Chop Wood

S

siguy

Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
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just wanted to put this together to help out anyone that is less experienced than me with an axe. it has taken me alot of experimenting, reading and watching chopping competitions on youtube to develop this technique, and i figured i would condense it and put it here.

this tutorial focuses on cutting large wood with a packable axe. this works the same way, but is easier, with a larger and heavier axe. i am lusting after an iltis felling axe that could probably get through the log shown in 1/4 the time...but for now i am just practicing with the little chopper...

my disclaimer, as with all tutorials, is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. this is the technique that i have developed, and it is certainly not the only one, but i am just putting it up here to help out anyone that it might, and also in case anyone wants to critique my form and point out better things i could do.

anyways, on to it!

i start with a log. this one is hemlock i think...
chop1.jpg


first i strip the bark and start two small notches a little farther apart than the diameter of the log. take note that these notches are a little too close.
chop3.jpg


take several swings all along the sides of each small notch into the middle. keep swinging until your first chip pops out.
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keep going at the same angle, swinging along the same lines. keep popping out more chips.
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keep going until your notch bottoms out. at this point you could widen the notch and keep going from this side, but it is easier to just roll the log over. if you are bucking up a whole tree like you probably would be in the woods, i would suggest you keep going from the same side or chop your notches on the sides of the log instead of the top. chopping on the side of the log is far more dangerous though, and it keeps you bent over the whole time, which hurts...
IMG_00141.jpg


roll the log over and start the whole process over again...
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eventually you will cut all the way through.
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in a few minutes i will post a video showing a good rythm and also the actual striking angle. i had a video showing the whole process from start to finish but it didn't work for some reason, so you will have to make do with this one...

thanks for looking. hope this helps someone. also, any suggestions or questions are always welcome...

oh, and i was wearing flip flops :eek: ;)
 
That's a job that most folks would skip thinking the log was much too big to work with.

Nice tutorial.
 
when you pace yourself it really isn't that much work...

credit goes to gene (gunknifenut) by the way for teaching me to pace myself last april at the CT gathering.
 
Nice how-to. I have a pack-axe coming to me from another forum member. Thought it was time I climb on board axe wise...
 
My problem has always been 1) starting with too narrow of a notch and 2) always reverting back to alternating strokes.
 
There you have it Simon..awesome technique. If you take the first 2 notches, and continue all the way down a Timber..you can make a pretty flat log...again, rotate 90 degrees, and do it again..after the fourth time, you have a Timber Beam. Repeat the Process about 60-80 times, and you can construct a small log cabin with flat walls. If you are careful, and develop the technique..you can actually make wooden shakes (shingles) from between the notches as you work...that way, you have the supplies to fashion a waterproof roof when you are done with the walls and roof frame. Keep it simple and make a shed roof, and it doesnt take much figuring.
Ofcourse, this process gets easier with a carving axe and an Adz or skewed head broad axe. I believe this type of cabin is much improved over the round log cabin. I think that they would be more stable and easier to insulate.
I have seen pics here on the WSS of cabins built in this manner somewhere, maybe in Scandinavia..and they are very old and still standing...I have also seen some in Texas that were hundreds of years old...and still standing
I have always wanted to have the property to make a Log Cabin...but my parents would never let me...not that I didnt try when I was your age...but my StepDad caught me! I guess he heard all the chopping:D
 
gene, thanks. i tried doing that once quite a while ago, but failed... i think i might try again soon. now that i can actually handle an axe...

i am dreaming of that iltis that kevin has, the felling axe. i'm looking at the one with the full length handle though, not the short version. same head though. i imagine that would take this log apart in 10 swings:cool:;)
 
siguy said:
gene, thanks. i tried doing that once quite a while ago, but failed... i think i might try again soon. now that i can actually handle an axe...

i am dreaming of that iltis that kevin has, the felling axe. i'm looking at the one with the full length handle though, not the short version. same head though. i imagine that would take this log apart in 10 swings:cool:;)
Click to expand...

Me to...I will be getting one of those very soon. My back cant take to much of this abuse:D
 
Simon. Great job on the tutorial man!! I've got quite a few big logs I'm gonna go try this technique on. How's the tarp play coming. I'm really curious to see what you come up with.
 
gray, the tarp play has been put on hold since it has been raining pretty hard the past few days...and i don't really want to mess with putting a wet tarp away right now...

maybe sometime this week i will get out though and play some. i promise its nothing too exciting...
 
Thanks for posting that! I hadn't seem that technique before. How does the size of that ax compare to a GB SFA?
 
naked, this axe is almost the exact same size and weight of the SFA, but the SFA handle is thinner and shaped a little bit differently. when i used a SFA next to this wetterlings, they performed the same counting time or number of strokes, but the feel in hand was totally different.
 
Siguy, that looks a bunch easier then how I learned and do this. I never did the two notches in the beginning. Looks like I'll have to get myself a decent axe and have a go.

Gunknifenut, I really want to make a log cabin now.

Thanks for the info.
 
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