Froe Sharpness

[T Square]

Does a froe need to sharp?

[Admiral]

Sharp, no, a decent bevel edge, yes.

[Scoony]

I only rived enough for a few chairs, but from my experience, a blunt edge tends to bounce off, where a sharp edge bites in and starts the split. Not anywhere near scary sharp, just a basic simple ground edge. I used an angle grinder on mine to get a basic edge.

[Arlin Eastman]

Using my froe a lot I first tried to sharpen it to cutting edge like a knife and found it more cut the wood then split it along the natural grain. 

So I filed it down and just have about 1/8 of the edge like a butter knife and then it goes out like a U shape.  So imagine a tight V with a blunt U behind it and now splits it along the grain very well.

[AHill]

You might search the forum for another thread on this subject. I recall a quasi-debate a few years ago on the same subject. I think the consensus was it needs to be sharp enough to bite into the wood, but the bevel needs to be convex to split the fibers and not cut through them. My experience is that a dull edge makes it difficult to start splitting the log.

[Arlin Eastman]

You might search the forum for another thread on this subject.  I recall a quasi-debate a few years ago on the same subject.  I think the consensus was it needs to be sharp enough to bite into the wood, but the bevel needs to be convex to split the fibers and not cut through them.  My experience is that a dull edge makes it difficult to start splitting the log.

That is what I was trying to say.

[T Square]

Thanks, guys for the replies. Sharp but leave the wedge.

[Baumholder]

Thanks, guys for the replies. Sharp but leave the wedge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WxchY0Atok