecile en Don Wa]
#28095
02/09/12 11:56 PM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 946
D L Bahler
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Don, as I have said before, you don't have to be a lefty to hew with a left handed axe. My favorite axe is left handed, and is what I use for all of my finishing.
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: D L Bahler]
#28097
02/10/12 01:35 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,198
northern hewer
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Hello everyone tonight
Heavy draft--The resulting direction of scoring marks on hewn timbers used in frames have nothing to do with their final position be it up or down or sideways, it is like a game in a casino one never knows where the timber will end up, except if it is being hewn for a particular spot.
Dl--Agree--hewing with right or left handed broadaxes by right or left handed people--might not follow traditional lines BUT as a general rule right handed broadaxes or axe heads handled for right handed people are used in a particular way, usually one that feels the most comfortable and can be used as safely as possible, the same is true for left handed people, and left handed broad axes or broadaxes handled for left handed people.
Some people can chop right or left and feel very comfortable using either hand, I personally like many other people is not included in this group, so I stick to my hand which is right handed, meaning that I grasp the axe or any other tool the closest to the head with my right hand.
enjoy
NH
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: northern hewer]
#28099
02/10/12 03:55 AM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 19
heavydraft
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Hi,
I imagine it may not matter, but my interpretation of score up (up from the butt, hew down is run out would head away from the finished piece and not into it. I am not particularly looking at a right/left thing, I can chop both ways, though proceeded with hewing lefty because it felt awkward, being left eye dominant. Traditional orientation would put a post with its post down.
Northern hewer I have enjoyed your reflections of your farm years, as I have farmed and logged with horses for a while.
Good night brandon
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: heavydraft]
#28100
02/10/12 04:00 AM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 19
heavydraft
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correction- have not proceeded hewing lefty
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: heavydraft]
#28101
02/10/12 08:56 AM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 306
Cecile en Don Wa
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Hello,
We all have our own, interesting in their own right, idiosyncrasies when it comes to this practice, and it certainly cannot be denied that one can pick up any axe and go at it from one side or the other with either left or right hand dominance although this does beg certain questions when talking about an axe with single bevel. But I have to say that I think of this idea of hewing from the but up as a myth that doesn't really make sense, especially in combination with scoring or notching. The idea as I understand it is based on the theoretical notion that the tree is made up of cones stacked one over the other with the outermost cone ending somewhere short of the one proceeding it and so any fractures will follow the rings outward, and at the same time leading to a thicker but and thinner top . This is fine in and of itself but when knots, whorls, twist, reaction wood to name a few, lets say deviations from that idea, are figured in, the practical reveals the myth. Maybe in this instance a forum like this one can be useful in either dispelling such myths or providing some actual grounding of the practice. I've put down my position, probably in an overly emphatic way, but lets call it an initial posture.
Greetings,
Don Wagstaff
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: Cecile en Don Wa]
#28103
02/10/12 11:59 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 961
Ken Hume
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Hi Richard, I searched through the photo archives and eventually found a shot of an open hall fire in action, just as it was started up on a late winters afternoon. Open Hall Hearth This hall is in North Cray at Singleton and shows the centrally positioned hearth and the hall mullion windows & shuters (lower open upper closed) which can maybe be seen more clearly from outside the building. North Cray Open Hall The draught across the fire is quite dramatic with rising sparks leaving a photographic trail pointing towards the hall door which had been left open to help clear the start up smoke. Regards Ken Hume
Looking back to see the way ahead !
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: Ken Hume]
#28120
02/12/12 01:43 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,198
northern hewer
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Hello everyone tonight
Don:
I did alot of hewing over the years, probably right up there with the record holder, my preference was to do the rough hewing, or knocking off the large sections working from the bottom or butt end of the log towards the top end, then for the final pass I would work backing up along the same side again from the top to the butt end, it was important to work in this way because of the natural run out of the grain of the tree from top to bottom
This final pass was removing about 1" of material, working right down to the blue chalk line, or "working to line" as the old people would say
I hope this information help you visualize the hewing proceedures as used in this neck of the woods,--others may use alternate ways I can't speak for them, I used a single bevel broad axe about 9" in width on the cutting edge, employing a 3" off set handle--
And further to this subject at UCV in their collection of old tools the many broadaxes that are there are single bevel axes, many still with their original handles, some in good shape and others not, and I might say not one double bevel
Hi Ken:-- great stuff--lovely photos--sure shows how the central hearth really works, providing that mother nature wants to cooperate, must have been a bit tricky in a high wind, but then again I suspect they had plan B and C in these cases
I also think about the teepee with the centre fire and the smoke outlet at the top, bet it worked pretty good--maybe even better than cross ventilation--what do you think Ken--just food for thought
NH
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: northern hewer]
#28122
02/12/12 08:47 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 961
Ken Hume
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Hi Richard, The method of smoke extraction employed was variable depending upon the weather and time of year. On calm days the smoke simply rose and exited through gaps in the roof tiles. This had a slightly antiseptic effect on mosses and liverworts which would normally have grown on the roof with the location of an open hall being clearly visible from the outside by just looking for clean roof tiles. If you look again at the photo for North Cray you will see this effect. For a clearer explanation on the operation of open halls please check out this link Open Hall Operation Regards Ken Hume
Looking back to see the way ahead !
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Re: historic hewing questionnaire
[Re: northern hewer]
#28124
02/12/12 04:19 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 306
Cecile en Don Wa
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Hello Richard,
Nah, sorry but I can't make out what you are actually doing. But anyway maybe you could clear up one thing relating to bottom-up hewing then because the way I see it there are two ways it can be done to square up a timber, using single beveled axes:
The One Way
Working side A to completion, laying aside the axe and taking up another axe with the opposite bevel configuration and working side B to completion, freeing up the log, if it's at all secured, rotating it 90 degrees and repeating the process to get a four sided timber. (Not everybody chooses to use a single beveled axe with the flat side towards the wood, so changing axes to hew opposite sides bottom-up is avoidable apparently.)
The Other Way
Working side A to completion, shifting the position of the log to be able to hew another of the surfaces from exactly the same position and orientation and in the same direction. In other words, repositioning the log for each of the sides needing to be hewn.
I guess a third alternative could be, were the stipulation of using single beveled axes dropped - or maybe not, (see qualification at the end of The One Way), to just hew with equal accuracy and speed and competence from both sides changing from left hand to right hand work at will, regardless of the tool in hand.
There is room also for the fourth alternative naturally and that's the one I'm just not able to see right now. Maybe you can point the way around my obstinacy.
The open fireplace that I'm aware of had less to do with heating space - though that too, warmth being more of a luxury - and more to do with cooking and so it was near to where the cooking gear could be suspended. Also the cooking fire was more smoldering embers than raging flame. Some sketches made by Rembrandt depict trapdoor openings in the straw or thatch roof for ventilating smoke. These examples though are maybe later that what Ken is referring to and so might indicate a migration of the fireplace from center of the enclosure to one of the sidewalls. There is a house here in Holland where the residents lived with such a cooking source, along with sharing the room with their farm animals, up until 1920. On a personal note, I once got taken in for a night by some folks out in the booneys who also cooked on an open fire in the house. As long as you are sitting or laying on the ground, which was their general habit indoors, smoke is not a short term problem except maybe at the start of the day when the fire is lit by the woman before the sun rises.
Greetings,
Don Wagstaff
Last edited by Cecile en Don Wa; 02/12/12 04:21 PM. Reason: earmarked
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