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 to make
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
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. Unlike
wood sawing, the wood is split along the
grain using tools such as a hammer and
wedges,
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 (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece
* Side (Caria), a town of an ...
, or
froe
A froe (or frow), shake axe or paling knife is a tool for 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 grain, then twistin ...
.
Woodworking
In woodworking carpenters use a wooden siding which gets its name, clapboard, from originally being split from logsāthe sound of the plank against the log being a clap. This is used in
clapboard architecture and for
wainscoting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) 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 to make ro ...
. 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 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 of timber lo ...
s are made with split wood.
Basket making
Some Native Americans traditionally make baskets from
black ash by pounding the wood with a mallet 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 ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
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
...
, 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 or ...
. 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 metho ...
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
A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...
s.
[Happy People: A year in the Taiga,] A defining feature of
shakes, which are like shingles, are 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 woods together. These types of joints are mainly used for aesthetics, but they can also be u ...
,
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. T ...
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 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 for the insertion of another hole-m ...
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