Sparrbila Surfacing

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Ernest DuBois

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Mar 2, 2013
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Wood, Robinia pseudoacasia, and finally settling on a sparrbila as the right tool to get the job done
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Yeah it's notorious for dulling edges. But as a rot-resistant wood that's as strong as some hickory species, it's a great choice for a lot of things. And it's gorgeous to look at. Since it's basically a jumbo-sized pea plant it's a good soil fixer, and the blossoms are edible (and make delicious fritters), too. Burns nice and hot, though the smoke smells kind of like burning hair. Just don't use it in circumstances that don't benefit from it or you'll be working three times as hard for what amounts to the same result. At the same time, though, using it for framing is a way to show off, I suppose! :D I love the green-ish tint it has, and anything that shows off the end grain is really amazing. It's gorgeous.
 
What you write about taking advantage of the particular characteristics of the wood in relation to the extra work it demands this gets to the crux of the matter and is a good way to frame it. Also the appearance can be exceptional especially on aging. I don't recognize this about being particularly hard on edges though. Does the wood in general have an abrasive component?
 
Ernest DuBois said:
What you write about taking advantage of the particular characteristics of the wood in relation to the extra work it demands this gets to the crux of the matter and is a good way to frame it. Also the appearance can be exceptional especially on aging. I don't recognize this about being particularly hard on edges though. Does the wood in general have an abrasive component?
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It has a fairly high silica content and is known for blunting cutting tools, including saws.
 
Traditional American socket bark spuds had more of a spoon shape with a hook. The hook is sharpened so you can use it to slice open the bark on a fresh cut stick. The hook is pulled length ways top to butt to open the bark. Then the spoon is worked under the bark where the hook was just used and pry off the bark by pushing the sharpened spoon bit around the circumference. This may be hard to believe, but if you have the right species stick (yellow popular works well) and the stick is cut when the sap is up (not the ideal time of year), you can often remove the bark in one piece. A full length tube of bark, so to speak.
 
Yes, it's heavy. Beyond that we can begin with the name, sparrbila. We can translate the word from Swedish to something like, rafters axe. Rafters axe? yes, for a long time rafter production was an industry up in Scandinavia over on down through the Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia, maybe to include Lithuania though I can't be sure about that last one. That comes because these spruce trees coming out of dense forests were slow growing in those country's conditions providing ideal material for making the roofs in other countries, strong straight and small in diameter but long. In particular they were exported right here to Holland where the quality of the spruce was poor and even after watering could not match the northern spruce for strength and durability. But some processing took place before they got shipped out of Riga, Tallinn, Stockholm, some out of Gdansk. In the woods there they were all cut down to the standard measure and the Swedes for some reasons, probably you can figure those reasons out, got this specialized axe form to facilitate this work. The blade long and narrow always exceeding the surface area of the rafters for obvious reasons. They could be single beveled, they could be double beveled. The handle extending accordingly but generally with a significant upward sweep beginning right off the socket and this tells us that the work position was high in relation to the worked material, so they were working the wood down low either to the side or in a straddling position.
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This particular axe has the forge stamp of Forsse Bruk which I know nothing about. The forging, utilitarian above all, which I like, shows clearly enough the composition so I don't have to lay it out. The socket is tapered with a pronounced D form. I put a bent handle of hawthorn on it and the wood makes a good handle. Well, on small diameter wood I will use this axe when it's needed, being double beveled it is an easy axe to handle.
 
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What I didn't mention is that the sparrbila is for cutting primarily along the grain. With the tjälyxa the action is more or less across the grain. As we know this can be a remedy when that grain is difficult.
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Here is a fresh side after having that treatment with that axe, features of the wood's surface showing up still quite well, the grain, different refraction spots, not that these will all remain on the finished beam but it's a good indication. I didn't manage it yet to avoid tear-out completely, all in the interest of moving the work ahead.
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Little ridges from a tiny chip on the axe edge stand out like streaks in the sky from stars falling on a summer night.
The axe with its big toe and bigger heel, or should that be, fat cheeks;)
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Thanks,Ernest,great info,and such detailed pictures;you're doing the neatest job on that beam,and of course both those axes are beautiful tools...

Ernest DuBois said:
Thank you Square peg. New spud made to my specifications by Josh Burrell
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Separate,special thank you for your patronage of Josh Burrell,an excellent craftsman,and and just a good guy:)
 
S. P.--Those are exactly what I was talking about, thanks for putting a picture up. Your spuds are a couple of beauties and look ready to go!

I have one small suggestion (this is for everybody with old tools)-- use slotted screws instead of philips head, slotted fits the period for these old tools. I also have a collection of square headed nuts and bolts I use for the same reason. This is a small thing I know, but I feel better when I look at and use my old tools. The bonus is that you get to use those great old screwdrivers you have also collected.
 
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I can see how those spuds would be to work with, good. I guess used a lot to strip around the log's radius, whereas the one I have works mostly in the length taking long strips away. How are they for incidental knots encountered along the way?
jake pogg said:
Separate,special thank you for your patronage of Josh Burrell,an excellent craftsman,and and just a good guy:)
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Josh Burrell, the Martin Claudel of the UK.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
I can see how those spuds would be to work with, good. I guess used a lot to strip around the log's radius, whereas the one I have works mostly in the length taking long strips away. How are they for incidental knots encountered along the way?
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The one with the darker handle is sturdier and does well prying around knots. It's a Warren Bulldog. I have a longer Warren cedar spud that does well stripping lengthwise as you do with yours. I shave the knots with an axe before I strip. Green cedar strips easily. And no, I didn't fell that one, the neighbor did. Just look at that cut! :(
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BTW, I love seeing the different tools and methods you use to perform this work. It has a kind of elegance to it. American style work seems more utilitarian (which fits me well). In either case it's up to the individual to bring excellence to the work.
 
Wow that is interesting wood. Is it a real cedar or Western Red Cedar? The Western Red Cedar I have worked, ( planted in Germany these 80 years ago now), with axes like that was that enjoyable though prone to split out at the bottom. By the way, your dog Warren is no bulldog, it's a German Sheppard but you don't have to tell him that:)
 
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