Post and Rail Log Fence part 2
So lets start with peeling the logs.
This here old tool I got a loan of from my father-in-law. He gave me the general idea on how to use it. Don’t know what its called, peeler maybe? 🙂
For the first couple of logs, I dragged the sharp end of the tool all the way down the log, cutting through the bark. Then at one end, proceed to peel back the bark using the tool. While fairly easy, it did take some effort. It seemed I was working against the bark, always prying back and forth.
After the third log I got smart and got up off of the ground and worked off of two sawhorses. By the fifth log I realized there was an easier method. While holding down log in my left hand, I pushed up the length of the log, the tool through the bark. The tool naturally did not want to follow a straight line so I let it go where it wanted. As a result, I would be pushing from right to left with the tool in my right hand, while at the same time turning the log towards me with my left hand. Then I would go back to where I started and start pushing the peeler through the bark. It peeled so easily because less bark was being peeled off of the log at any one time. On one of the logs, I could simply push my fingers between the bark and the tree, it practically feel off in one long curl of bark. By the end of it, it only took about two minutes to peel a 10 ft log, and usually the bark came off in one curl.
