peeling poles

[wareagle69]

so i have a few cedar logs beens simmering for a year the bark basically fell off the poles, but me and palerider was out cutting some spruce the other day lots of spruce on my property and i recall dick preoneke using spruce poles to build his cabin. Well my respect has gone way up for him what a hrad job and i was only doing 8 footers about 8 inches in diameter for my fence posts but i have a tool don't really know the name of it, ah lets see it has two handles and the blade is half moon in shape for peeling logs (maybe someone here can tell me) but anyways i got sap all over my hands and it would squirt into my eyes and i only got a couple that man did what 28 of them hauled them and peeled them one summer yaya i know thats a log a day or even half a log but all i know is that dude rules

[crashdive123]

It's a big draw knife.

[wareagle69]

thats it? that seems too easy pretty old thing got it from an old amn at an old farm but she sure works great, never had a use for it been sitting in the garage a couple of years now, but i 'm glad i found it thnx crash

[crashdive123]

That sounds like what you described. I did some peeling as a kid at my grandparents. Found some pics of draw knives on this site http://www.caribooblades.com/drawknives.html

[hopeak]

Note: Dick dropped his trees the summer be for starting the cabin.

[crashdive123]

When I did it I was a kid (probably in the way more than helpful). Is it easier to peel them when freshly cut, or let them dry out.....and does it depend on type of wood?

[hopeak]

Dick also used the Drawknife to fit the logs. If you want the Hand pealed look, I think you have to peal them green.

[Stony]

evergreen bark peels best when green.
draw knife or spade are the way to go if one does not have a
peeling machine (which attached to a chainsaw power head).

[klkak]

All the folks I know who have built log cabins of spruce have let them sit at least a year before peeling them. The woman that owns "Majestic valley lodge" near Eureka Alaska built the lodge entirely from beetle killed spruce. I included a couple pictures and the website.http://majesticvalleylodge.com/index.html

[Rick]

Draw knives are really a pretty cool tool. I have three of them and they get used more or less on a regular basis. As Crash said, the larger ones are for peeling logs. The smaller ones are really good for rounding out square stock. Much like a plane. The very small ones are called Spoke Shaves and can have either a flat blade (like the draw knife) or a moon shaped blade (like WE said) for making wooden spokes/spindles.

[wareagle69]

Note: Dick dropped his trees the summer be for starting the cabin.

yup. i've watched the vid so many times i can't count, when i showed it to palerider last weekend i was reminded that dick used spruce, i did not know it would last that long, so i can use it to help supplement my cedar posts i need 85 and i have 50 cedar and i am going to space them every 10 ft,

[wareagle69]

Note: Dick dropped his trees the summer be for starting the cabin.

yup. i've watched the vid so many times i can't count, when i showed it to palerider last weekend i was reminded that dick used spruce, i did not know it would last that long, so i can use it to help supplement my cedar posts i need 85 and i have 50 cedar and i am going to space them every 10 ft.
ok sow now i have seen some spruce in the bush with trees completley uprooted so off the ground and down for a year or so and the log seems to be getting punky, so to me i would think that you would need to peel them, but as i said i just peeled my cedar after a year and the bark just fell off and the logs are well, so i will have tp exspeariment a bit.
now a fencing question i have noticed that some of the fence posts already put in in the pasture still have the bark on where he put them underground, do you think this helps in any way? i was going to use tar paper like for the roof to help keep the moisture off but always prefer natural ways

[RBB]

so i have a few cedar logs beens simmering for a year the bark basically fell off the poles, but me and palerider was out cutting some spruce the other day lots of spruce on my property and i recall dick preoneke using spruce poles to build his cabin. Well my respect has gone way up for him what a hrad job and i was only doing 8 footers about 8 inches in diameter for my fence posts but i have a tool don't really know the name of it, ah lets see it has two handles and the blade is half moon in shape for peeling logs (maybe someone here can tell me) but anyways i got sap all over my hands and it would squirt into my eyes and i only got a couple that man did what 28 of them hauled them and peeled them one summer yaya i know thats a log a day or even half a log but all i know is that dude rules

Peeling pulp wood was how kids earned pocket money when I was young. I would get paid $.03 per "stick." A stick was a 100 inch pole. We would use a "peeling iron" made from one of the leaves of a Model T spring. This is a very quick way to peel logs compared to using a draw knife or peeling spud. To use an iron you have to peel right after the tree is cut.

Peeling was easy in the spring - harder as the year progressed. Peeling aspen was easy. Peeling balsam or spruce was a lot more work - a lot more branches to limb and the sap was really a pain. I would peel 100 to 200 "sticks" a day.