Was out where I knew there are some felled rowans yesterday. The rowans are of quite impressive size, but that seems like poses little problem to the beavers. It is nice to have someone do most of the work for you. :-)
The part of this mess I liked the most was this bundle of splinters. They can be made into varius gear with little work. Many of them will probably be utilized as arrow foreshafts.
Here is the bunch of splinters along with a batton, though really unrelated to this picture, and the antler axe I used to chop them off.
One of the wider pieces I chose to make an ice fishing stick from. I have made such before with metal tools and like them a lot. The only place I have seen such sticks elsewhere is among the Saami, where I first observed it.
The first task is to chop it to a fairly uniform thickness. The wood was fairly dry. Not optimal for chopping with an antler axe, but it still worked fairly well. Notice that the piece is supported against a log while working, instead of ontop of the log as commonly done with metal axes.
When I got home, I used my beaver teeth knives to whittle down the blank to become even more uniform.
When the blank was acceptably even, I used the same knives to cut off one end. These tools are remarkable when cutting notches. I can't wait to use them on the stone-age bow I have plans for this winter.
