Riving for a Living

I hope I am not the only one wondering, but what is ‘riving’?

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

Mark, in this context it means splitting.
It was one of the primary ways of making lumber prior to the invention of the saw.
The material was split along the grain of the wood into usually 1/4’s. than then formed from that into various objects from legs to caning material to make chairs etc.
The tool used was like a long knife with a flat surface on the back that you could hammer on to drive the blade through the wood.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Riving means splitting wood.
Here are some facts:

MATERIALS:
Oak, both red and white, splits well and is traditionally used for riving to produce furniture grade wood.
The process is mostly done with “tree wet” or green wood.

TECHNIQUE:
The wood is usually split in to quarters and the riven pieces are taken radially, like quarter sawn oak.
The process requires a close evaluation of the grain patterns and a lot of luck.

RESULTS:
The grain patterns can be truly unique and beautiful.
It is very difficult to produce the same grain patterns by sawing.
Riving is best for producing small pieces of wood, such as chair posts and rungs.

TOOLS:
Froes – a type of side handled splitting knife used to separate the rough boards.
Mauls – wooden strikers for driving the fro and wedges.
Wedges – either iron or wood, used with a hammer to split the logs.
Gluts – a type of wooden wedge. I make mine from osage, black locust or ironwood.
Hammers – form heavy short handled to sledgehammers.
Hatchets and adzes – for roughing the split wood.
Draw knifes – to shape up the wood.
Shaving horse – a draw knife’s best friend.
Planes – for stock removal and smoothing.

Go googling if you need pictures.

-- Randy, Rustic Artisan, a family tradition. (No PM's - auto-deleted.) - "I am a seeker, not a follower."