Froe woes

[John Powers]

I bought a pretty cheap froe from a well known company. I know froes aren't be sharp, dull as a froe and all that but I didnt expect to need a pile diver to split a 5" by 12" long green maple or poplar stick for a spoon. I'm not riving shakes and it just seems to me a froe ought to have a bit of rocker to get it started. Anybody have a suggestion? It's a useful tool I think....just not this one.

[Bill White]

I actually have mine sharpened a bit. Sure helps to get the cut/split started. Made my maul from a dogwood root ball.
Bill

[Jim Koepke]

dull as a froe and all that

I had never heard that. I do not sharpen my froe as sharp as a chisel or a knife, but it isn't dull.

On occasion my froe does seem to just bounce off of a piece. It does require a fairly good sized hunk of wood as a driving force. I usually just make it from a piece of log from the firewood pile. I have turned handles on one end using my lathe or just carve them with hatchet, drawknife and spokeshave.

290595

This one is still around but all beat out.

Turned the handle and cleaned off a lot of the bark.

jtk

[Steve Voigt]

I made froe last summer, and it took a while to get it to work well. A few things that helped me:

- Make sure you are on a hard surface (driveway, sidewalk etc.).
- I keep mine somewhat sharp, not like a chisel, but not completely dull either.
- If it's impossible to start, resharpen both sides at a lower angle. There is nothing critical about the angle--I eyeball mine and sharpen with an abrasive disc on a 4 1/2 angle grinder--but the shallower the angle, the easier it is to start.
- It may help to start with the froe skewed (relative to the horizontal plane), so that you start to bite into just a corner of the billet, rather than trying to pound into a big flat area.
- For thick pieces, it may help to start the split with a wedge, then insert the froe.
- Finally, don't use the froe for really thick pieces! Use wedges instead.

Good luck!

[John Powers]

I think Roy may use that expression. I'm going to put it on the belt sander. No harm done, it's useless as is. As granny said, buy cheap, get cheap. Thanks