Medieval wood riving - An attempt to recreate craftsmanship
The movie describes an attempt to split a thirteen meter long log of pine tree. The riving was done by radial cuts. The original was founded in the spire of the church of Hardemo southwest of Örebro city in the province of Närke. The church was built approximately between 1180 - 1220. These rafts are produced from the log by a method which never been documented before. One side of the rafts is raw sapwood which is rare in churches from the Middle age. All woodworking are done with tools that are modelled on archaeological findings. The felling and riving of the tree are performed with a few axes and tools.
The movie Medieval wood riven describes an experiment grounded from the medieval roofing project. The project is financed by the Swedish church- Strängnäs.
The movie was recorded 29 March until 1 April 2016 in Ryfors, Mullsjö, Sweden.
Folks talk about (re)building wooden ships as an exercise in 'experimental archeology.' They then say that we no longer have the skills to do this. That is PARTLY true, but a bigger problem is that we no longer have the timber to work with! The Royal Forests in the UK were largely there for the growing of trees for ship building, with hunting as a handy byproduct. Shipwrites would tour the forests with patterns of parts that they needed, think of a "Y" shape, or an "L" or "C" shape formed by a branch. These trees were marked for future reference, and 'trained' to create the shape needed, so that they could be 'harvested' 10 or 20 years later. Not exactly the "Just-In-Time" delivery that we expect today!
Con Cahill that’s fascinating and amazing!
Excellent insight
Fascinating but what about other parts of the world--do such timbers still persist in some lonely corners?
@@EternalShadow1667 I do not know for sure, but suspect it would be unlikely. Tim Severin has done a number of Voyages in replicas of historical sea going craft, one of his biggest problems was finding craftsmen and women who were still alive and able to build the boats he wanted. These were exercises in "Experimental Archiology" to firstly find out if a Legendary Voyage, (Sinbad's for one example), might ACTUALLY have been possible, then to find out how the vessel was constructed and sailed, and lastly to see if they could repeat the voyage. The results were usually surprising, and also showed how much shipwrights knew then, that we have forgotten NOW! Given that the Craftsmen are all but died out, there would be no call for such dedicated timber supplies, and if there were, they would probably have been forgotten about :-(. If you should be interested in them, the link below is for Amazon's listing for some of them. An interesting read. www.amazon.co.uk/Voyage-Tim-Severin-ebook/dp/B08Y1V2GT2/ref=sr_1_4?adgrpid=1174279317901186&hvadid=73392659384470&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=132317&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-73392599781100%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=24397_2219292&keywords=tim+severin&qid=1691602401&sr=8-4
Appreciate the knowledge 🙏🏼
These men's skill with their axes is wonderful to watch
I met Daniel Eriksson and Matthias Hallgren at a timber framing conference last fall, where they demonstrated hewing a timber and splitting it into three planks of even thickness. The skill..strength, coordination, and stamina, required to do such work is comparable to what we expect to see in athletics, but rarely do we see such competence in the building trades. World class.
You don't get ax skills like that overnight. I had an old man in his 70's out-chop 20-year-old me back in the 70's. He cut accurately, no wasted motions. I beat my part to death and wore myself out.
Don't feel bad Kid. My father taught my brother, and I how to use a cross cut saw, and an ax when we were jusr small kids. We cut for fire wood, and to keep our wooded areas clear of stunted, or diseased trees. Having aquired the skills early, I didn't remember ever feeling tired, or worked too hard. A few years ago, I did cut up some fallen trees on my property, and now in my late seventies I do know what it's like to feel tired and overworked. LOL
Notice: Those guys were in no big hurry to take down the tree, or to do the rest of the chopping. Remember: The Turtle always wins the race.
By any chance would either of you happen to know what he meant when he said that the conventional method only produces 4 rafters? Just how do we waste so much.
I didn't realise how therapeutic it is to watch skilled people recreating history like this. Absolutely fascinating!
The sound of sharp iron shearing into the felled timber, echoes and cracks -producing the most satisfying sound imaginable. The chain saw sounds like death and hell by comparison.
And accordingly, logging with horses is so much more pleasing than noisy destructive skidders and feller/bunchers!
Thank you tremendously for not only taking the time to document this amazing process, but also for taking the time to provide English subtitles.
