Make Your Own Shingles

(Page 2 of 2)

February/March 2005
By Robert Simonson 
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To start the froe into the log bolt, as shown in Figure 3, pound the back of the blade several times with the mallet. The thickness of your shake is determined at this point. If you find the shingles are splitting a little too thin — less than a quarter inch — make your next start a bit further from the edge.

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When the back of the froe has been driven in level with the end of the bolt, the handle of the tool is either pulled toward you or pushed away (whichever works best). This twisting of the blade opens the split wider, and the froe is then pushed down about 3 to 6 inches. Twist again in the same way, and the shake should pop off the bolt.

The technique really is much simpler than it sounds. After no more than an hour of practice, you’ll get the hang of it. If you keep at the job about two hours a day for three or four days, you’ll realize the shakes are stacking up with little effort. Twenty feet of good, straight timber will yield about 20 “squares” of shakes — a square being enough to cover an area of 100 square feet when the slabs are properly laid.

You can usually split one to two squares in two hours, and a 30-by-40-foot roof requires about 12 squares. This means, at most, two hours of work a day for six to ten days.

Applying the shakes to the roof isn’t hard, either. Most basic carpentry books will explain how to lay wooden shingles, and the method is the same for the homemade kind.

Once you’ve mastered this old-time skill, I’m sure you’ll find it just as satisfying as I do.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 1973 issue of Mother Earth News. Go to Mother’s Amazin’ Archive at www.MotherEarth News.com to find hundreds more fun and money-saving do-it-yourself ideas, or to order Mother’s Archive CD.

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  • Frank Kortuem 5/21/2009 5:16:34 PM

    Hello:

    I just read you article on hand splitting your own shingles. I have split enough shingles to cover three log cabins. Unless you have timber three or four feet across, whoever said that you could get 14 sq of shingles out of 20 feet of log is dreaming. The cabin I'm shingling at the present will take 5,000 shingles to cover 14 sq. I am laying them with a 7" exposure and they average 6" across. I get 30 to 40 shingles out of a 16" bolt. By reading your article I should get 116 --- and that is if each of your shingles covered an exposure of one sq ft --- and I'd like to see them. I think you need to clarify a bit

    Thanks

    Frank Kortuem

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