Phase 02 — Stone, bone, wood and fibre toolkit / About year 1
02.10
Wooden wedges and maul
split logs into rough planks
AWhat it needs
Needs 14 other products in all, 1 of them directly.
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- 02.10 Wooden wedges and maulMaking Year 1 needs 14 products
- 02.08 Hafted stone axe ⚠Making Year 1 needs 13 products
- 02.05 Pitch glueMaking Year 1 needs 6 products
- 01.08 First fire and stone hearthMaking Year 1 needs 5 products
- 01.06 Tinder and kindling storeMaking Year 1 raw materials only
- 01.07 Bow-drill fire setMaking Year 1 needs 3 products
- 01.03 Sharp stone flakeMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
- 01.02 HammerstoneMaking Year 1 raw materials only
- 01.05 Twisted plant-fibre cordMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 02.06 Sinew thread and rawhide lashingMaking Year 1 needs 9 products
- 01.15 Fire-hardened spear ⚠Making Year 1 needs 6 products
- 02.03 Stone knives, scrapers and engraving pointsMaking Year 1 needs 3 products
- 02.01 Knapping kitMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 02.07 Ground stone axe headMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 01.02 Hammerstoneshown above ↑← shown at left
- 02.04 Sandstone grinding slabMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
Open a box to see what it needs. A dashed box is a product already drawn in full: click it to jump there. In the org chart, drag to move around.
BWhy
There is no saw. But a straight-grained log will split along its length into halves, quarters and boards if wedges are driven into it. Splitting follows the grain, so split timber is stronger than sawn timber of the same size.
CYou need
- The hafted axe (02.08)
- For wedges: dry, dense, hard wood such as dogwood, oak or ironwood
- For the maul: the knotty base of a small tree, or a heavy club of dense wood
- A straight log with no twist in the bark: cedar, oak, ash or chestnut split best
DSteps
- Wedges: cut eight pieces a hand and a half long and three fingers thick. Shape each into a long even taper from full thickness down to a blunt edge. A slow taper splits; a short fat one bounces out.
- Bevel the edges of the struck end so it does not mushroom and split.
- Harden the thin ends over coals until golden brown.
- Maul: cut a section of knotty trunk as long as the forearm, and shape one end down into a handle. The knots stop it splitting. It should be as heavy as can be swung with one arm for an hour.
- To split: look at the end of the log for a natural crack running through the centre. Start there.
- Drive the first wedge into the crack at the end of the log with the maul.
- As the crack opens along the top of the log, drive a second wedge into it a forearm further along, then a third. The first wedge falls loose; move it to the front. Walk the wedges down the log.
- Cut any fibres still holding the halves together with the axe.
- Split each half again through the centre, and again, always through the centre so each piece is a slice of pie. The slices are boards.
- Flatten the boards with the adze.
EIt worked if
- A log two paces long is in quarters within the hour.
- The boards are nearly the same thickness from end to end.
FWhat goes wrong
- The split runs off to one side. The log has twisted grain, or the wedge was not on the centre. Choose logs with straight bark lines.
- A wedge shatters. It was green or knotty. Use dry, clear, dense wood.
- A wedge is stuck fast. Drive another beside it; never hit it sideways.
- The log will not open. A big knot is holding it. Split from the other end, or choose another log.
GSafety
- Stand to the side of the split, not astride the log. A wedge can fly out backward.
HIn the story
Adam swings the maul and Bjorn sets the wedges, and they find a rhythm without talking. By evening there is a stack of boards, the first on the island. Bjorn counts them twice. Then he starts telling Adam, in more words than he has used all month, what he could build with a thousand of them.
IFigures
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