View source for Hewing

{{Short description|Method for converting a log into lumber}}
{{about|converting logs to timbers with an axe|mining|hewer}}
[[File:Northeim 2005-09-17 Fachwerk-05.jpg|thumb|upright|A German carpenter (Zimmerer) hewing a log into a beam. Note the blue chalk line snapped on the log to which the hewer works.]]
[[File:Strasjo kapell wood surface.jpg|thumb| In some medieval Scandinavian buildings a special method of hewing which produces a herringbone pattern on the timbers has been used (Swedish: ''Slinthuggning'', Norwegian: ''Sprettejling''). This is a modern reconstruction in Stråsjö Chapel in [[Hälsingland]], Sweden.]]
[[File:Strasjo kapell view.jpg|thumb|Stråsjö Chapel]]

In [[woodworking]], '''hewing''' is the process of converting a [[trunk (botany)|log]] from its rounded natural form into  [[lumber]] (timber) with more or less flat surfaces using primarily an [[axe]]. It is an ancient method, and before the advent of [[sawmill]]s, it was a standard way of squaring up wooden [[beam (structure)|beams]] for [[timber framing]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2024|reason=Was it the "standard" way or were there yet other ways? Where was this anyway?}} Today it is still used occasionally for that purpose by anyone who has logs, needs beams, and cannot or would prefer not to pay for finished lumber. Thus, [[homesteading|homesteaders]] on frugal budgets, for example, may hew their own lumber rather than buy it.

==Definitions==
''Hew'' is a general term meaning to strike or blow with a tool such as an axe or sword; to chop or gash, and is used in warfare, stone and woodcutting, and coal and salt mining in this sense.<ref>"Hew v." def. 2. ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd ed. 2009.</ref><ref>Wright, Joseph. "Hew" ''The English dialect dictionary, being the complete vocabulary of all dialect words still in use, or known to have been in use during the last two hundred years'';. London etc.: H. Frowde;, 18981905. Print.</ref> Hewing wood is to shape the wood with a sharp instrument such as an axe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hewing |title=Hew &#124; Definition of hew by Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=2015-10-15}}</ref> specifically flattening one or more sides of a log.

==Methods==
As an ancient method of timber ''conversion'', different methods of each step in hewing have developed in history.

===Prepare log===
After a tree is selected and [[Felling|felled]], hewing can take place where the log landed or be [[Skidder|skidded]] or twitched (skidded with a horse or oxen) out of the woods to a work site. The log is placed across two other smaller logs near the ground or up on trestles about waist height; stabilized either by notching the support logs, or using a '[[Dog (engineering)#log dog or timber dog|timber dog]]' (also called a log dog,<ref>Kauffman, Henry J.. American axes: a survey of their development and their makers. Morgantown, PA: Masthof Press, 2007.</ref> a long bar of iron with a tooth on either end that jams into the logs and prevents movement). 
The hewer measures and locates the timber within the log on both ends and marks lines along the length of a log, usually with a [[chalk line]].

===Scoring===
The next step is to chop notches every foot or two, almost as deep as the marked line using a chopping or scoring axe, called scoring. At least three methods are used in scoring. 1) Standing on the log and swinging an axe to chop the score; 2) In Germany a method of two carpenters standing on the ground with the log on trestles and swinging downward to slice the scores. (see video in link below); 3) A chainsaw is used to notch the log, the sections created by the notching are then split off using a felling axe.

===Joggling or juggling===
The pieces of wood between the notches are knocked off with an axe, this process called juggling<ref>McRaven, Charles. The classic hewn-log house: a step-by-step guide to building and restoration. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub., 2005.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEMOAAAAYAAJ |title=Dialect Notes |date=1900 |publisher=American Dialect Society |language=en}}</ref> or joggling.<ref>McGrail, Seán.  Woodworking techniques before A.D. 1500: papers presented to a symposium at Greenwich in September, 1980, together with edited discussion. B.A.R. 1982. 389. books.google.com/books?id=RJnfAAAAMAAJ</ref> This results in a rough surface pared down just shy of the marked line. Scoring and juggling remove a fair amount of wood, make hewing easier and prevent long shreds of wood being torn off.

===Hewing===
Hewing is the last step in this whole process, which is also collectively referred to as hewing. Hewing is done on the log's sides with a [[broadaxe]]. Hewing occurs from the bottom of the stem upwards towards what was the top of the standing tree, reducing the tendency of the broken fibers to migrate inwards towards the eventual beam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/99232823/page23.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040826143041/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/99232823/page23.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 26, 2004 |title=An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual, 9923-2823-MTDC, About the Author |publisher=Fhwa.dot.gov |access-date=2011-11-14}}</ref>

It is widely published that an [[adze]] was used to hew the top surface of a log flat in the same manner as an axe is used on the sides of a log. However, physical evidence derived from looking at the marks left by the hewing tools in historic buildings, called [[Use-wear analysis|tracology]], shows that they were swung in an arc and thus made by an axe, not an adze.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Shipbuilders frequently used adzes in shaping ship timbers, the choice of tool being made by the position of the surface being hewn, with the sides best hewn with an axe and the face best hewn with an adze. However, historic illustrations do show some Asian carpenters hewing building timbers with an adze. Further smoothing can then be done using a [[hand plane]], [[drawknife]], [[Japanese plane|yariganna]] (an ancient Japanese cutting tool) or any other established or improvised means.

Some 19th-century timber buildings in the U.S. have hewn long timbers in the same framing with vertically sawn and the later technology of circular sawn timbers. The reason for this is the long timbers were easier to hew with an axe than to take to a sawmill, due to poor transportation routes.

Hewn railroad ties are known as [[axe ties]] and were made by a ''tiehacker''.<ref>Marples, Geoff. "The Tiehack", part 1.. ''British Columbia Forest History Newsletter''. No. 60. August 2000. Victoria, B. C., Forest History Association of British Columbia. p. 1-4. print.</ref>

===Modern uses===
Although still used in niche modern building, salvaged hand-hewn beams are now commonly recycled as architectural details popular in new construction and renovation of homes.  They are also popular as decor in commercial and restaurant spaces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.longleaflumber.com/about-hand-hewn-beams/ |title=About Hand-Hewn Beams |date=15 January 2014 |publisher=Longleaf Lumber Inc. |access-date=2014-01-17}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
LINK FOR 8 SHOULD BE https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf99232823/pdf99232823Pdpi300.pdf

== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j506cXGvOPg Video of the German method of hewing]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xhVTyG6u1E Video of a widespread method of scoring a log in the process of hewing]

{{wiktionary|hew}}

{{Woodworking}}

[[Category:Woodworking]]
[[Category:Green woodworking]]
[[Category:Timber preparation]]
[[Category:Wood-related terminology]]