Froe sharpening angles?

[jarrett]

I bought a shingle froe online, hoping to learn how to rive my own stock. I've only done this once before in a class, but that was in fresh white oak.

It seems I need to sharpen my froe a bit--I cannot drive it into a piece of wood at the angle it is right now. I'm guessing it's about 70 degrees right now!

Anyone know of the proper angle for a froe? Any tips on getting this to that angle? I've read you can use a bastard mill file to rough it out, but that is going to take some work. Would a dremel tool heat the froe too much?

 

[Mike Davis]

Dremel will be much slower than a mill file. Get a new 12 inch flat mill single cut file. Put the froe in a vise so you can use both hands on the file and shape it similar to an ax edge but with a longer taper.

Or use a belt sander with 36 grit to shape it then 80 to smooth and 120 to finish. It doesn't need to be shaving sharp, in fact that will make it harder to use. You are splitting the wood, not cutting.

It will offer less resistance if the whole thing is smooth.

Don't get the edge too thin.