Early Access Video: Harvesting Green Wood
Added 2023-07-22 11:00:05 +0000 UTCFriends:
Today, we hit the road to harvest green oak. I found a nice tree that had fallen and been conveniently sawn into sections...but it was still too heavy to lift. So I went out with splitting wedges and other tools and split those logs into smaller parts. Splitting preserves the continuous fibers and leaves the wood usable for chair making and other activities.
If you're on the forum, you might be following my Spring Pole Lathe build and I hope to turn some of this wood on that machine.
Lots of fun stuff coming up!
Happy Saturday!
--Rex
Comments
Rex, I have a mature sugar maple that I need taken down because the branches are rubbing up against the roof of our house. I have two options: I can have the tree service cut the trunk into maybe 6' lengths, and then split myself (free), or hire a mobile sawmill to cut it into boards ($$). I don't know much about green woodworking nor about the desirability of hard maple. What would you suggest?
Paul Dzielinski
2023-09-03 15:25:49 +0000 UTCIve been volunteering on a replica of the first British ship built in North America (1607) Our shipwright wanted me to use elm for the main top (commonly called "crow's nest," because it is as strong as oak but 30% lighter. The church at the end of our road had to take down an elm that was two feet in diameter. They gave me two sections about six feet long. Luckily, they dropped them in my driveway and I was able to whittle them down with an Alaska chain saw mill. The biggest slabs were over two feet wide by six feet long by seven inches thick. I was able to lever the slabs a few inches at a time onto blocking until it was high enough to slide into my pickup. (I had help when I off loaded it at the boat.)
Fred Gosbee
2023-08-28 23:26:07 +0000 UTCIf you get a Green Wood seminar organized, I'd like a course in splitting small branches and carving spoons. Splitting whole logs like you just did is too much like work. I would gladly watch a demo where someone else was splitting a log but I wouldn't like to have to do more than a couple swings at a wedge.
Madeleine Yeh
2023-07-28 21:43:05 +0000 UTCThat DOES sound like a lot of work....and a species of oak I've never heard of before!
Rex Krueger
2023-07-28 12:35:46 +0000 UTCIt sounds like both a lot of work and a real learning experience!
Rex Krueger
2023-07-28 12:34:47 +0000 UTCI might do that!
Rex Krueger
2023-07-28 12:34:25 +0000 UTCThank you, this was very fun to watch! More than a year ago, I found a few smaller branches that had fallen off from a red oak in the park after a storm, and I didn't have the foresight to split them on site… I actually called a friend and we carried a full ~12 inch diameter, 3 feet long branch section back home with the biggest vehicle I had available (a cargo bike – typical for a modern European city dweller like me). We didn't have any idea how heavy green wood can be with all that water in it, so that was enough workout for a month 😁 I sawed it up into boards in my home shop, and dried it in my living room. The stack is still resting directly behind me as I write this… It was a lot of work, but as you said, you can only learn so much by reading books, and it was definitely a fun experience!
Daniel Bohrer
2023-07-28 10:52:24 +0000 UTCI love this plan.
Chris Hornberger - Lazy Gretl Wood Works
2023-07-27 12:41:39 +0000 UTCSuggestion : Go to Harbor Freight and get yourself a a high-visibility vest, a plastic helmet, some safety glasses and those earplug pairs on little string (don't wear them, just leave them hanging around your neck). This serves two functions. First, it's actual effective safety equipment will make it actually safer to work near a road. Second, it will make you look like you are supposed to be there, and nobody will look at you funny. The whole kit will cost about $20.
Russell Neches
2023-07-27 12:07:05 +0000 UTCOh man, I've buried those log splitting "grenades" inside more logs than I care to mention. I've got a Holm Oak coming down in my garden at the weekend because a bark inclusion at the top of the trunk has made it unsafe in the wind. So some hard work ahead to make it usable...
Chris Franklyn
2023-07-26 20:28:55 +0000 UTCRex, please don’t go on Youtube and suggest that you are doing something legally sketchy. Admission of guilt is just about as bad as actual guilt.
JKlarinet
2023-07-25 15:47:49 +0000 UTCWhiners gonna whine, yaw. :) People just have to have things to say.
Chris Hornberger - Lazy Gretl Wood Works
2023-07-25 15:23:28 +0000 UTCI really exaggerated the private property aspect for comedic effect. In cleveland, the side of the road is public property and anything the utility company is chopping up is fair game.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:12:49 +0000 UTCThank you! It was back-breaking.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:11:22 +0000 UTCYou're right, but i get grief about hitting it and I don't feel like hearing that again.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:10:46 +0000 UTCI'm so glad it was relatable! It was SO much harder than I expected.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:09:58 +0000 UTCThank you!
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:09:25 +0000 UTCI really don't love oak on the lathe. Very chippy and open-grained. But the leftover wood really IS good for a lot of stuff.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:09:12 +0000 UTCI'm sure the TSA has seen stranger stuff.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:07:11 +0000 UTCAfter doing this once, i'm not sure I want to do it again. I think I'll use a firewood dealer next time and just pay for less effort.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:06:35 +0000 UTCHaving access to timbered land sounds amazing! I hope you do some green work with it!
