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Wood splitting (''riving'',"Riving" def. 1.b. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 cleaving) is an ancient technique used in
carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...
to make
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
for making wooden objects, some
basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
, and to make
firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...
. Unlike wood sawing, the wood is split along the
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
using tools such as a hammer and
wedges A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, a portable inclined plane, and one of the six simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by converting a for ...
,
splitting maul A splitting maul also known as a ''block buster'', ''block splitter'', ''chop and maul'', ''sledge axe'', ''go-devil'' or ''hamaxe'' is a heavy, long-handled axe used for splitting a piece of wood along its grain. One side of its head is like a ...
, cleaving axe,
side knife Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side, Turkey, a city in Turkey * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Gr ...
, or
froe A froe (or frow), shake axe or paling knife is a tool for Wood splitting, cleaving wood by splitting it along the grain. It is an L-shaped tool, used by hammering one edge of its blade into the end of a piece of wood in the direction of the grai ...
.


Woodworking

In woodworking carpenters use a wooden siding which gets its name, clapboard, from originally being split from logs—the sound of the plank against the log being a clap. This is used in clapboard architecture and for
wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity t ...
. Coopers use oak clapboards to make barrel staves.
Split-rail fence A split-rail fence, log fence, or buck-and-rail fence (also historically known as a Virginia, zigzag, worm, snake or snake-rail fence due to its meandering layout) is a type of fence constructed in the United States and Canada, and is made out ...
s are made with split wood.


Basket making

Some Native Americans traditionally make baskets from
black ash Black ash is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Acer negundo'', native to North America * ''Fraxinus nigra ''Fraxinus nigra'', or the black ash, is a species of ash native to much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United ...
by pounding the wood with a
mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. General overview The term is descriptive of the ...
and pulling long strips from the log.


Firewood

Log splitting is the act of splitting firewood from logs that have been pre-cut into sections (rounds, bolts, billets). This can be done by hand, using an
axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...
or
maul A maul may refer to any number of large hammers, including: * War hammer, a medieval weapon * Post maul, a type of sledgehammer * Spike maul, railroad hand tool * Splitting maul, heavy wood-splitting tool resembling both axe and hammer People * A ...
, or by using a mechanical
log splitter A log splitter is a piece of machinery or equipment used for splitting firewood from softwood or hardwood logs that have been pre-cut into sections (rounds), usually by chainsaw or on a saw bench. Many log splitters consist of a hydraulic pump ...
. When splitting a log by hand, it is best to aim for the cracks (called checks), if there are any visible. Some types of wood are harder to split than others, including extremely hard woods, as well as types like gum which an axe will often bounce off of, and cherry, which is typically so twisted it's near impossible to get a clean split, and elm. Any type of wood, being thick or tall, having large knots or twisted grain can make it difficult to split. In some cases, it is easiest to aim for the edges and split the log into multiple pieces.
Batoning Batoning is the technique of cutting or splitting wood by using a baton-sized stick or mallet to repeatedly strike the spine of a sturdy knife, chisel or blade in order to drive it through wood, similar to how a froe is used. The batoning method c ...
is splitting small pieces of wood for kindling or other purposes sometimes with a ''batoning chisel'', a special chisel with one sharp side used for splitting.


Advantages

The advantages of splitting wood along its grain, rather than sawing it is that the wood is much stronger. Due to this, it was historically used for building ships (e.g. drekars) and traditional
ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...
s.Happy People: A year in the Taiga, A defining feature of shakes, which are like shingles, is that they are split rather than sawn and because the cell structure of the wood remains intact may be more durable, and similarly trunnels when split are stronger than when sawn.


Prevention

Sometimes wood splitting is undesirable. Methods to prevent splitting in woodworking are the
butterfly joint A butterfly joint, also called a bow tie, dovetail key, Dutchman joint, or Nakashima joint, is a type of joint or inlay used to hold two or more pieces of wood together. These types of joints are mainly used for aesthetics, but they can also be us ...
,
truss connector plate A truss connector plate, or gang plate, is a kind of tie. Truss plates are light gauge metal plates used to connect prefabricated light frame wood trusses. They are produced by punching light gauge galvanized steel to create teeth on one side. ...
s, or metal straps. Columns may be hollowed in the center to prevent splitting. Nail points may be blunted or
pilot hole In construction, a pilot hole is a small hole Drilling, drilled into a piece of construction material. Its purpose may be: # to guide a larger drill to the appropriate location and ease the job of the larger drill, # allow the insertion of anothe ...
s drilled to prevent splitting of lumber while nailing or screwing. ''End grain sealers'' are liquid products usually containing wax which helps prevent rapid drying of the ends of lumber resulting in splits. Metal end plates or S-shaped pieces of metal may be driven into the butt ends of a timber. Splitting is the primary reason building codes do not allow notching in the bottom of joists and beams.


References


External links


Wood splitting technique used in Viking ship construction
{{Lumberjack sports Woodworking Lumberjack sports