There’s a Reason It’s Called “Ironwood.”

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

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

[Timberwolf]

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

.............................
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.

[MichaelMouse]

"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.

[Bibliophile 13]

You just need a ripsaw with big teeth and a lot of set. Nice work, though. Gluts are awesome things for green woodworking.