Splitting an Ash Log to Make Planks for an Anglo-Saxon Shield - Part I | Early Medieval Woodworking

Anglo-Saxons cleaved planks from logs for many uses, from buildings to shield-making. Here I split an ash log into sections with an axe, maul and wooden wedges. These sections can then be hewn into planking. I will use these planks to make an Anglo-Saxon shield.

There is no evidence for large saws used in woodworking during the Anglo-Saxon period. Logs would have been cleaved or split into sections, and these sections would be hewn into planks with axes.

An oak log makes a good maul, with one end tapering into a handle. This style of maul has been found along with other woodworking tools in the Nydam finds dating to the Late Roman period. The maul was made over-heavy, as the wood is still green and will get lighter as it dries.

The wedges were carved from oak and apple-wood, which is tough once seasoned and will hopefully resist splitting.

The maul and wedges were carried up into the hills, where there is plentiful ash forest. The ash log had been bucked and the edges squared off for cleaving. The log had sixty-eight rings, with each ring representing a year of growth. When felled, the ash tree was three times as old as me, and deserves to be used well.

The clean face already showed some natural radial splitting as the log dried, roughly quartering the log. Using these natural splits when placing the axe makes cleaving easier. The other face has two large branches or knots which could have made the starting split difficult, so the clean face was chosen for starting the split.

The axe-head is wedge-shaped and works well to start cleaving. The log was short enough to drive the axe-head all the way in, and wedges were only necessary for prising the cleft sections apart.

Logs and sections are always split in half to give the best chance of cleaving out even sections. Logs can be split into eighths, sixteenths or even thirty-two parts depending on the diameter of the log and the desired width of the final plank. More sections allow for more planks from one log, but each split narrows the usable width of each plank. The log was split into eighths so that it could be carried down the hill, although the straighter sections could be cleaved further when converting them into planks.

The fibres make a beautiful sound as they are cleaved apart. In larger logs, this sound can be used to decide which wedges to hit, and when, to progress the split.

Once the sections have been hewn into planks, they will be set aside to dry for a while before being used to make a shield.

With thanks to:
Hector Cole, Blacksmith, for forging the Saxon T-shaped Axe.

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