Froe mallet

I'm getting sidetracked from the canoe, but I'll use this to make canoe parts. 

 

I took a piece of Douglas Fir I found in the woods and put it on the lathe. 

The result is not a fine work of art, but then, in use, it will get all beat up anyways. 

Quartered log

The second split went a lot faster. I can actually move the piece now.  I managed to drag it and cart it with the wagon to the garage.  To split it into useful pieces, I need to clean up the faces and split off a piece small enough to run through the saw and planer. 

So I started shopping for a froe and realized in the box of old tools from my grandparents farm, there was a froe blade.

I bought a new handle for it, sharpened it up a bit and it's ready for splitting, as soon as I make a suitable mallet.

First split

The log is now split in half. 

Starting with two steel wedges. 

Replacing the steel with big wood wedges. 

Hammering. 

More hammering. 

And finally, success!  This took about two weeks, hammering a little bit each day. Sometimes you could hear it pop an crack long after I stopped pounding on it.