Nine's Bootcamp Experience (BRK)

The draw knife is an in shave. I think you need an out shave for the logs. The in shave is for hollowing out the out shave is for the outside of round piece.

Post #15

Good evening!

Yesterday morning time was all of us working together to start working through our seed shelf. First we needed to know what we had! I suggested a spreadsheet (because I love spreadsheets), and helped type that up so we knew what we were working with before we start drooling over the seed catalogs. Paul came in to join us and chat about planting strategies for the coming season. It sounds like we have our work cut out for us since the soil here is still working on being developed into an environment that's super friendly for growing foods. We'll be spending a lot of time and energy letting our gardens know how much we love them so they can grow up into tasty treats for us all.

In the afternoon, Chris and I worked on getting more of the siding done for the Love Shack. We were able to finish the North siding and began working on the South, but had to go cut and route new boards for the South. Somewhere in there, we were encountering a bit too much resistance while using the router. We thought it might be the surface the boards slide on, so I scrubbed that clean. The setup of the bit vs fence was set with the fence slightly behind the roller bearing, so Chris and I worked together to ensure the fence was in line with the bearing. On the off chance the cutting blades on the bit were dull, we pulled that out and Chris sharpened it. After he was finished with that, I repacked the bearing on top with fresh grease. After all of those steps, it felt like it slid a little more easily. Part of the issue is the wood is warped from sitting out in the elements on the side of the Love Shack for the last five years. I'm not sure if it was dry when it was installed, but by the amount of sap that poured out of a couple boards and ran down the entire length of it I get the feeling it might have been a little wet when it was hung.

By the time we finished sharpening it, greasing it, vacuuming the debris, and getting it all set up again, we got about halfway through a board before it was time to call it a day. Josiah, Chris, and Clayton worked on it today. It sounded like they got the South side done and started working on the West side. Exterior siding is getting closer! The small bits at the top will be next, which I'm sure will be only mildly tedious to cut and install.

Lara, Fred, Dez, and I went out to the Tipi to install the new canvas and prep it for an occupant. We figured the install of the new canvas should go pretty quickly. What we didn't take into consideration was how much ice had built up around the base of the tipi canvas and poles. Removing the old canvas involved shoveling, hammering, pick-axing, and kicking at the snow and ice around the base. What an ordeal!

As we worked on it, we could see that the canvas had rotted in the weather due to not having a regular occupant and ripped away from its frozen self as we tugged at it. We'll need to go in later when it thaws a bit to recover the torn pieces and get them out of the soil. I'm hoping with the use of the RMH in there that it may warm the soil enough to recover the debris sooner than later.

One thing I noticed freshly but Fred had seen previously, was that in the shade of the tipi where the surrounding berm melted its snow and the base of the tipi met was an area of microclimate. A cottonwood tree sprouted out of nowhere and is growing quite close to the tipi. So close we had to pull baby cottonwood shoots out of the way as we pulled the bottom of the canvas taut. I'm eager to see what else grows back there in the protection of the tipi.

Hans wrote: The draw knife is an in shave. I think you need an out shave for the logs. The in shave is for hollowing out the out shave is for the outside of round piece.    

That is the correct angle for peeling a log. It digs in, toward the log, getting under the bark. It the angle were reversed, it would ride up on the bark. Angled the other way is for ‘scooping’, such as making chair seats.

Due to the draw knife conversations happening around here, Fred and I read more about the different kinds available. The curved knife Greg sent (btw, we received the lost one too!) appears to be used for logs as Julie stated and some folks use it for furniture making as well. An ox head draw knife where the blade is flat and curved like a rainbow in the same plane VS the blade being curved in a "U" to wrap around or carve out bowl shapes. The ox head can also be used to peel trees, and some prefer it.

On the log peeling forums they also debated bevel up or bevel down while peeling. If you wanna get a deep carve into that bark, bevel up, flat side touching the tree. If you're doing more delicate carving with it, bevel down touching the wood.

To test the bevel theory, I used a flat draw knife while softening the edges on the wood pieces. Fred had ripped down a couple little boards to put in the pockets in the tipi door. It helps hold it in place, give it a bit of weight. He wanted the edges to be smoother so it wouldn't tear at the canvas. I found that using the bevel down on the wood I would get delicate curls of wood. Using the flat side against the wood dug in and took much bigger bites. It was nice to experience and learn directly. So, thank you, readers, for creating a learning environment! 🙏🏻❤️

The ox head can also be used to peel trees, and some prefer it.  

I’m curious to see how you like the one Greg sent. It looks like it would be great for smaller poles, but once the diameter gets too big your knuckles are getting precariously close to the bark. I’ve only ever used a straight one, I have a couple different sizes, which I use quite a bit for shaping, but have only peeled maybe 100 logs total in my life, so not an expert by far. It was a tool I fell in love with as a kid- there’s something soothing about peeling logs (until you hit knots!). The curved shape would definitely be a bit more efficient as it will contact more surface than a straight blade does.