[Carolinajim]

So, I have a bid in on a froe...a tool used to make shingles, rough our furniture pieces or just make kindling for starting a fire (photo courtesy of the shelter institute).


A froe might more aptly be called a finger saver since you wack it while it does all the dangerous close in work of splitting a piece of wood.  You whack the thing with a wooden maul.

Right now I am using an old machete made in Sheffield.  But without the leverage it just isn't the same.

I started cutting my wood in 3 or 4 foot lenghts versus firewood lengths.  Makes for easier stacking.  I let it dry for a year put it in a sawbuck and cut it as I need it.  I do cut the larger logs into firewood size and split those by axe.

Here's a picture of a pretty pile of wood I made just the other day.



I finally found a used for treated board pieces left over from a fencing project.  I fashioned them in to shingle of sorts and built a roof over my wood pile to keep it dry while the wood seasons for a year or so.

[hexhammeasure]

NEAT... I like the roof idea.

I often wondered if it was necessary to have a lid on the length piles but i've never seen it done.

we do the same re lengths for smaller diameter wood and log the larger diameters. Mainly because we split the big stuff while still green because if you dry them first they have a tendency to explode apart when splitting

[Carolinajim]

Well I lost out on the bidding so I ordered an Ox head froe.  I can't wait to start riving some shingles.

[sandy]

We are off to cut up some trees on Saturday,  with the landowners permission and it made me smile as my partner took a photo of the logs,  he is easily pleased  by a nice pile!!

[Carolinajim]

Here is a more orderly stack of wood.  This time topped with someold vinyl siding, three steel t posts and an old piece of tire.  Simplicity, functionality and beauty (in the eye of the beholder of course).
About 10 million BTUs worth of red maple, cut stacked and split (by hand...who needs gym)  into 1/2 cord.

[Carolinajim]

Recommend everyone who burns wood have a froe in the wood shed.  The best tool for making kindling.  I am able, with pine or oak, to make kindling down to the size of a pencil.

Really good way to preserve my ability to count to 10 using my fingers.  Keeps the fingers away from the cutting.

[carl]

almost porn , that picture. i will look out for a froe. I've just got into trouble for chopping kindling by they back door, during the snow, and cracking a stone slab.( just inside the back door)

[Carolinajim]

That particular beauty was crafted with an axe.  With a froe I can take a knot free piece of firewood and reduce it to pencil sized pieces in just a few minutes.

Oh yea...better the stone than a thumb! 

Here is a picture of the oxhead froe, my maul and some of the pitch pine (lighter'd wood) I split for fire starting. 

[TonytheWood]

Hello LogSplitters   

I have access to various trees, large branches, fallen and pallet wood, etc. on a regular, legal, and frequent basis, along with ample [urban] storage space, my own chain saw, "medium/heavy" drop-back trailer - transporter, etc.
 
ADVICE PLEASE:

1) Type/make/etc of multi-fuel single room stove, approx 5 KW, and/or
back boiler - supplementary Central heating and room feature stove?

2) DIY Log Splitter plans/design source?
I have/have access to, welding/boring/cutting equipment.
Ditto steel mini RSJs
13 Amp, 250V supply only

3) Plans/design for- DIY Green wood maturing facility?

4) Plans/design for -Ready-to-burn wood storage facility

Any help very gratefully rec'd.

Tony t'amateur

AAA.Happy.Man@googlemail.com

[TonytheWood]

Hello LogSplitters   

I have access to various trees, large branches, fallen logs, and pallet wood, etc. on a regular, legal, and frequent basis, along with ample [urban] storage space, my own chain saw, "medium/heavy" drop-back trailer - transporter, etc.
 
ADVICE PLEASE:

1) Type/make/etc of multi-fuel single room stove, approx 5 KW, and/or
back boiler - supplementary Central heating and room feature stove?

2) DIY Log Splitter plans/design source?
I have/have access to, welding/boring/cutting equipment.
Ditto steel mini RSJs
13 Amp, 250V supply only

3) Plans/design for- DIY Green wood maturing facility?

