Andrew Jarvis reports that he has made a beech maul that he will use to make shingles and split open posts.
Mauls can be made from any dense hardwood like elm, oak, beech, hornbeam, etc., or softwood such as yew with a 14" length of log about 5 - 6" diameter needed from which to fashion same. The log is sawn across the grain in the middle to a depth of about 2" all the way around the log and then a handle is made by splitting down the grain using an axe, froe or draw knife.
Ideally a maul should be left to dry which might result in some drying splits and so either a spiral or cross grained material like elm is probably best at helping holding the maul together. When used to hit a froe or axe head the maul will gradually deteriorate and so this tool should very much be seen as a consumable to be made on an ongoing basis.
Wood like oak and ash that cleaves easily and shrinks significantly upon drying will eventually become unuseable as the annular rings crush and separate or the whole maul becomes shaken to the point where bits begin to separate from the main body of the maul. Time to make a new maul.
To avoid developing shakes then a quarter section of a tree could be used but obviously this would require additional shaping to produce a good round maul.
Please post your own experience with using different types of wood to make a maul.
Ken Hume
|