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, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

to make lumber for making wooden objects, some basket weaving, and to make

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

. Unlike wood sawing, the wood is split along the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached 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 legum ...

using tools such as a hammer and

wedges A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, and is 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 conv ...

, splitting maul,

cleaving axe A cleaving axe or cleaver is a form of axe used within green woodworking to split wood lengthways. Cleaving (riving) is used to turn a log into lumber or billets (short or thick pieces of wood) into firewood. Splitting axe is sometimes described ...

, side knife, or froe.

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. Coopers use oak clapboards to make barrel staves. Split-rail fences 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'', native to North America * ''Eucalyptus sieberi ''Eucalyptus sieberi'', commonly known as the silvertop ash or bl ...

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 or maul, or by using a mechanical log splitter. 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 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 skis.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,

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 holes 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