My grandfather was a master carpenter (among other "masters") and he would take me with him on timber hunts. We went to an old warehouse that was built in 1901 and was going to be demolished. We went and saw the timbers that were used in the construction. Massive oak beam that were taken from old growth forest, like 500 years old or more. The grains were so tight that you could not drive a nail into it with out drilling a pilot hole. They were then coated with pitch (tar) and perfectly preserved. He purchased eight of the best he could find and took them to a saw mill where they were planked into 3" x 16" x 12' lengths. He turned them into clocks, custom cabinetry, tables, whatever. He also made his workshop out of them. The rafters are 4" x 4" solid oak. All connected together with dowels and dovetail joints in such a way that when they expand they just get tighter fits. No mechanical fasteners were used (no screws, nails, etc.) People still come to see and we've had Amish carpenters even compliment his work.
It's a shame you can't post photos on here mate. If you ever post them someone online, send me a link.
My grandfather was a Master Bater
Very impressed by all the quality skills in play here. Keeping the split straight over that length is fantastic and the smooth and accurate finish with the broad axe is something to behold. Wonderful. Well done chaps.
What an honor it is to be able to connect with their ancestors in this way.
Back up a theory with actual hands-on proof is the ultimate craftsmanship. Well done!
The lack of music, the gentle voice and the chopping is pretty relaxing. Very interesting experiment!
Y'all are absolute wizards with an axe.
Many thanks for subtitling this video in English, much appreciation and greetings from the UK. Amazing tree you found, to think that the originals were two metres longer before the branches started, their trees, and the forests must have towered!
Lovely to see old skills being used and it would be good if the younger generation learnt them as who knows one day they could really be needed you can’t always relay on power tools 👍👍👍👍
It is gratifying to note that modern carpenters and tree fellers are capable of using ancient tools and techniques. They would be invaluable in recreating or repairing a centuries old structure.
Notre Dame comes to mind for new timbers needing to be cut in a centuries old fashion.
@@Nphen Thanks for the thought. I was not thinking that deeply!
Those weren't tree fellers. I counted four of them. ;o)
@@sarkybugger5009 My wife tells me not to make such silly jokes. BUT I LIKE 'EM! GOOD ONE!
@Jeffry It's the way I tell 'em. ;o)
That is some beautiful work. Thanks for documenting it.
Impressive work. My farm is only about 150 years old, but my house and barns show tool marks of similar techniques used by my German immigrant family and their neighbors in 1800's USA.
Very interesting video, thank you for the English subtitles. The results of the process are simple amazing such skill with simple hand tools, proof of concept.
It’s good to see a tree used in such a respectful way and the cutting of it, done so professionally, with minimal wastage.
Annyai Presoski but what the fuck for? To see if we can? We did 900 yrs ago wtf are people doing
@@justpettet3506 to document the process today. We were pretty sure that's how it was done 900 years ago but no one actually wrote it down, or made a video of it.
@@justpettet3506 kill every thing waste the environment be a tool of the consumer model.
@@justpettet3506 This aint 4chann! :D
There is something very satisfying to see a properly sharpened axe used to cut wood so smoothly. It's as if the craftsman was cutting butter.
That is serious axe control
I can tell from experience its not easy as it might look. It takes least a month of practice to even get a close to that level and you cant replicate hand crafted surface. There are blades for big angle cutters to do this much faster and with less skill required, but it looks way different. Too uniform if its made with machine.
there are few different kinds of axes some are easier to plane wood with as they don't want to bite as a normal axe would
I'm not sure why youtube sent me here, but I'm glad it did. Very good, educational, video. Thanks for posting it!
Top film, thanks for sharing
I cannot imagine why anyone would downvote this. It was a magnificent way to understand what people went through before the advent of chainsaws and wood mills. lol. Amazing and fascinating. Thank you for this.
they never actually said they were building anything, other than a youtube video at the expense of a 200 year old tree.
@@dosmundos3830 They seemed impressed by how little wood needed to be wasted by the process, and they did carry at least one beam away. So I'm guessing they came back for all the rest of the wood and put it into some kind of historical restoration project - probably that old church tower we saw earlier. It seems like far too much real work to produce nothing more than a dead tree, a pile of discarded wood, and a low-viewer KZhead video.
I believe there are those who just enjoy spreading their misery around. Sort of Hate Seeking Missiles.
@@christopherworth1 People who live in wooden houses should not throw ... well, you get the idea.
@@dosmundos3830 It's a part of the medieval roofing project.
Pretty nice. Medieval carpenters did not have internet, so they actually did the things !
Thank you for sharing and demonstrating how this was done. You all have showed me many things I did not know. Glad to have learned them. Cheers!
