Hi Toivo,

It's Phleps not Phelps.

That young fellow sure seemed to be able to control his axe with breathtaking accuracy. I am not sure that many could emulate this skill - but with practice who knows ?

I also now understand why those axes have such a pronounced curve allowing the axeman to work closer and closer towards the line or end of his tenon cut.

If a significant number of hours went into converting the log, laying this up in the stack and scribing same then is it really that important to run the risk of ruining everything with one misplaced swing of the axe or an entire chunk being pulled out of the tenon face due to brittle grain falure following the course of the annual rings ?

Regards

Ken Hume