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 15:05:48 +0000 UTCThat could require a visit to the court house. I bet the tree feel onto the road and the county dumped it on the side of the road.
Richard C von Brecht
2023-07-25 15:01:03 +0000 UTCYou really have to watch how far you knock those wedges in. Some footage was ruined by coarse language.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 14:53:21 +0000 UTCHickory is traditional. The Norway Maple I used was good. I'm going to try apple for the next ones.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 14:51:43 +0000 UTCI think the beetle i good, but I need narrower gluts. Longer, too.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 14:51:04 +0000 UTCThose are good tips! Thank you.
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 14:50:28 +0000 UTCI'm glad you think so!
Rex Krueger
2023-07-25 14:49:53 +0000 UTCI'm disappointed that you didn't seek permission to take theses logs. Fred
Fred Trousdale
2023-07-24 18:47:46 +0000 UTCSplitting logs is so much more work than it seems! Nicely done! I am excited to see what you might get out of it.
Carrie B
2023-07-24 18:41:20 +0000 UTCYou can hit the hatchet all day, just be sure to use something softer than the hatchet... assuming it's shell hardened like a hammer.
Chris Hornberger - Lazy Gretl Wood Works
2023-07-24 17:49:02 +0000 UTCThis video was amazing! Exactly like me splitting fallen trees in my neighborhood, including the awkward looks from passersby, the promises to not bury my wedges again, forgetting to bring my chain saw, throwing out all my rules when reality strikes. Anyone who has split random logs can relate to everything in this video b
Brian Suker
2023-07-23 23:11:47 +0000 UTCThis was a great video, glad you did this.
Stephen Gifford
2023-07-23 22:52:49 +0000 UTCI’m glad that you didn’t lose your wooden wedges, then you would have been… glutless. Great video! How about taking some of the twisty grained pieces to the lathe for a little green turning. You might end up with some interesting art pieces by the time it dries and you fill the splits with colored epoxy and finish turning them. Just a thought.
Michael Gross
2023-07-23 02:28:16 +0000 UTCOh, Rex I don't want to sound preachy, but you need some PPE (Personal Protection Equipment.) You lose depth perception when you have only one eye. Something, a wood worker needs. Also, study pants will keep your legs intact when a log jumps or the ax deflects.
Richard C von Brecht
2023-07-23 01:59:53 +0000 UTCMy log splitting days are way-way behind me. I'm afraid you are sixty years too late.
Richard C von Brecht
2023-07-23 01:06:56 +0000 UTCI spent time on my Hawaiian vacation splitting a few small pieces of mango and lychee wood for spoon carving. I can very much relate to trying to split wood like this for the first time. After getting confirmation from USDA, I packed it and ended up bringing about 30lbs of spoon blanks :). We were taking bets on how TSA would or wouldn’t react to the carving axe in my checked bag :)
Matthew
2023-07-22 22:04:50 +0000 UTCThat was a workout just watching you Rex. Have you contacted the utility company to see if you can get on their call list for when they clear under power and phone lines. In some localities they will contact you to let you clean up the logs that can't be chipped when they clear trees from around the utility lines. Great source of wood working materials. Thank you and have a great weekend.
Matt Evans-Koch
2023-07-22 21:00:47 +0000 UTCThanks for this video. I have been interested in green woodworking since reading posts by Peter Follansbee and other green woodworkers. I have split firewood but never did it for woodworking. Your video gives me enough information to try it. I own some timber land in Iowa which has many species such as oak (white and red), cherry, walnut, hickory and other species. So I have the resources and just need the spark of initiative which this video provides to try it. I look forward to more videos on this subject.
Paul Brown
2023-07-22 18:36:56 +0000 UTCThat's when the wooden wedges come in extra handy. And the smaller branches will make great wedges to split the bigger logs.
Michael Bennett
2023-07-22 16:55:56 +0000 UTCImpressive
Blake Webber
2023-07-22 16:36:14 +0000 UTCOnes harder than what you are driving them into 🙂
Benjamin Fouty
2023-07-22 15:24:13 +0000 UTCI split logs too. I was about fourteen or sixteen. I remember the wedges sometimes getting stuck half way into the log. It took some doing to work them out.
Richard C von Brecht
2023-07-22 13:14:05 +0000 UTCWhat woods are strong enough to make good gluts?
Madeleine Yeh
2023-07-22 13:10:53 +0000 UTCI'm slightly disappointed you didn't take the first log........because it was perfect for the lathe. Since it's red oak, it would still split..........elm or maple or locust might not. And I agree, standing the logs up when possible helps. I'm looking forward to seeing your tooling changes.........I'm guessing a longer handle on the beetle, and maybe add some weight to it? Good video, as always.
Mick King
2023-07-22 12:45:35 +0000 UTCHaving split more cords of firewood by hand than I care to count, I know that's a workout. For those chunks that it's possible, it's better to stand them on end so you can get a better swing. Looking forward to seeing that wood put to use. For sure I would have sought out the property owner and asked!
Brian Taylor
2023-07-22 11:59:28 +0000 UTC