I was told there were tree fellers but I counted four!
thars a fuggin Eirishmun in avry crauid isenar
One for the Brits and Oirish Rolf Harris, Max Clifford and Stuart Hall walk into a Irish pub. The barman shouts 'Oh no, not Yew Tree again'.
I checked the log, and he is correct.
These men have wonderful skill with the tools. Just imagine how skillful the medieval craftsmen were who used such tools practically their whole lives. How much faster could they work?
This video shows a team of people going to great lengths to maintain a 800 year old church. The team shows considerable skill in rediscovering histroic building methods while aiming for economy of materials and labour. Very commendable.
That was really interesting, my thanks to those who worked on the English captions also!
The first chalk lines used soot. I didn't know this before. I am super glad I do now. Old building techniques fascinate me to no end.
Well put
A guy could easily make his own by taking the remaining charcoal from the campfire the next morning and pulverizing them into powder. I think l might try this myself.
I've heard from the older generation here in Norway that they used to pick the trees they would use for building, then they removed the bark at the foot of the tree and then waited for a year or the next season to cut it down. The reason had something to do with the sap would fill the tree out to the bark and make it last longer or somewhat. I really would like to find more information on this.
The process you describes was used to kill a tree and accelerate the drying as the tree has no more sap which circulates by the cambium. There is a disadvantage the stressed tree will attract lots of xylophage (wood eating) insects. At my knowledge, a process taking several years was used for the construction of wooden churches in Norway during the years 1000. The process works only with some species of pine trees. In fact the pine tree is killed in a way that it will fill up with resin/sap. In fact the contrary of the method of removing the bark at the foot. First year the branches of the pine are cut, the tree reacts like for an insect attack and exudes lots of resin. The bark is left, as the sap uses the cambium under the bark to go up in the tree. Idem for the second year if the pine tree is always alive. The pine finally dies and left to dry standing on its roots. Meantime by gravity the excess of resin is going down to the roots . When the pine is dry enough, it is felled and the roots dug out. The roots are filled with condensed sap and by distillation/controlled burning the turpentine and tars are obtained. These products will be used to protect the wood.
The fact that these buildings are 700 to 800 years old suggests that there is something very worth studying, preserving, perpetuating here. If we can make homes and dwellings last this long, we can have some serious security in our dwellings.
I have no clue how this ended up on my recommendations. But it's oddly fascinating.
Extremely well done! Congrats. This rafter is so much flexible and stronger than a sawn one. Thanks a lot for making taping editing uploading and sharing. Best regards, luck and health to all involved.
Actually found this film on an American Facebook page called Axe Junkies. I'm a Canadian that lives in Sweden now so it was for me, very satisfying to see Swedish skills and knowledge so widely appreciated. Great work and film, guys.
The täljyxan translation given as broad-axe is essentially correct, and has its roots in the idea of not so much that it's 'broad' in the modern sense but that board or plank in Scandinavian languages was (variants of) "breda" - which can also be translated as "board". Thus, one could say it's a "board-axe" ('plank -forming-axe') as much as a "broad axe" (which might refer to the axe-head), but only the latter is in common usage. Another not incorrect translation of täljyxa is side-axe. But personally I would prefer the term bilyxa for these broad and side-axes, and perhaps use the term carving-axe, forming axe or finishing-axe as a better description of a täljyxa. Another variant I have seen here and there in names for these types of axes are "skeppsyxor" - lit. ship axes, with the obvious need to make board (plank) shapes to form the strakes of a ship - Viking ships were always built by splitting/cleaving logs aproximately in the way shown in the video, as the wood remains stronger and more flexible when the grain is not cut across as with sawing. Roughly speaking, old men of the forest have told me that of ten pines felled in Scandinavian forests, some three would have a clockwise twist in the grain, three anti-clockwise and three rather straight (I have not verified this, it's hearsay). The twists though can be used for forming certain strakes in a ship, making use of the natural form of the wood, and following the twist when splitting as opposed to straight-splitting. Roskilde Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark, have carried out a large spectrum of splitting and cleaving experiments on many kinds of woods, using traditional and ancient techniques, and document their methods and work very thoroughly.
I’ve done enough chopping to know these men are extremely accurate with their axe blows. They must do a lot of this kind of work.
And sharpening, honing.
To all the posters stating that the 200 year old tree was wasted. I think it was put to a very good use, your education. A noble and lofty goal. What you do not realize, is that most species of pine don't live all that long. Most will rot and hit the ground before 250 years. Very wasteful. And then there's the added benefit of your knowledge on how the rafters in a 700 to 900 year old church steeple was made. See how this works? Education.
