Chopping block
- Thread starter pop-pop
- Start date
I have used red cedar to some success and white oak has lasted the longest. I imagine black locust would be ideal but I haven’t come access a good chunk yet. Sealing the end grain should help it last a bit longer.
OP
OP
I primarily use a froe to split firewood on the block. I’m too old for axes!
Sometimes use a wedge with a lump hammer and very rarely a sledge after starting the wedge with the lump hammer.
At some point before the developer got a hold of this land, someone had a big ass chopping block they left in what was a wooded area next to a farm field, now the back of my lot. Workers used it as a lunch table with a few rocks around it as seats. I tried to flip it on its side to roll it to a more convenient location but it wasn’t budging. Well weathered but looks pretty solid so once I get motivated, I’ll deploy a large lever to see if I can move it one of these days. No major need yet, firepit was supposed to be delivered today, but somehow got dropped off about 120 mi away, upside was getting a big discount on a replacement. For the near term I’ll use a white oak log section the squirrels have been enjoying as a platform to munch on acorns.
I chop firewood on the ground, too much work to lift it onto a block. I use chopping blocks for spoon carving and kindling. The kindling is pitch pine that I find in the woods, usually an old pine stump but sometimes the core of a standing dead and rotted pine tree.
I haven’t split wood in years, do not miss it - with back issues now, only option would be a froe like @pop-pop uses. Earlier life in VT, had lots of wood burning in 4 fireplaces and 2 wood stoves. For splitting firewood, I always liked having a good chopping block about 18” high. Just happened to be a large pine stump former owners left out front about 3’ dia. In Maine, only had outside wood burning. I cobbled together rocks to form a firepit using an area at side of the yard that had a bunch of granite slab remnants, made it big enough, about a 4’ sort of circle, that I didn’t need to split anything, just cut to size with a chainsaw. Pretty much had unlimited kindling from scrap and all the downed branches and deadwood - we had only one close neighbor, and along other side and back were 10s to 100s of wooded acres. Have not had wood burning since leaving Maine, but expect a small firepit to be delivered next week - assuming UPS can get the address right this time. I still have two hatchets I inherited I have used to split kindling - my grandfather’s has a broad cutting edge with hammer head on back side and nail pulling notch, and my dads from when he was a troop leader for the Boy Scouts, unfortunately the leather sheath was lost along the way.
If you ever have the opportunity to pick up a Live Oak stump, it will last for years. When I lived in FL, live oak was plentiful, especially after hurricanes. I used it to fuel my fire place. It is the hardest wood to split I have ever encountered (it tears apart rather than a clean break). Big rounds up to 30+" across were plentiful, but after a couple years, were so hard that an axe on full swing would penetrate less than an inch. Downside is if your ax is of lesser quality steel, it can dull it quickly.
These are the oaks with an oval-ish leaf and tiny acorns, right? Never got to try to split any, but it was super hard on my pole saw. It was weird - would drop all leaves in late winter/early spring (hard to tell seasons near Miami so maybe trees didn't realize this was supposed to happen in fall) and immediately sprout new leaves. Acorns were tiny but squirrels still went nuts for them
We had a huge one out front in FL and did a major trimming before selling the house to enhance the curb appeal and eliminate branches over hanging the driveway and street. Realtor had a guy who trimmed the bulk of it and I basically just limbed the big branches so he could section them. I had an Oregon pole chain saw that dulled way faster than I ever expected. Met a guy who volunteered at an organization that took city kids on camping trips so I donated the bulk of it for firewood. Thought I tossed a few of the bigger chunks into the end of the packrat pod but my wife reminded me we pulled them out at the very end to make room for some of our luggage packed with winter clothes just in case it turned cold before we closed here in Nov. Worst I ever had to split was some elm that was not very big but grew a bit twisted.
I found this chopping block in London a couple years ago.
Yes, live oaks have relatively small oval leaves and produce tons of small acorns. However, there are a few other varieties in FL that look similar but are not live oak. Live oaks tend to spread out rather than growing straight up, and their leaves are cupped. Convex on top, concave on bottom.
Fun fact about live oaks that I learned fairly recently: they were considered a critical material by the early US government because they made really good frames for warships.
Fun fact about live oaks that I learned fairly recently: they were considered a critical material by the early US government because they made really good frames for warships.
Ours was quite spread out. kind of forced the trimming since very large heavy branches over hung street, roof and driveway - it survived a somewhat nearby hurricane Irma with minor damage, but it was pretty scary so we squeezed one car into garage and the other moved to one of the parking areas for guests. Thankfully we never got a direct hit on our FL decade.
Live oaks were prized for their toughness, making them the preferred wood for ship keels and framework. The reason you don't see too many massive ones anymore in the Florida panhandle and southern coasts is that most big ones were felled during the civil war by both sides to build their warships. (Old Ironsides has a framework of live oak sheathed with white oak planking. The white oak was used on the outside due to the difficulty of making planks out of the live oak.)
We had seven in our yard when I lived in the panhandle. They would drop half of the leaves in the spring, and the other half in the fall, so the tree provided shade and stayed green all year around. Although they were small (only about 30' tall), I would get a pile of leaves almost equal to the size of my standard pickup truck twice a year. Had to rake them because they would take forever to break down, making them unsuitable for composting. Even a power mower would not break them up. They were so thick on the ground they would smother any other plants. The wide spreading branches did provide a lot of shade, with two of them shading about half our roof, really cutting my A/C electric bill.
We had seven in our yard when I lived in the panhandle. They would drop half of the leaves in the spring, and the other half in the fall, so the tree provided shade and stayed green all year around. Although they were small (only about 30' tall), I would get a pile of leaves almost equal to the size of my standard pickup truck twice a year. Had to rake them because they would take forever to break down, making them unsuitable for composting. Even a power mower would not break them up. They were so thick on the ground they would smother any other plants. The wide spreading branches did provide a lot of shade, with two of them shading about half our roof, really cutting my A/C electric bill.
I grew up in a town near Boston, went to high school in Boston and college nearby. The ship was sort of just there when I was young. Thankfully the value as a tourist attraction finally dawned on the govt and it became one of the highlights of local history for visitors. The berth was improved and the entire area was cleaned up, along with the other sites along the freedom trail for the bicentennial. The work on the ship is impressive. Last I visited was close to 20 yrs ago before my folks moved to FL. But by then old Ironsides was in pristine condition. It was a goose-bump moment when I once caught it being tugged back into its berth, even though I missed seeing the full turnaround. It rarely uses sails since the harbor is so crowded, but it’s still impressive. They have a lottery for visitors to get on board for a turnaround.
We lived in SW Broward county, one of the gated communities built around 2000. Originally every house had one live oak out front. Ours was one of the biggest, a few branches were as big as some of the smaller trees. Former owner would feed it tree spikes. I continued during our 6 yrs of ownership. It usually did the big shed once a yr but took its time and, ya, a ton of leaves. It would shed small amounts pretty much regularly. Thankfully we had a small yard so cleanup wasn’t too heat stress inducing. I used the bagger on the mower like a vacuum to minimize blowing and raking which was still a ton of leaves since it spread so much over the street, sidewalk and driveway. A lot of the houses had them removed and replaced with palms. But they were great for shade, our front faced south so the shade was very welcome.
Premier Sponsors
Contact for your financial processing needs!