There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.” - Printable Version +- Woodnet Forums (https://www.forums.woodnet.net) +-- Thread: There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.” (/showthread.php?tid=7328897) |
There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.” - Paul-in-Plymouth - 03-23-2017 After I finished the log cradle I described recently, I made some wedges of the hop-hornbeam ironwood. To scrub hop-hornbeam efficiently, I had to go cross-grain. That would have been difficult without the log cradle. At first I tried with-grain, like the red oak wedges I reported earlier, but I could do at most ~1/16” scoops. I did one taper with-grain, but it was really slow, hard work. I had done the red oak with-grain easily at 1/8”- 3/16” scoops. If the green red-oak seemed like scooping ripe musk melon out with a spoon (similar color too), then the hop-hornbeam with-grain was more like trying to plow Red River Valley gumbo. (There are YouTube videos of that delight out there if you’ve never had the pleasure ) With-grain was a definite challenge in hop-hornbeam. There’s a reason it’s called “ironwood.” Cross-grain was a different matter. I was able to go up to 1/8” scoops, and the wood sheared right off, crisply. The strokes came quick and easy. I think my plane breathed a sigh of relief and said, “This is what I was made to do, dummy!” My arms and shoulders were relieved too. Meanwhile, I scrubbed like the cartoon Tasmanian Devil. The chips flew, and things took shape. It was helpful every now and then to plane with-grain to assess the ramp and make in-flight corrections. The cross-grain scallops made planing with-grain easier too, because the scallops broke the chips until they were planed away. Then cross-grain again. To help keep things regular, I followed the same general scheme of establishing a succession of decreasing complete tapers, 45º, 23º, etc., but planing both ways gives more flexibility to the process. I probably have the wedges I need for the moment, but there is material remaining for implements to drive them: mallet, maul, beatle, bat, club, cudgel,… you name it. More work to do. I came to planing wedges with the scrub plane because my dominant hand is impaired enough to prevent doing with an axe or draw knife. I don’t have a saw I want to use on green oak, other than a pruning frame saw that doesn’t steer. The scrub was my last choice this time, but another time it would be #1. It was pure fun on the oak, but the ironwood really made a believer of me. However, I still wonder about sawing the tapers. If this were KD lumber I’d saw them in the shop in any of several ways. Can anyone recommend a hand saw for cutting green hardwood at 5º-10º off the grain? Is that a rip cut or XC? Earlier posts in this series on wooden wedges with the scrub plane: https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7328788 https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7328655 https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7328503 https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7328253 RE: There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.” - Timberwolf - 03-23-2017 (03-23-2017, 10:49 AM)Paul-in-Plymouth Wrote: After I finished the log cradle I described recently, I made some wedges of the hop-hornbeam ironwood.............................. Disston and Simonds both made "greenwood" saws, and there may have been others...I have a Simonds...it's very aggressive in green wood but not so much for dry. I tried it on limbing small branches and it is excellent..Surprisingly enough, it is a back saw with about a 16" blade. RE: There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.” - MichaelMouse - 03-24-2017 "Gluts" are what the old boys call wooden kerf opener/keepers. Walking a series down a log made some neat benches for one of our college students. Have to admit, around here they're chainsawed out of a nearby piece. Hop-hornbeam makes some nice mallets. I turn limbs and soak in PEG, but square wedged types work as well. RE: There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.” - Bibliophile 13 - 03-24-2017 You just need a ripsaw with big teeth and a lot of set. Nice work, though. Gluts are awesome things for green woodworking. |