Nuts, morons here who bemoan the use of a 195 yr old tree don't have a clue about anything. They'd rather put flowers around it and bow down and worship it.
only the ignorant kill things that outlive them. that's how species are eradicated.
@@QuantumRift no that's what you do in the little playhouse they built lol
@@dosmundos3830 It's a tree. Nothing more, nothing less. Oak trees are not endangered. Now go piss on a tree and fertilize it.
@@ClintAnderson808 Since you don't have a clue about what you're talking about, any comment you have about it is immaterial.
Working wood without power tools is its own reward.
A pleasure to watch professional craftsmen at work. I envy them the smooth soft lumber, being Australian and used to cutting somewhat less easygoing logs. I shall add several techniques to my skillset which makes today a win in my book.
Once again, I am completely mesmerised! But this time, with English subtitles, I know what's going on and it's 3 a.m!!! }:] Tack så mycket!!
. The last long scene of the guys hauling off that rafter was a nice touch. Well done, Sven. .
Really interesting and nice video. Comment section is a trash fire, but know that your work is very appreciated.
I met a guy many years ago who produced willow for cricket bats. He cultivated them from seed in his garden until they were about 5 yr old and would ensure no branches formed on the main part that would become the trunk. This was to ensure no knots on the main trunk that was used for the bats and to ensure the maximum amount of wood could be harvested from one tree.
This blew my mind. Thank you for sharing
A truly magnificent video & display of skill. Thank you for undertaking this experiment, and subsequently sharing this with the world.
Great work with a huge benefit to heritage. Thank you very much for all the hard work cutting, detail conversation, and filming/editing this great outing!
I watched an old man in Korea cut, flatten, and straighten boards to build a boat using only an axe. Best quality axe work I’ve observed. Years later, I was fortunate enough to visit the Viking Stave Churches in Norway. They used the same techniques to build the churches used to build their ships. Standing next to the Fjords, in Scandinavian weather, is a testament to the work and techniques of those men.
It is good to look BACK occasionally, appreciate and filter the historical good from the bad, and move forward intelligently, isn't it. I am QUITE SURE that there are MANY technologies used in ancient times that outperform our best stuff now. Zero question. One is the drum head "marching army detector" found under the Great Wall in China. Scientists put our best seismic equipment head to head against it, and modern tech LOST. At least that's what I've been told, wasn't actually there for the experiment, though I would have liked to be. ;-)
This is really amazing. Thanks for posting.
What a very pleasant video! I could watch this all night!
Great video! Thank you for making and sharing it.
A really useful and interesting video, thanks for taking the time to show us, and the English subtitles.
Thank you for producing this documentary!
That was a really cool video! I hope you learned more than just what you set out to search for and that it helps you continue to understand the techniques used to be able to repair and preserve those historic buildings. Thanks for sharing this!
Magnificent workmanship, great effort to recreate, thank you.
A lot of hard work went into gaining that knowledge. Well done lads.
Loved watching this video. Great work!
Beautiful workmanship and understanding how these techniques may have been implemented!!! Thank you so much for posting!
Amazing work. Thank you for sharing your skills and experience.
Four men, a couple of axes, some augmenting tools, and good weather, gets this job done in just three days. Impressive.
Glad to see some still preserve the real craftsmanship.
Fascinating video. Awesome experiment. Love it.
Absolutely brilliant video! Loved every minute of watching craftsmen replicate ancient skills.. Thanks for sharing
Well done. Thanks for sharing.
It's a lot of hard work, but it is such a harmonious process. Wonderful.
Fascinating. Thank you for the video (and subtitles!)
Tack för att ni bevarar den Svenska kulturen och historian 👍🏻
Very relaxing and educational. Good work!
Lovely to see good craftsmen at work. Beautiful work!
Thank you so much for taking the time to document this experiment. Very interesting to see some techniques I have come across in different cultures repeated.
@örebrolänsmuseum, At 6:47 they talk about some cracks in the wood. Earlier the woodsmen cut of the bottom meter of bark some years before they cut the tree. When they did so, the wood fibers starts to contract and the entire tree twist in the direction of the fibres. That way, when the woodsman later cut the tree down, the cracks would not be severe or damage the construction later. This might have happened in this church as well, when you see the sparr logs at 1:25. The cracks is much more diagonal than what you would find on a regular tree. Some of the stave churches in Norway has some really bad issues because of newer renovation that did not take this into care. For instance, Høyjord Stave Church probably have to change the main stave because it at present date is more than 10cm lower than when they replaced it some years ago, during renovation.
