splitting and turning

Ive been learning some new wood working skills over the past few days. After the plum tree in our back garden was pruned i had a go at turning the pieces. First i had to split the logs. For that I needed a froe which I couldn't find on eBay or other tool sites (to be honest i didn't look very hard) so i decided to make my own.

First i got an old truck leaf spring... good high carbon spring steel.

Then cut it keping the bush ends... these will be for the handle. The bushes were burnt out using a blow torch.

I then ground down one edge. The first attempt was not so good as the angle was not acute enough.

This is better... easier for the froe to cut into the wood.

I made a handle from some ash then split my first log. Fairly hard work but worth it. The wood splits following the grain therefore releasing its own natural tension and avoiding grain run-off. The halfs were split into quaters then cut in half and used for turning the babies rattle below.