cleaving brake

What is a cleaving brake?  How is used?

A cleaving brake is what I am used to calling a froe.  I have also seen wedges called cleaving brakes.

My impression is that a fro is a tool that has a foot long edge and a handle at one end.  And a cleaving brake is something that holds one end of your stick while you are doing something with the fro on the other end.

Looking up bodger tools I see where they are calling a cleaving brake either a forked tree/branch or two pieces of wood that they use to hold a piece while they use a froe or wedge to split the work piece. So I guess it would be a rudimentary friction vise.

Well ... this is a bit of a blind leading the blind sort of thing ...

So I imagine that there is a purpose to it.  I guess I'm curious as to what that purpose might be.

Never heard of it.

But the first Google result is pretty interesting.  I think the last section answers your question, but the parts near the middle are of more interest to me.

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/3762

That link explains it beautifully!  Thanks!

Well, I subscribe to about eight really cool magazines.  And my favorite, by far, is "living woods".  And every issue appears to have a cleaving brake, but, until now, I didn't understand what it was for.

paul wheaton wrote:
I subscribe to about eight really cool magazines. 

I wonder how many of those would be open to an endorsement deal.

You get a lot of traffic, and it sounds like you would be happy to support them.

Well, I think most folks think I'm crazy.  So the value of my opinion is pretty small.

Back on topic:  I just tried a youtube search for "cleaving brake" hoping to see a demo and got stuff featuring "cleavage" or the brakes on cars.

I wonder if a youtube search for "froe" would yield instructions on how to do your hair with a pick.

paul wheaton wrote:
Well, I think most folks think I'm crazy.  So the value of my opinion is pretty small.

Back on topic:  I just tried a youtube search for "cleaving brake" hoping to see a demo and got stuff featuring "cleavage" or the brakes on cars.

reminding me just how much more useful Google searches are, especially for terms that are unique when enclosed in quotes.

To cleave is to split the break is simply a steady tool to assist. you could also use a billhook to "split" or cleave a cane of hazel or willow so the could be used for building wattles fences and basketry. many products made from a coppiced forest

you can search for "riving brake" as well.

if you do an image search you'll see them in use.

the only real one i've ever seen was in a chair makers yard. just a couple of offset 2x8s in his fence line.

http://www.westoverwoodlands.co.uk/Cleaving/Splitting.htm

There is a photo at the bottom of this page of someone using a cleaving brake and a froe to split a log.

http://www.koanga.org.nz/articles/134783.html

According to this, the cleaving brake is the support used for the log while cleaving it with a froe.

Some of the useful links in this thread are broken so I searched out the Internet Archive versions.

Joel Hollingsworth's link about cleaving brakes: https://web.archive.org/web/20090416061417/http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/3762

Wobat's cleaving brake link: https://web.archive.org/web/20100525215125/http://www.koanga.org.nz/articles/134783.html

And here are the cleaving brake graphics from those links:

The shave hoarse is to the draw knife as the brake is to the froe


Care should be taken when riving in a brake, it is easier to allow the split to run out, and you have more control if it does, but it takes a lot of experience to control it well.

The best ones for me are made of three hardwood tree crotches, that's the one I have, if the trees are large enough the weight of them allows for more work to be done more efficiently.

When searching youtube it is worth trying the term "riving brake".

I was not familiar with what a cleaving brake was until I stumbled on this thread.

Here is a video I found for those that are interested!



Does anyone utilize one? Do you find it handy? I have it added to my mental projects to tackle but it is low on the list.

Here is another version if you have a pre-existing workbench and want to add onto it.

Peter Ellis wrote:When searching youtube it is worth trying the term "riving brake".

There are so many names for this tool. It's called a "cleave break" in the SKIP book. I've also seen the term "cleave brake." Whatever you call it, it looks really useful.

If the wood is splitting right down the middle for the full length, then this is easy.  I guess I was fishing for something where the wood seems to be splitting the wrong way, so you xxxxxxx to get it to split where you want it to split.  

Just a quick safety note on the video from Timothy: when working on a bigger log, I would never put my hands into the split while still under tension like this bodger does at 1:13. If the froe slipped back into line, the log would really pinch. On smaller pieces, it won't really be a problem.

Once the split is complete enough that there's no more tension, I often reach into the split to pull the halves apart to snap any fibres that are still sticking them together.

In my experience, controlling the split is tricky. Probably a matter of practice.
Unless it's a really short piece, you'd almost always do it in halves.
The idea is to make the thick side bend away from the split more. The way I picture it is that this will stress the fibres on that inside surface of the split and make them peal off, staying with the thin side. Don't know how accurate that is.

Here's a video describing that:

I think with a thick piece where sticking your hands into the split isn't such a good idea, the same kind of differential pressure is applied by which side you put up and which side down in the brake, since the two trunks of the fork touch at different points along the piece you're splitting, and you can lean on the bottom half with the froe in addition to twisting in.
See this article, too. Give me a brake - Peter Follansbee

I was recently taught a bit of spruce root basketry, and that really clarified the concept on an intuitive level. Dig up some spruce roots, scrape the bark off with a knife or a tough thumbnail, and try splitting them. The roots are much more flexible and easy to bend around than wood, so perhaps easier to grasp the theory with. (Then go sew something with them.)