An Unusual Tool

I was lucky today to meet up with a blacksmith I know who makes tools from the Roman and Medieval periods, many cases the tool hasn't changed since the Roman or Medieval periods because they work so well. He makes tools by hand with hammer and tongs and also makes the ash handles himself. Today he had a tool I was thinking of trying to find just last week as we were taking good sized straight lengths of branch out of the hedge, he had a froe.

My new froe

A froe (or frow in some spellings) is an excellent tool, it is used for splitting poles, logs, trunks and branches into planks or starves. You do this by firmly supporting the wood being split in a vertical position, placing the froe on the top of the wood and striking the blade with a mallet; you then use the haft (handle) to lever the wood apart by rocking it backwards and forwards whilst pushing down and occasionally striking the exposed blade with a mallet. Using a froe gives a clean cut by splitting the wood and uses much less effort than an axe or saw. A froe is a "green wood" tool which means it is used on wood soon after it has been felled before it dries out and becomes hard when a saw is a much better tool.