4) Plans/design for -Ready-to-burn wood storage facility

Any help very gratefully rec'd.

Tony t'amateur

AAA.Happy.Man@googlemail.com

[Norfolk Newby]

I put in a closed stove to burn wood about a year ago and have been very pleased with it. The stove sits inside the chimney structure with only its front face visible. Slots above and below allow air to circulate taking heat from the case into the room. The glass panel in the door gives a view of the wood burning without allowing the wood to burn too quickly so the consumption of fuel is reasonable - about 1.5kg per hour to produce 5-6 kw of heat.

The fire doesn't have a boiler so it only produces heat directly into the living room. However, a larger version (8kw) has the possibility of fitting ducts to take warm air in an adjacent room. There is an electric fan in the base of the fire to blow air wherever it is required.

I am using mainly Ash logs. These burn cleanly when dry. The stove can take logs up to 30cm long. I cut them with a small chain saw and then split anything over 12cm diameter using a 6hp hydraulic splitter I hired for a day. This was done at my house as it required mains electricity. It worked best with 2 people; one operating the machine and one placing the logs. I will repeat the splitter hire as in 1 day it produced more logs than I needed for the winter. Making or buying a splitter isn't worthwhile considering my consumption of wood. You may need more logs than me.

The splitter also made a good pile of kindling by using it to slice off small sticks from a few large logs,

[Carolinajim]

You might try just a simple greenhouse like mine for a wood curing facility.  In the summer temperatures can soar well past 140F.  Put a couple of exhaust fans on the house and I believe you would have a nice facility for drying wood.  You could paint some tin black and build a short black wall on the north side...then the temps would really get up there.

The greenhouse I have could be set up so that a trailer full of wood could be placed inside and left to dry for ... this would take some experimentation a week, a month?

You can construct a green house like mine for <$500 US. 

Free plan for an inexpensive greenhouse at http://www.redbayfarm.com/Voting.html

[Norfolk Newby]

Hi Jim

That's an interesting idea. I have stacked the wood for this winter back in the early spring and put a sheet of plastic over it to keep the worst of the rain off. It's been very dry here since but the idea of a greenhouse to speed up the process deserves investigation.

The advice here is to store the cut wood for at least a year to dry it before burning. That means having a lot of timber stacked near the house which is unsightly and takes up more space than I would like. Most of it comprises ash trunks about 6 - 8" diameter. The stove takes wood up to 12" long so I cut and split the trunks while the weather is still warm.

My land has about 30 coppiced ash trees forming the main elements in a 200 yard long hedge so I have a reasonably sustainable supply of fuel. I take about 1 ton of wood per year to provide the pleasure of a fire when I fancy it or as backup to the gas fired central heating (to cover for boiler failure or power cuts). So the wood isn't to provide my main source of heat.

Thanks for the greenhouse idea

NN

[Carolinajim]

NN,
You are welcome.  I have my wood piles way out back....they are still deemed unsightly by my wife.  I think they are attractive.

Anyway, the greenhouse (more precisely a hoop cold frame) idea might work.  If I do this I would try to get a covered trailer that I could fill with wood and stick inside the greenhouse in the summer...when a greenhouse isn't used.

The idea would be to cut the wood in the late winter and load up the trailer and cover with a tarp.  Once the temps warm up then the trailer could be pushed into the unused greenhouse (to hot in the summer...at least it is here).

Here a cord or two of wood is all that is needed for the winter and that would easily fit in a relatively small greenhouse for curing.

Here are some plans for solar kilns...but probably to elaborate for firewood.

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WoodDrying/wood_kiln.htm

jim

[Donald]

Hi,
I'm all for saving hands and fingers en such, but don't forget that the fro is a venerable old woodworking tool useful for much more that making kindling. Like in this example http://web.mac.com/donwagstaff/iWeb/Farmhouse%20restoration/Blog/Blog.html
Greetings,
Don