And Froe to business.

Following on from the drawknife, the next decent bit of kit has to be the froe. This consists of a large steel blade with a handle (or haft), usually made of  Ash. The froe is used for cleaving wood by splitting it along the grain. By hammering one edge of its blade into the end of a piece of wood in the direction of the grain and then twisting the blade in the wood, by rotating the handle, the wood can be split in a controlled way with the minimum of effort.The use of the haft as a lever multiplies the force upon the blade, allowing wood to be torn apart with remarkable ease and hardly any strain to the haft itself. Movement of the haft forwards, or back, controls the direction of the split. The froe, in conjunction with a maul (a wooden mallet), can be used to make planks and wooden shingles, amongst other things. I was fortunate enough to get mine from eBay at a good price and have already used it to split some Oak ready for shingling.