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Setting up shop again - dogwood wedges

Started by LumberGuy, April 03, 2011, 06:24:07 PM

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LumberGuy

It's been a while since I have done any wood working, I haven't really had a place to set up shop. Most of my tools and stuff are scattered around, stored in shops or warehouses at the lumberyard where I work.  I have started to gather them together, but I need some really basic stuff, so I am going to start with a saw, hatchet and pocket knife/tool, and make some of the basic things I need.  
The first step is to make dogwood wedges and a mallet. Ms. Charming www.thecharmhouse.blogspot.com and I are clearing out for a garden, so I will have lots of wood to work with.  A couple of the trees that had to be cut down were dogwoods. The trunks were cut into lengths and started sharpening both ends.





Then the sharpened lengths were cut in half with a bow saw.





Finally, the tops were beveled to prevent splitting.



Next, I will need a mallet, or maul.  There is a white oak that is just about the right size...

tyb525

I'll definitely be following this thread. I love this kind of stuff :)
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Jasperfield

Looks like progress.

Dogwood is very hard and durable. If I were you, I'd get one of the thousands of wood-turners in Atlanta to take the base (or even the root section) of the dogwood and turn a mallet from it rather than use the oak.

I have my grandad's mallet that he made many years ago from Dogwood. He used it with a froe to rive locust fence stakes. I use it as well.

Banjo picker

I will take this opp. to welcome you to the forum...I too will follow your making of a few wood pieces....Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Magicman

I too will add my welcome to the Forestry Forum.   :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Dodgy Loner

Those dogwood wedges look suspiciously similar to a few that I made. You wouldn't be a fan of Roy Underhill, would you? :)

And, of course, welcome!
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

isawlogs


  Welcomed to the forum, I also will be keeping an eye out on thus thread. Been wanting to make some wedges for a while now but I don't have any dogwood, either will make them out of elm or blue beech/American Hornbean. I already have a large mallet that the head is made of elm I turned when I first got my lathe.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

beenthere

Welcome to the forum.

The heavy duty wedges are referred to as a "glut". Used to expand a split, as when hand splitting rails.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

SwampDonkey

Lumberguy, I hate to interrupt your thread. And it's an interesting one at that. But, the photos are too big (200+ KB) for the forum. We have a photo gallery system for all photos posted to the forum to ensure they don't disappear from a thread when an off site storage place disappears. It is also slow to load them up when your a internet dinosaur like me on dial-up. The "Behind the Forum" sub board has the method of photo posting. Don't be offended if these photos disappear, it's just the way things have to be.

Thanks for taking the time, and welcome to the FF.  :)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

ljmathias

Welcome, and nice work on the wedges.  A warning, though: you might want to debark them.  I had some downed dogwood that I stored in the barn for a future project only to come back and find it chock full of bugs of various kinds- basically useless even for firewood.
Oh, and juploader works like a charm: automatically resizes and uploads your pictures from your directory to your gallery on the forum server, then just copy and paste the link into your "reply."  There's a "click to insert into your post" option which only works for me about one out of three times- the other two it just doesn't do anything so I have to resort to manual linking.

Good luck and hang in there- the forum is a great place to hang out, almost as enjoyable as actually cutting down/up trees and making sawdust... and other things out of wood.

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

Dodgy Loner

Good call, ljmathias - I saved a few dogwood trunks several years ago in hopes of making some dogwood mallets, but I neglected to debark them and I ended up having to trash them. Next time I find a good-sized dogwood I'll debark it and set it aside to dry. I don't know what it is with dogwood bark, but the bugs love it!
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

LumberGuy

Quote from: Jasperfield on April 03, 2011, 08:33:28 PM
Looks like progress.

Dogwood is very hard and durable. If I were you, I'd get one of the thousands of wood-turners in Atlanta to take the base (or even the root section) of the dogwood and turn a mallet from it rather than use the oak.

I have my grandad's mallet that he made many years ago from Dogwood. He used it with a froe to rive locust fence stakes. I use it as well.
Thanks for the suggestion!  I've made the mallet, and I have to take the stumps out anyway. I should have left a length of trunk above ground.  I have an old lathe stored where I work, it just needs to be moved where it can be setup and used again.
I had a froe, but haven't been able to locate it.  I am looking for an old jeep spring to make one from.

LumberGuy

Quote from: Dodgy Loner on April 04, 2011, 09:19:25 AM
Those dogwood wedges look suspiciously similar to a few that I made. You wouldn't be a fan of Roy Underhill, would you? :)

And, of course, welcome!

Absolutely! I remember watching The Woodwrights Shop years ago, it was very inspirational! I don't have his skill and resources, but I will be doing a lot of the same things.

LumberGuy

Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 04, 2011, 07:04:04 PM
Lumberguy, I hate to interrupt your thread. And it's an interesting one at that. But, the photos are too big (200+ KB) for the forum. We have a photo gallery system for all photos posted to the forum to ensure they don't disappear from a thread when an off site storage place disappears. It is also slow to load them up when your a internet dinosaur like me on dial-up. The "Behind the Forum" sub board has the method of photo posting. Don't be offended if these photos disappear, it's just the way things have to be.

Thanks for taking the time, and welcome to the FF.  :)

Thanks, SwampDonkey! I think I have it now. Please let me know if it look okay or not.

SwampDonkey

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

LumberGuy

Okay, the first stump is up.  Any ideas?





SwampDonkey

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

LumberGuy

Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 09, 2011, 11:31:32 AM
Ideas about?

I thought it was too small to make a mallet out of it, but maybe not. 

Holmes

That stump looks like it has a mallet with a short handle hiding in it.  Holmes
Think like a farmer.

SwampDonkey

Maybe instead of a mortising chisel mallet, it's a smaller carver's mallet.  ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Chris Burchfield

How would Redbud wood be for wedges or mallet.  I just cut some limbs off one to balance the weight of the tree.  Had some hanging out over a swing and resting on the swing frame that cracked the frame.  I can fix the frame but didn't want the redbud to lay on over in a high wind.  We had a storm come through Memphis last Monday that left 70,000 without power for some up till Saturday.  We got power the next afternoon.  Had a generator to keep the fridge and freeze cold.  I cut the redbud into 18" lengths like I do firewood and realized they were very heavy for their size.  Saved 3" up to 8" in diameter.  Thanks for your thoughts.
Woodmizer LT40SH W/Command Control; 51HP Cat, Memphis TN.

Dodgy Loner

Redbud is very pretty wood, but not particularly hard. I would think you could find a better wood for a mallet, but you could give it a shot and let us know what the results are :)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

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