Post and talk about Froe's

M

mc556

Joined
Dec 6, 2008
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354
I have been online looking at old Froe's and I have decided I want to make one in the next few weeks as time allows.
For those of you who own them post some pictures.
I am very interested to see what grinds have been done and see the ratio of single vs double bevel etc etc.

For the last few years I have been making knives as a hobby and it's really sparked my interest in old bladed tools. I picked up a draw knife and spoke shave to mod and eventually make my own hickory handles and it's been a blast.
To this point I have done all stock removal but after watching John Neeman I know I would eventually like to try an axe head but this is a much easier project.
Anyway post them if you got them
 
While not a Froe, I've recently come across a Silky Nata hatchet, which looks like a cross between a Froe and a knife.
 
I read the links that were posted and I can't believe how defensive guys were about batoning with large camp knives.
I was going to make mine with some .250 5160 steel but I think I want to find a old leaf spring that is a bit thicker. I guess a trip to the u pick it this week is in order.
 
Fuori said:
While not a Froe, I've recently come across a Silky Nata hatchet, which looks like a cross between a Froe and a knife.
Click to expand...

I think that is the logical evolution of both. Once you get it started is there really a reason to have that big long haft on your froe? It seems like that hatchet would be a helluva lot handier and really better suited to the task than a knife by far.
 
My junk store froe:







This one was heavily mushroomed all along the spine and I did a considerable amount of grinding to even it out so I could use it.
 
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Liberatus1 said:
I think that is the logical evolution of both. Once you get it started is there really a reason to have that big long haft on your froe? It seems like that hatchet would be a helluva lot handier and really better suited to the task than a knife by far.
Click to expand...

I found the Silky Nata while researching an SP8 that I started researching after seeing a Froe in another topic on here. To me they are the middle ground in the baton/don't baton with a knife. They will pack a lot better like you referenced too.
 
Liberatus1 said:
I think that is the logical evolution of both. Once you get it started is there really a reason to have that big long haft on your froe? It seems like that hatchet would be a helluva lot handier and really better suited to the task than a knife by far.
Click to expand...

Disclaimer I have never used froe only watched.....
From a perspective as a shop tool not brush craft the haft performs as a lever to pry at the split like when splitting shingles.

It looks to be a great tool for it's intended purpose. Much like say a broad axe isn't the right tool for felling a tree or a felling axe for hewing the frow isn't a brush craft tool it's a shop tool


I guess the show your Froe thread should be titled " The Froe a misunderstood and unloved tool"
 
A froe is used for a very specific task, and is a lot better at that task than anything else I have come across. The handle does act as a mechanical advantage to pry open a split. I have used froes extensively for trail work, splitting cedar boards for puncheon and bridges. 1/4" is plenty thick, but I certainly wouldnt go thinner. You will also want a good amount of wedges :) Enjoy. Their are few things more satisfying than splitting clear cedar with a froe.
 
I don't have the froe but I still have the shakes I made in 1978. I need to do something soon.

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Splitting shakes was something a farmer could do in the winter when there was little work to do in the fields. Milling lumber was also a popular second vocation.
 
Interesting in the shake roof picture how a slight amount of zinc leaching out of the flashings will deter downstream growth of lichens and moss. Lead flashings of old did the same.
 
300Six said:
Interesting in the shake roof picture how a slight amount of zinc leaching out of the flashings will deter downstream growth of lichens and moss. Lead flashings of old did the same.
Click to expand...

Actually 300six those shakes were replacements I put in there this summer to stop another leak. I still have a supply of old shakes that I took off a shed and replaced with a metal roof, something I am going to do here eventually. The shed didn't have a steep pitch so leaks developed early.
 
Here is one I have. Don't know anything about manufacture or materials. Hope you can get something out of this.






Here is the club I made for it from american Hornbeam
 
I think mine is marked JB(maybe) Hunt. It was abused a little before I rescued it. I use it to split out staves for bows or handles. I have heard the clubs called froe clubs,mallets and beetles. I guess the best is made from the root, I will get ambitious when that one starts to ware out.
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I have a modern wimpy froe from Woodcraft that is 0.20" thick and flat. The edge is ground at 25 degrees (inclusive). I have a big honker antique froe that is 0.30" thick at the back of the tip and 0.420" thick at the back near the eye. No mushrooming, that appears to be the original thickness. It is a wedge (no secondary bevels or convex or hollow grind, just one big wedge) at 25 degrees. So my two data points say to make the edge 25 degrees. Neither is really sharp. I read a book or watched a video once that said do not sharpen your froe, just use it as a wedge. I don't know if that is universal advice but it is what I heard.

leevalley.com also warns not to sharpen a froe.







 
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