Cordwood Log Peeling

I took the day off yesterday to celebrate my birthday and have some fun. Met some great locals, was given some locally grown foods, and the waitress sang me Happy Birthday! where I took myself out for lunch.


Today, I got right back in the saddle and set up for log peeling!


The draw-knife is the main tool, and the first log went much more smoothly than I thought it would. After reading "Cordwood: State of the Art," I was expecting an all out battle, and I can respect after thirty years of building Cordwood houses, that Rob Roy would certainly be going a little mad, but I found it much smoother than what I was lead to believe. Perhaps that is good strategy on behalf of our guru of cordwood - thank you Rob!

 

I also made a little demo video: 

 http://youtu.be/dwCDswKmfUo

I was kept well entertained today with Odin & MacKenzie. The snow is very deep, but the hot sun has us all falling through in surprise deep patches. I've been walking along numerous times and have fallen in up to my waste. The pups have a heck of a time to, especially without the advantage of Sorels(!) 

 

 http://youtu.be/XvD45ZLH0F4

Splitting Wood - Second Round

As the romanticism of 'clearing the land' ... clears from my mind... I found myself relaxing into hearing the different pitches the wet birch happens to make when being split.

I found that the smaller logs - pieces closer to the top of the tree when it stood - made more of a baritone crack, whilst the larger logs from the bottom of the tree made often a soprano crack when split through. This 'split' between size and sound reminded me of Bach's music. 

I know... for those of you who know me somewhat intimately, you'll know that I'll think upon Bach at the slightest of invitations. However.... It reminded me of how often Bach will use a descending triad within an ascending scale-like motion, uniting "opposites" - the sad and the happy, as it were - granting the listener a reverent, ecstatic joy, of being supported as one climbs. 

From my days of writing music and studying the life of Glenn Gould, I have since written much on the nature of opposites, calling them instead, "inverses," as all things in opposition truly relate to each other, compliment each other, and possibly at best, complete each other.

... I separated smaller slash from the larger, as these mid sized branches could be used for fence poles or garden structures. Looking at the big tree that was fallen, this massive timber could easily be used in house construction. Perhaps tomorrow I'll step in to my first debarking! Rob Roy, of Earthwood Building School says you should peel logs "before they stop vibrating from hitting the ground." While splitting the wood today, much of the bark was peeling off with no effort, so I think I'll take a look at this big birch tomorrow.

 Thank you trees!  Thank you Bach! 

Thank you good times in the forest!