You are correct. The twisted fibers of the tree have a lot of tension which help the tree resist winds. The most tension of course is in the outer layers. Aging the way you describe it will start drying the wood from the outer layers and contract the wood and this way reversing the twist slowly and releasing the tension. That is VERY clever!
You have any information on this technique. I've been searching but could not find the technique in use or notably discussed.
@lars håkon Slette, If you chose to cut bar from a tree years before felling the tre you can have a pair of reasons. If you cut the bark from a Pine it usually are for get the wood more resistent from water, moisture and rot. If you hurt a Pine like that it will produce fat wood. Other trees, like trees with leaf will die. In Sweden there are a Association which work with different methods to get pienwood with high quality. Kook on the website www.fetvedensvanner.com /Lars Petersson, Örebro läns museum
@@larspetersson4463 Thank you for the link! Just took a sneak peak and it is great! I heard about this technique at a tour in Høyjord Stave Church in Vestfold. When they renovated the church after the WWII the renovators did not use this technique when they mounted a new main stave in the center of the church. Therefore the new log has dried and is now twisting in a locked position causing the log to crack. The drying and twisting of the log is also causing the log to shrink. The main log might have to be replaced soon again.
Thank you for doing this. Very interesting.
I enjoyed this video, well done. Thanks for posting.
Brilliant video! Such an interesting insight into the possible ways people worked hundreds of years ago. Thanks for posting :)
Alot of hard work ,so well done
Hello from Australia. Nice skills and video. Thank you for the subtitles.
Very nice work! Great, simple yet efficient tools!👍👍
I always wondered about riving something really long like this. Great video! The axe work is very impressive, too!
My father was Scott. In Gaelic he described this method but showed me on a smaller scale. He was born about 1900. Your broad axe was narrow. A wider one would have been faster and less tiring. He Made a mast for sailboat restoration from Spruce. That was 50 years ago.
Beautiful craft and really nicely presented. Thanks guys, one and all.
Very interesting! Fine skills from the cutting through the riving and hewing. Equally interesting was the design of the tool themselves. Thanks for the demonstration, and thanks for helping preserve the old ways.
Very good project of recreating medieval building materials.
Can't wait to see the rafters for the second restoration planted in 2640!
Impressive - and enjoyable to watch...well done.
Such a fine piece of handcrafted lumber! Many construction applications. Very useful.
Thanks for providing subtitles. Nicely done.
Fantastic axe work and a great look into how things were done during that time. Very precise for using hand axes and wedges. No wonder that spire has lasted over 800 years.
Very interesting and a lot of hard work.
Patience and perseverance result in crafting only the highest qualities obtainable. Very impressive work indeed.
Really interesting.Such skillful work,respectful of this wonderful natural resource.Thanks!
Awesome! Makes me want to work with wood like that again.. I built my greenhouse from logs and notched everything.. was so satisfying!
Thank you for producing such a wonderful and informative video, your hard work certainly paid off, Bravo to you and your team.
@Duncan Burt Thank you for all kindly words! That inspire to examine and document other historian techniques. Lars Petersson, Örebro läns museum
Excellent, thank you. Maintaining the skill and knowledge is as important as the building; heritage is in the culture as much as the structures.
Everything about this video is wonderful. The tree that was cut down for the project, was absolutely perfect. Excellent forest management. It was neat to watch him fell it with an axe.
This is a most important project. Largely, meaning has been devolved from life by everything being so easy and at the reach of ready-made products. The part at the end about saving labour, saving material, and creating a strong rafter, were most impressive. Many thanks for the hard work.
This is a beautiful video - making fine things with wood using traditional techniques, might I say with phenomenal stamina, skills, thought and patience. Many thanks indeed. I must also add, that as a woodworker with a deep love of trees, it's never easy for me to watch one being felled, preferring not to think about it when I do my own work. This beautiful tree will now have a long life in a new role. :-) Many regards from Sydney, Australia - Dave
Many people do not realise that older Australian trees commonly have a hollow trunk where the heartwood has rotted been eaten by termites damaged by fire hollowed out by parrots nesting regeneration to adult trees about forty years
I love it. Amazing. That is honoring this fallen tree, to work it like that.
That makes one appreciative of POWER TOOLS! But, I also appreciate the craftsmanship involved. Thanks for posting.